China Girl (1942) Gene Tierney & George Montgomery

48:19

something else to say. The way he came barging in on you don't seem like the sort of thing a

48:25

Chinese lady would do. What do you say?

48:51

What'd he say? Nothing. He fell asleep. He's faking. Listen, if that guy heard anything, he

48:57

wouldn't fall asleep, would he? Right in front of me. No, but he pretend to. She tipped him off, I tell you. And he's playing

49:02

Parson. Well, we'll go and have a look if you want. You take his pulse. That's how to tell if he's sleeping or faking. He's faking

49:08

his pulse will be beating fast. If he's sleeping, it'll be slowed way down. If his pulse is beating fast,

49:15

I'll wait.

50:19

Hey,

https://youtu.be/_mntqqrPBGY?si=KtpbZHmFZxa7y6Qw China Girl (1942) Film in English, Gene Tierney & George Montgomery

 

"China Girl" (1942), directed by Henry Hathaway and starring George Montgomery and Gene Tierney, is a wartime romantic drama set against the backdrop of World War II in occupied China and Burma WikipediaIMDbWikipediaAFI Catalog.

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Overview / Story

American newsreel photographer Johnny “Bugsy” Williams (George Montgomery) is detained by Japanese forces while reporting in China. He refuses to cooperate and ultimately escapes a detention camp, along with a Canadian fighter called Major Bull Weed and the enigmatic "Captain" Fifi Wikipedia+11AFI Catalog+11Wikipedia+11.

Johnny pilots them across enemy lines to safety in Mandalay, where he reconnects with his friend, Captain Shorty Maguire of the "Flying Tigers" Wikipedia+2AFI Catalog+2Wikipedia+2. Despite being urgently asked to join the cause, Johnny initially declines, only to later find himself drawn into perilous conflict—and a complicated romance with Haoli Young (Gene Tierney), a cultured, Vassar-educated Chinese-American woman running an orphanage school in Kunming Wikipedia+6Wikipedia+6AFI Catalog+6.

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? Romance & Betrayal

Johnny and Haoli’s attraction grows amid cultural and wartime tension. Haoli resists his advances initially, but they fall in love as agents of espionage encroach upon their trust. Johnny is used as an unwitting pawn by Fifi and Bull, who are revealed to be Japanese spies. The betrayal deepens the drama, putting Haoli’s life—and the children under her care—at risk Wikipedia+2AFI Catalog+2Wikipedia+2.

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Climax & Sacrifice

Haoli’s father is killed in a Japanese bombing raid. Haoli herself dies rescuing orphan children. Overwhelmed by grief and rage, Johnny mans a machine gun and shoots down a Japanese aircraft in a defiant, emotional showdown—the moment when personal loss transforms into moral reckoning Wikipedia.

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Production & Legacy

• Directed by Henry Hathaway, screenplay by Ben Hecht, story by Darryl F. Zanuck YouTube+7AFI Catalog+7Wikipedia+7.

• The film was shot in black-and-white, released by 20th Century Fox in December 1942, and also known as A Yank in China, Burma Road, and Over the Burma Road AFI Catalog+2Wikipedia+2Wikipedia+2.

• Noted by critics as a propaganda-laced adventure romance, blending wartime urgency with Hollywood melodrama. While praised for Tierney’s screen presence and Hathaway’s direction, it is often considered a minor part of the studio’s output, notable for its anti-Japanese wartime messaging and exotic setting YouTube+2mysteryfile.com+2Letterboxd+2.

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Why It Matters

• Offers a window into WWII-era American cinema, combining espionage, cross-cultural romance, and wartime heroism.

• Illustrates Hollywood’s shifting political narratives and mounting attention to Asia as a theater of conflict.

• Features early Gene Tierney in a rare ethnically ambiguous leading role, showcasing her talent and star quality amidst a stirring, if flawed, narrative.

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You said:

Vassar-educated ?

ChatGPT said:

Yes — in the 1942 film China Girl, Gene Tierney’s character, Haoli Young, is portrayed as a Vassar-educated Chinese-American woman.

This detail is explicitly mentioned in dialogue to emphasize:

• Her Western education and refinement, contrasting with the setting of wartime China and Burma;

• Her intellectual and moral strength, which deepens her appeal to the male lead, Johnny (George Montgomery);

• Her role as a cultural bridge — fluent in both Eastern and Western worlds — highlighting the film’s wartime message of international solidarity and the nobility of the Allied cause.

Though Vassar College in real life had very few (if any) Asian students during that era, Hollywood used this backstory to give Haoli an air of prestige and dignity — consistent with the 1940s convention of portraying female leads as "civilized" or "worthy" through elite education.

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Vassar College is a prestigious private liberal arts college located in Poughkeepsie, New York, founded in 1861. It was one of the original Seven Sisters colleges — elite institutions established to provide women with an education comparable to that of the Ivy League (which were then all-male). Vassar became coeducational in 1969.

Notable Features:

• Known for academic rigor, progressive values, and a strong tradition in the liberal arts and sciences.

• Vassar has produced many notable alumni, including:

  • Elizabeth Bishop (poet),

  • Meryl Streep (transferred before graduation),

  • Jane Fonda (attended briefly),

  • Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (attended before transferring to George Washington University),

  • Lisa Kudrow (actress).

Relevance in Film:

In classic Hollywood films — such as China Girl (1942) — referencing Vassar served as cinematic shorthand for:

• Refinement,

• Intelligence and education,

• A woman of upper-class or cosmopolitan background.

So when Gene Tierney’s character is described as “Vassar-educated,” it conveys that she’s not only cultured and intelligent but also aligned with American values — a deliberate narrative choice during wartime.