''High Road to China'' (a.k.a. ''Raiders of the End of the World'') is a 1983 American

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

set in the 1920s starring

Tom Selleck Thomas William Selleck (; born January 29, 1945) is an American actor. His breakout role was playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in the television series '' Magnum, P.I.'' (1980–1988), for which he received five Emmy Award nominations ...

in his first major starring role, playing a hard-drinking

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

pilot hired by society heiress Eve "Evie" Tozer (

Bess Armstrong Elizabeth Key "Bess" Armstrong (born December 11, 1953) is an American film, stage and television actress. She is best known for her roles in films '' The Four Seasons'' (1981), '' High Road to China'' (1983), ''Jaws 3-D'' (1983), and ''Nothing i ...

) to find her missing father (

Wilford Brimley Anthony Wilford Brimley (September 27, 1934 – August 1, 2020) was an American actor. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and working odd jobs in the 1950s, Brimley started working as an extra and stuntman in Western films in the l ...

). The supporting cast includes

Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, of ...

and

Brian Blessed Brian Blessed (; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor, presenter, writer and mountaineer. Blessed is known for portraying PC "Fancy" Smith in ''Z-Cars'', Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of ''I, Claudius'', King Richard IV i ...

. The Golden Harvest film (released by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

) is loosely based on the 1977 novel of the same name by

Jon Cleary Jon Stephen Cleary (22 November 191719 July 2010) was an Australian writer and novelist. He wrote numerous books, including '' The Sundowners'' (1951), a portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next, and '' The ...

. However, little beyond character names and the basic premise of an aerial race to China survived the translation to film. While

Brian G. Hutton Brian Geoffrey Hutton (January 1, 1935 – August 19, 2014) was an American actor and film director whose notable credits are for the action films '' Where Eagles Dare'' (1968) and ''Kelly's Heroes'' (1970). Acting career Hutton was born in New Y ...

ended up as the final director, originally, ''High Road to China'' was to be helmed by

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...

, and then Sidney J. Furie, before both left the project. The musical score was composed by John Barry. It was the 27th highest-grossing film of 1983, bringing in $28,445,927 at the domestic

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

Plot

Eve Tozer is a society heiress and

flapper Flappers were a subculture of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee height was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptab ...

living the high-life in 1920s

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. She needs to find her father, Bradley Tozer, before he is officially declared dead or risk losing her inheritance to his scheming business partner, Bentik. She only has 12 days. Eve hires

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

pilot Patrick O'Malley and his aircraft. O'Malley is eager to take the job as he needs to leave town rather urgently himself. Eve, also an accomplished pilot, however, is determined to accompany him in his other aircraft, which causes the first of many arguments on the way from Istanbul to China. Their journey in two biplanes (named "Dorothy" and "Lillian" after the famous Gish silent film star sisters) through six countries leads them to finally find the eccentric Bradley Tozer in China, where he is helping a small village defend itself against a local warlord. O'Malley and Eve help them win the final battle, but their one remaining aircraft is damaged in the process, leaving her seemingly unable to meet her deadline.

Cast

as Patrick O'Malley *

as Eve "Evie" Tozer *

Jack Weston Jack Weston (born Morris Weinstein; August 21, 1924 – May 3, 1996) was an American actor. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1976 and a Tony Award in 1981. Career Weston, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, usually played comic roles in fi ...

as Struts *

as Bradley Tozer *

as Bentik *

as Suleman Khan *Sime Jagarinac as Khan's Nephew *Domagoj Vukusic as Chauffeur *

Cassandra Gava Cassandra Gava (born April 28, 1959) is an American actress and producer best known for her performance as the witch in the 1982 film ''Conan the Barbarian'', and as the slave woman Alessa in '' High Road to China''. She appeared in 21 films betw ...

as Alessa *Peggy Sirr as Alessa's Mother *

Michael Sheard Michael Sheard (18 June 1938 – 31 August 2005) was a Scottish character actor who featured in many films and television programmes, and was known for playing villains. His most prominent television role was as strict deputy headmaster Mauric ...

