Errol Flynn did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Captain Nelson in Objective, Burma!.
A performance by Errol Flynn I typically see is how much he relaxes in a part. As the more relaxed Flynn is typically the more his charisma comes out and the more you just believe him. When he's trying to actively sell something then that is where it comes off as the most phony and forced out of his performances. Flynn's performance here is notable then because it is perhaps his most relaxed in a way, though in a way that you might not expect either. In the early scenes it adds up enough where Flynn gives kind of an unknown accent, but regardless he stays with it, so I never minded it regardless. But what more so he brings is this ease about his whole performance that is remarkable in creating this innate sense of leadership in his Captain with his platoon by portraying the way the man always seems to be calming within his troops. What is surprising is that the calm is brought out by being this superman, rather Flynn plays the part as normal guy but a normal guy who just takes everything in stride. There's little comic asides that he doesn't sell like big one liners, but rather purposefully easing away at the tension of the obvious life or death situation they're all in. Flynn's performance is reassuring in the right way as you see how his Captain is commanding his men's spirit in a way by compelling them into going into the mission with a reserve that understands the stakes but is not overwhelmed by them. His work surprised me in that Flynn is often the leader and in this instance he did it with even greater ease, then the ease I expect from his better performances.
When the mission actually begins is where I actually was all the more taken aback by what Flynn is doing in this performance, particularly within the war genre at this time. The platoon leader, or really any soldier at this time was usually within a certain kind of performance of the stoic leader, the fierce warrior, that sort of thing, where Flynn very much instead here plays him just like a guy on a mission, which is kind of fascinating in a way, and perhaps more pioneering than I imagine perhaps he even intended. With Flynn very much playing moments as casually as can be considered appropriate per the war setting, as he's not going into these big emotional swings rather he paints this portrait of consistency that is rather remarkable at times. Because it isn't that Flynn is playing it without thought or connection to what is going on in the situation, rather he is entirely is, but what is going on, is it is woven within his performance in this way that creates the sense of reality. There are moments where men die, even men are brutally killed in one sequence, and the Captain is always the man of calm. Flynn's performance though isn't as though he doesn't care, rather what Flynn does with some fairly modest reactions and internalized moments in his eyes, conveys that all that hardship is going through the Captain, he's just insisting on being strong for the men no matter what happens. His delivery here tends to keep that calm we had at the start, but he does change throughout, in that it is a bit more stressed within it, yet Flynn's performance conveys the intensity as pressure however not something that ever breaks him. Flynn's performance punctuates moments impressively with that subdued emotion, which consistently realizes the real horror of the situation, but without overtures. However, having said all this, I wouldn't say this is flawlessly executed as such, even if intriguing in its imperfect infancy of a concept. Perhaps part of that is the material which is close to something special, but not *quite* there, and even Flynn as well, who has tendency to stiffness if he doesn't fully believe himself, which is mostly avoided here, though not entirely. Regardless, a good performance on its own terms and worth taking a look at this performer.
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