Bataan (1943)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Tay Garnett

Writer:

Robert Hardy Andrews (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 April 1944 (Sweden)

Genre:

War

Tagline:

THE STORY OF A PATROL OF 13 HEROES

Plot:

Japan has just invaded the Phillipines and the US Army attempts a desperate defence. Thirteen men are...

Plot Keywords:

U.S. Army | Bridge | Japan | Bataan | Attack

Cast

Robert Taylor	...	Sergeant Bill Dane
George Murphy	...	Lieut. Steve Bentley
Thomas Mitchell	...	Corp. Jake Feingold
Lloyd Nolan	...	Corp. Barney Todd
Lee Bowman	...	Capt. Henry Lassiter
Robert Walker	...	Leonard Purckett
Desi Arnaz	...	Felix Ramirez
Barry Nelson	...	F.X. Matowski
Phillip Terry	...	Matthew Hardy
Roque Espiritu	...	Corp. Juan Katigbak
Kenneth Spencer	...	Wesley Eeps
Alex Havier	...	Yankee Salazar (as J. Alex Havier)
Tom Dugan	...	Sam Malloy
Donald Curtis	...	Lieutenant

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish | Latin

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Norway:16 | Canada:14A (video rating) | Finland:K-16 (1964) | Finland:S (1945) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #9122) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

The Call Bureau Cast Service lists Lynne Carver and Dorothy Morris as "Nurses", but they were not identifiable in the movie, although one nurse is seen from the rear and another in long-shot. Also Richard Derr was said to be a cast member and Mary Elliott a "Nurse" in contemporary news items; they also were not seen in the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: Although the American soldier may have been a great coconut tree climber, it is nigh on impossible to sit atop a coconut tree. Many Filipinos to this day fall when attempting this.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie (1993) (TV)

Soundtrack:

St. Louis Blues

The Horrors of War

My Mom saw this movie at the time it was released and said it gave her more nightmares than any horror film she ever saw. It is still violent today and must have been shockingly brutal back in the day.

Yes, you can say some of the soldiers are clichéd, but death is shown unflinchingly. Combat is portrayed as a bloody, messy, fatigue-inducing business. Boredom and endless waiting take their toll on nerves as well. The banter and cocky talk is whistling past the graveyard.

Lloyd Nolan's character is rough and unlikeable. He fights for freedom, but he fights dirty and he doesn't pretty things up with patriotic speeches. Some might complain about the black soldier playing harmonica and taking orders from white men. Actually, for the time, he was portrayed with dignity and shown to be as brave as any of the other soldiers. As for Robert Taylor, his weariness and resolve at the end are stirring and the last scene is not one you will soon forget.

Ignoring the propaganda aspects of the movie, the last half works as almost a pure horror movie, as our cast gets gruesomely picked off by unseen foes lurking in the jungle.

Exciting and gripping, it's easy to overlook the faults of this most violent and gritty of WW2 films made at the time.

"Bushido, Bushwa! You stink!" So died the heroes of Bataan...