Back in the 1930s and 40s, it was not uncommon to have white folks playing Asians, American Indians and the like. After all, it was the era of Charlie Chan! When seen today, these casting decisions seem insane...and in the case of "Prisoner of Japan", the lead Japanese character is played by Ernst Deutsch--a guy born in Austria-Hungary! Why didn't they just use Deutsch to play a GERMAN bad guy in a different WWII propagnda film?!
The film begins with some US naval officers visiting a small island in the Pacific and having a lovely meal with their American hosts. During this meal, the junior officer sure blabs a lot about secret stuff....which seems incredibly difficult to believe. Then, the Navy folks leave...satisfied that the Bowmans are loyal Americans. However, it's all a ruse...and Japanese soldiers are hidden underneath the house and are operating some sort of radar system.
So why is David Bowman (Alan Baxter) cooperating with the Japanese? Well, he's a complete pacifist and wimp...and will do nothing to fight them in any way. The film clearly is an attack on pacifism and through the course of the movie, it's obvious that it's all about David getting sick and tired of the brutality of the Japanese soldiers and eventually he'll rebell. This is made all the more likely when a plucky American lady (Gertrude Michael) is captured and held by these soldiers....and she keeps needling David to stop being a total wimp!
The budget for this film from tiny Atlantis Pictures was only $19,000--a microscopic budget even for 1942. How could a film possibly be any good when there was no money to pay for competent writers and good actors...as well as a director what wasn't a chimpanzee?! Deutsch looked about as Japanese as a pizza...but the gibberish he spoke sounded a bit Japanesey....and his accent wasn't bad...not that this is a glowing endorsement! The others were just okay...though there was a tendency to overact....and a good director would have re-shot a few of these scenes. Overall, watchable but bad. And it makes you wonder how another studio with better actors, directors and a larger budget could have made this same story.
The film begins with some US naval officers visiting a small island in the Pacific and having a lovely meal with their American hosts. During this meal, the junior officer sure blabs a lot about secret stuff....which seems incredibly difficult to believe. Then, the Navy folks leave...satisfied that the Bowmans are loyal Americans. However, it's all a ruse...and Japanese soldiers are hidden underneath the house and are operating some sort of radar system.
So why is David Bowman (Alan Baxter) cooperating with the Japanese? Well, he's a complete pacifist and wimp...and will do nothing to fight them in any way. The film clearly is an attack on pacifism and through the course of the movie, it's obvious that it's all about David getting sick and tired of the brutality of the Japanese soldiers and eventually he'll rebell. This is made all the more likely when a plucky American lady (Gertrude Michael) is captured and held by these soldiers....and she keeps needling David to stop being a total wimp!
The budget for this film from tiny Atlantis Pictures was only $19,000--a microscopic budget even for 1942. How could a film possibly be any good when there was no money to pay for competent writers and good actors...as well as a director what wasn't a chimpanzee?! Deutsch looked about as Japanese as a pizza...but the gibberish he spoke sounded a bit Japanesey....and his accent wasn't bad...not that this is a glowing endorsement! The others were just okay...though there was a tendency to overact....and a good director would have re-shot a few of these scenes. Overall, watchable but bad. And it makes you wonder how another studio with better actors, directors and a larger budget could have made this same story.