Destination Gobi

My father was a part of this group, they were actually called SACO. He liked this movie, thought it was somewhat accurate. He was a Navy Chief Petty Officer, a Medic, he loved Mongolia, it reminded him of Montana, where he grew up, and he admired the people. He liked the humor in it. They were actually a sort of obscure, almost "guerilla" group. Kind of like Navy Calvary. I thought it was called "Saddles for SACO", (maybe another earlier title?). He always felt it was a great mistake to underestimate the indigenous people, he used to use Mr.Custer as an example. All the West Point training or Annapolis , for that , purpose , may not help you in the end.And he told me, all Americans think they're John Wayne, unfortunately, those ponies didn't always know.

The title suggests something more rugged. But for once they weren't joking when the opening crawl declared this "one of the strangest stories of World War II" (although they probably were when they cast Mervyn Vye as the leader of "the First Mongolian Cavalry". While another of the locals is a kleptomaniac nicknamed 'Harpo' who like his namesake communicates through mime).

The tale of "a bunch of weathermen chasing balloons" across Inner Mongolia, the most arduous part of shooting Robert Wise's first colour film was probably lugging the enormous Technicolor camera about; which paradoxically makes it incongruously pretty to contemplate.

There were a lot of WW2 pictures made in the late 40s and early 50s, made as uncomplicated gung-ho nostalgia, doubling as propaganda for the ongoing war in Korea. By and large they were cheap and cheerful affairs; poorly scripted and poorly acted. Destination Gobi is just such a picture, its main exception being that it is somewhat spruced up by the direction of the great Robert Wise.

Being relatively low-budget Destination Gobi is rather short on action, instead relying upon suspense sequences and musings on military life for its entertainment value. Sadly the screenplay isn't quite up to the task. There is a sprinkling of quasi-philosophical dialogue, most of which is feeble and unconvincing (the only line I liked was the one about Inner Mongolia being "hotter, dryer and inner"). The characters are the usual B-movie one-dimensionals, and many scenes are so lacking in credibility the tension can't work because there is no real sense of danger.

This is where Robert Wise comes in. It's often interesting, albeit dissatisfying, to see a really top-notch director slumming it in a B-unit – to see what they can make out of the weakest of elements. This is especially true of Wise, who had no ego and always aimed to make the best out of whatever the studios threw at him. This is his first colour picture and, as far as I know his earliest to really make use of wide-open spaces. Most of Wise's pictures up until now had been gritty thrillers, and even his 1948 horse opera Blood on the Moon is – literally – a dark Western. It's been remarked by others that the landscape in Destination Gobi is filmed to show off its beauty, but also watch Wise's timing. It would be normal convention to cut to a landscape shot after the opening scene at SACO HQ, but in fact Wise takes care not to properly show us the desert and emphasises the smallness and darkness of the tent. Only after the Mongols have been introduced do we get these breathtaking outdoor shots. The contrast is striking and it makes us associate the Mongols with the beauty of the location, even if only subconsciously.

I am sure Wise knew he had been given a bum script, and he takes advantage of the quiet moments. Wise's direction was generally at its best when there was no dialogue anyway (check out Lawrence Tierney in Born to Kill) and he particularly seemed to like drawing out these moments and giving the actors space to emote. Consequently there is tenderness uncharacteristic of such a picture when the soldiers mourn a fallen comrade, opening the scene with a respectful long shot of the gravesite. Again the natural beauty of the landscape is used, this time as a bittersweet counterpoint.

The cast is headed by Richard Widmark, who like Wise was good at what he did yet spent much of his career in B-flicks. And, as with Wise, we can look at this positively and say that he at least leant some quality to pictures that have very little else going for them. He can't quite make the appalling dialogue sound plausible, but at least he emotes well and has strong presence. The Mongol characters may not be granted any dignity by the screenplay, but at least the reliable Murvyn Vye turns in a dignified performance as Chief Kengtu, adding a layer of personality to the character that is not there in the script.

These little oases of quality do not prevent Destination Gobi from mostly being a desert of mediocrity. Studying Robert Wise's work, this is like a little exercise in thoughtful direction, but nothing more because there isn't enough depth to the story or characters to make it pay off. And who would expect more from a ninety-minute no-brainer? However, at least the efforts of Wise (as well as renowned art directors Lyle Wheeler and Lewis Creber, and cinematographer Charles Clarke – well-deserved honourable mentions) have made it nice to look at. It's occasionally even entertaining as well.

Destination Gobi finds Richard Widmark assigned as the ranking non-commissioned officer on a Navy weather station in the Gobi Desert. Wrap your mind around that concept, Navy personnel in the middle of the Gobi Desert.

It's not an assignment that a guy who was a CPO on the USS Enterprise in 1944 is looking for. But that's what he's drawn. Widmark is to assist Captain Russell Collins in setting up one of a series of weather station in Inner Mongolia, that is that part of Mongolia located inside the Great Wall of China.

Collins is a meteorologist with a Navy commission, so Widmark is really the guy in charge. Setting up the advance outpost, the dozen or so sailors have to establish good relations with the local Mongol tribesmen who pretty much live as they did under Genghis Khan. The gifts that put it over are a requisition for some old army saddles from the late U.S. Cavalry.

Later on the Japanese bomb the station and Collins and others are killed. It's up to Widmark to get his men out of the Gobi Desert and avoid falling into the hands of the Japanese. The Mongols and their saddles prove to be of invaluable assistance.

I think Destination Gobi got a bit off track after the Japanese attack. The first part of the film was quite good, especially depicting the Mongol culture. But after the attack the escapades of the men trying to get to U.S. lines which in this case means to Eastern China and across the water to Okinawa was a bit much. The Japanese were shown to be as dumb as the Axis powers were shown during World War II and the height of the propaganda films made back then. Richard Loo who played so many nasty Japanese back in the day was the Japanese commander and he must have had a recurring case of deja vu.

Still Widmark does a fine job as does Murvyn Vye who is the head Mongol. They are ably supported by such stalwart character players as Don Taylor, Martin Milner, Casey Adams, Darryl Hickman, and Earl Holliman.

Destination Gobi could have been a much better film.

I saw this movie on television years ago. Thankfully it was filmed in color, which only serves to enhance the appearance of the Mongol culture depicted in the film. Richard Widmark is always fun to watch and watching the two opposite cultures Mongol and Navy try to deal with each other was interesting. The story was unusual although mostly factual and would like to see it again, even purchase it. It manages to keep your attention mostly without explosions and chaos typical of a wartime environment. Good movie!