Review of High Road to China (1983) by Basil M — 24 Dec 2011

Eve Tozer (Bess Armstrong) is a society heiress living the high-life in 1920s Istanbul. Suddenly she needs to find her father Bradley Tozer (Wilford Brimley) before he is officially declared dead and she risk losing her inheritance to his scheming partner Bentik (Robert Morley). She hires the hard-drinking WWI ace-pilot Patrick O'Malley (Tom Selleck) and his planes to locate her father. However, Eve, also an accomplished pilot, is determined to accompany him in his other aircraft, which causes the first of many arguments on their way to China...

It is said that Tom Selleck was given this movie to make up for the missed opportunity of doing Indiana Jones in "Raiders Of The Lost Ark". Hard to compare them though I must say. "High Road To China" is however an adventure movie in the same style and sense as "Raiders.." and it works pretty ok. Always been a fan of Tom Selleck and he does a good job as O´Malley and that goes for my old "Lace" crush Bess Armstrong as well. The dynamcis between Selleck and the beautiful Armstrong is of course vital to the story and the sparks do fly. It ´s maybe a bit dated in the setup and how it has been shot, but that didn´t disturb me. Thus, "High Road To China" is one for a lazy sunday afternoon with a big bowl of popcorn.