as Charlie *

Lynda La Plante Lynda La Plante, CBE (born Lynda Titchmarsh; 15 March 1943) is an English author, screenwriter and former actress, best known for writing the ''Prime Suspect'' television crime series. Early life Lynda La Plante was born Lynda Titchmarsh on ...

as Lina * Terry Richards as Ginger * Robert Lee as Zura *Shayur Mehta as Ahmed *

Jeremy Child Sir Coles John Jeremy Child, 3rd Baronet (20 September 1944 – 7 March 2022) was a British actor. Early life Coles John Jeremy Child was born on 20 September 1944 in Woking, Surrey, son of Foreign Office diplomat Sir Coles John Child, 2nd ...

as Silversmith *

Peter Llewellyn Williams Peter Llewellyn Williams (born 21 March 1964) is a British stage and television actor. He is best known for his part as Much the Miller's Son in the 1980s cult TV series ''Robin of Sherwood''. Williams was born in Paddington. In addition to his ...

as Franjten Khan *Hai Ching Lim as Tozer's Lieutenant *

Dino Shafeek Dino Shafeek (born Gholam D. Shafeek, 21 March 1930 – 10 March 1984) was a Bangladeshi-British comedy actor. Born and raised in Dhaka, he moved to the United Kingdom from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1958 and appeared in several sitcom ...

as Satvinda * Anthony Chinn as General Wong *Chua Kahjoo as Wong's Aide *

Timothy Bateson Timothy Dingwall Bateson (3 April 1926 – 15 September 2009) was an English actor. Life and career Born in London, the son of solicitor Dingwall Latham Bateson and the great-nephew of rugby player Harold Dingwall Bateson, he was educated at ...

as Alec Wedgeworth *

Wolf Kahler Wolf Kahler (born 3 April 1940) is a German stage, film, television, and voice actor. Since 1975, he appeared in many English language US and UK television and film productions. One of his early roles was Kaiser Wilhelm II in Michael York's ...

as Von Hess * Ric Young as Kim Su Lee *Zdenka Hersak as Countess *Marc Boyle as Henchman *Kim Rook Teoh as Wong's Lieutenant *Daniel Clucas as British Officer *John Higginson as British Officer *

Simon Prebble Simon Micawber Prebble (born 13 February 1942) is an English–American narrator. Initially a stage actor, he has a wide-ranging career in television drama, was a game show announcer in Britain, and a voice-over narrator for television, and film ...

as British Officer *

Timothy Carlton Timothy Carlton Congdon Cumberbatch (born 4 October 1939) is an English actor. Early years Carlton was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, the son of Pauline Ellen Laing (née Congdon), who died on 11 October 2007, and Henry Carlton Cumberba ...

as Officer

Production

''High Road to China'' is regarded as one of the 'imitators' that populated movie theaters in the years following ''

Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...

''. However, as in the case of ''

Romancing the Stone ''Romancing the Stone'' is a 1984 action-adventure romantic comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Diane Thomas and produced by Michael Douglas, who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. The f ...

'', another so-called 'imitator', the source material actually predated the aforementioned Lucasfilm production by four years. Rumor has it that it was "given" to Selleck as a sort of consolation prize for having to pass on ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' due to scheduling conflicts with ''

Magnum, P.I. ''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on ...

'' In early development, the film was slated to star Roger Moore and

Jacqueline Bisset Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( ; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and first came to prominence in 1968 with roles in '' The Detective'', ''Bullitt'', and ''The Sweet Ride'', for which she rec ...

under the direction of

. Then Huston and Bissett dropped out and

Bo Derek Bo Derek (born Mary Cathleen Collins, November 20, 1956) is an American actress and model. Her breakthrough film role was in the romantic comedy '' 10'' (1979). Her first husband John Derek directed her in '' Fantasies''; '' Tarzan, the Ape Man ...

was to co star with Moore. The budget was to be $16 million. Then Derek dropped out because she only wanted to be directed by her husband. Filming for ''High Road to China'' took place in Yugoslavia with a crew of 231 (145 Yugoslavs, 60 British, 15 Italians, 10 Americans, and one Frenchman). They also added 50 Yugoslav actors to the speaking cast and hired 4,000 extras. Headquarters for the film company was in the small Adriatic coastal town of

Opatija Opatija (; it, Abbazia; german: Sankt Jakobi) is a town and a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in western Croatia. The traditional seaside resort on the Kvarner Gulf is known for its Mediterranean climate and its historic buildings r ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, located on the northwest coast of the Gulf of Rijeka at the foot of Mt. Ucka. It was filmed in Opatija and

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...

