Passport to China

Passport to China (a.k.a. Visa to Canton) is a 1960 British adventure spy film released by Columbia Pictures; directed by Michael Carreras and starring Richard Basehart, Lisa Gastoni, Eric Pohlmann and Bernard Cribbins. The screenplay, which concerns a pilot who tries to rescue a girl from Communist-controlled China, was based on a story by Gordon Wellesley and made by Swallow Productions and Hammer Films.[1]

Passport to China
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael Carreras
Written byGordon Wellesley
Produced byMichael Carreras
StarringRichard Basehart
Athene Seyler
Lisa Gastoni
CinematographyArthur Grant
Edited byJames Needs
Alfred Cox
Music byEdwin Astley
Production
companies
Swallow Productions Ltd.
Hammer Film Productions
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
(UK & US)
Release date
  • 26 December 1960 (1960-12-26) (UK)
Running time
75 minutes
CountriesUnited Kingdom
France
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Don Benton (Richard Basehart), a former World War II combat pilot, now running a travel agency in Hong Kong, refuses to take political sides and flatly rejects an offer to do espionage work for the United States.

When Mao Tai Tai (Athene Seyler), an old Chinese woman who more or less adopted Benton during the war years, asks him to try to find her missing grandson.

Knowing that the grandson was piloting a Formosan aircraft that disappeared over mainland China, Benton obtains a passport through a Russian friend, Ivano Kang (Eric Pohlmann). Flying to the mainland, he rescues the downed pilot.

To clear the young man's name, Benton goes to Canton to bring back one of the aircraft passengers, an independent agent, Lola Sanchez (Lisa Gastoni), who has memorized a vital scientific formula and is willing to sell it to the highest bidder.

Kang tries to get the formula from her, but she kills him. Benton hopes to get Lola out of the city, but as they work their way through holiday street crowds, she is fatally wounded by Kang's bodyguard and dies with her secret. Back in Hong Kong, Benton once more turns down an offer to do undercover work for the U.S. government.

Cast

Production

Location scenes for Passport to China were filmed in Hong Kong. Released in Great Britain in Technicolor in December 1960 as Visa to Canton, the film was shown in the US in black-and-white.[2] Although the male lead, Richard Basehart had starred in a number of prestigious feature films in the 1950s, by this point in his career, his prospects had faded.[3] [N 1]

Reception

Film reviewer Sandra Brennan, described the spy drama as one of a "reluctant hero" who becomes involved in the Cold War tensions surrounding Communist China. Ultimately, "he refuses to do any more work for American intelligence."[5]

References

Notes
  1. Basehart's style, characterised as sensitive and versatile, was also distant and a bit subdued," fit the reluctant hero of Passport to China.[4]

Citations
  1. "Film details: 'Visa to Canton' (1960)." BFI.com, 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  2. "Notes: 'Passport to China'." tcm.cm, 2019. Retrieved: 12 May 2019.
  3. Quinlan 1996, p. 44.
  4. Aylesworth and Bowman 1991, p. 24.
  5. "Movie info: 'Visa to Canton' ('Passport to China')." Rovi, 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.

Bibliography
  • Aylesworth, Thomas and John S. Bowman. World Guide To Film Stars. London: Brompton Books, 1991. ISBN 0-861-24873-2.
  • Quinlan, David. Quinlan's Film Stars. Washington, D.C.: Brassey's, 1996. ISBN 978-1-5748-8318-3.
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