High Road to China | |
---|---|
Directed by | Brian G. Hutton |
Produced by | Fred Weintraub |
Screenplay by |
Sandra Weintraub S. Lee Pogostin |
Based on |
High Road to China by Jon Cleary |
Starring | |
Music by | John Barry |
Cinematography | Ronnie Taylor |
Edited by | John Jympson |
Production
company |
|
Distributed by |
Warner Bros. Umbrella Entertainment |
Release date
|
|
Running time
|
105 minutes |
Country | United States Yugoslavia Hong Kong |
Language | English |
Budget | $15 million |
Box office | $28,445,927 |
High Road to China (a.k.a. Raiders of the End of the World) is a 1983 American adventure-romance film set in the 1920s starring Tom Selleck in his first major starring role, playing a hard-drinking biplane pilot hired by society heiress Eve "Evie" Tozer (Bess Armstrong) to find her missing father (Wilford Brimley). The supporting cast includes Robert Morley and Brian Blessed. The Golden Harvest film (released by Warner Bros.) is loosely based on a novel of the same name by Jon Cleary. However, little beyond character names and the basic premise of an aerial race to China survived the translation to film.
While Brian G. Hutton ended up as the final director, originally, High Road to China was helmed by John Huston, before being replaced by Sidney J. Furie. 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.
Eve Tozer (Bess Armstrong) is a society heiress and flapper living the high-life in 1920s Istanbul. She needs to find her father, Bradley Tozer (Wilford Brimley), before he is officially declared dead or risk losing her inheritance to his scheming business partner, Bentik (Robert Morley). She only has 12 days. Eve hires World War I ace pilot Patrick O'Malley (Tom Selleck) 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 and China.