, Croatia. Scenes set in Afghanistan were shot at Kamenjak near

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

, while scenes set in Turkey were filmed at

Volosko Volosko (Italian: ''Volosco, Volosca'') is a part of the city of Opatija, located in the Kvarner Gulf in western Croatia. It is located in the north of Opatija, on the road towards Kastav and Rijeka. The toponym ''Volosko'' drives from the nam ...

, and the final battle in China was shot in

Boljun Boljun ( it, Bogliuno) is a village in the municipality of Lupoglav, in Istria County, Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domo ...

. Originally,

Bristol F2B The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit"'' or ''"Bif ...

replicas were built by Vernon Ohmert of Ypsilanti, Michigan. This aircraft type was in the novel, but after construction, the replicas were thought to be dangerous to fly at high altitude and were replaced by two Stampe SV-4 biplanes, (G-AZGC and G-AZGE), provided by Bianchi Aviation Film Services.

Reception

''High Road to China'' was the only new wide release on the March 18–20 weekend, and debuted atop the box office with $6,156,049. It eventually grossed over $28 million domestically. Contemporary critics found the movie to be a substandard imitation of ''Raiders of the Lost Ark''.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film two stars (out of four), writing that it is a "lifeless" movie, "directed at a nice, steady pace, but without flair and without the feeling that anything's being risked." Tom Selleck later recalled:

Patrick O'Malley I'm very fond of ... There were actors at that point who had left a series and started a feature career, but there was no one at that point who was trying to do both at the same time. So that was unique. It also made the jury rather tough, because a lot of people didn't see it that way, so I was walking into an arena where that wasn't accepted. But it's a good movie. It holds up.

''Aerofiles'', a historical aviation website, considered the film as "Strictly mediocre, with substandard action scenes and the flattest dialogue this side of the Great Wall." Aviation film historian Christian Santoir said: "Arriving two years after 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', 'Raiders of the End of the World' was in the same vein, despite certain missing qualities." Film historian Stephen Pendo found ''High Road to China'' "... notable mainly for its aviation sequences, for it lacks character and plot development." C.J. Henderson reviewed ''High Road to China'' in ''

The Space Gamer ''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the la ...

'' No. 63. Henderson commented that "Unless one is looking for a pleasant, harmless, non-sexy, non-violent, disinteresting film to take the grandparents to its best to pass this one by." Christopher John reviewed ''High Road to China'' in '' Ares Magazine'' #14 and commented that "At best, it's cute, and somewhat endearing, but it's not what people who expect another ''Raider'' have in mind. Aside from its breath-taking photography, it is a simple movie which the media people have tried to target for the wrong audience."

Honors

''High Road to China'' was nominated for the 1984 Saturn Award as Best Fantasy Film, while Bess Armstrong was nominated as Best Actress at the

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films is an American non-profit organization established in 1972 dedicated to the advancement of science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Academy is headquarter ...

Festival.

Home media

''High Road to China'' was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment in February 2012. In February 2013, Umbrella Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray."Blu-ray:'High Road to China'."
''Umbrella Entertainment''. Retrieved: December 4, 2015.

References

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:High Road To China 1980s adventure films American adventure films American aviation films Films scored by John Barry (composer) Films based on works by Jon Cleary Films directed by Brian G. Hutton Films set in Afghanistan Films set in China Films set in Istanbul Films set in the 1920s Golden Harvest films Jadran Film films English-language Yugoslav films War romance films Yugoslav adventure films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films