Back to Bataan (1945)

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

Ben Barzman (screenplay) and
Richard H. Landau (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

31 May 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

SEE! American landings on Leyte! Cabanatuan prisoners freed in spectacular Yankee raid! (original poster)

Plot:

The US Army's defense of its Philippines colony and the allied Malay countries/colonies behind it counted...

Plot Keywords:

Guerrilla | Philippines | Japan | Captain | Independence

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

John Wayne	...	Col. Joseph Madden
Anthony Quinn	...	Capt. Andrés Bonifácio
Beulah Bondi	...	Bertha Barnes
Fely Franquelli	...	Dalisay Delgado
Richard Loo	...	Maj. Hasko
Philip Ahn	...	Col. Coroki
Alex Havier	...	Sgt. Bernessa (as J. Alex Havier)
'Ducky' Louie	...	Maximo Cuenca
Lawrence Tierney	...	Lt. Cmdr. Waite
Leonard Strong	...	Gen. Homma
Paul Fix	...	Bindle Jackson
Abner Biberman	...	Japanese Captain
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Señor Buenaventura J. Bello

Also Known As:

The Invisible Army (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | USA:Approved (certificate #10576) | UK:PG | Finland:(Banned) (uncut) (1954) | Finland:K-16 (heavily cut) (1954) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Philippines

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

This is one of a handful of feature film movies that have featured the story of the World War II Battle of Bataan. They include Bataan (1943), So Proudly We Hail! (1943); They Were Expendable (1945) and Back to Bataan (1945).

Goofs:

Continuity: During the climatic battle, we see Quinn crawling through the mud with his Thompson as a Japanese truck is bearing down on him. Wayne peppers the truck with machine gun fire, causing it to crash. A second later you see Quinn join up with Wayne and he's perfectly clean.

Quotes:

Maj. Hasko: I send out 100 men, they find nothing. I send out ten men, they don't come back.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Into the Breach: 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998) (V)

An exceptional WWII action film

While this film is a tad heavy from time to time with propaganda elements, in many ways this war film stands well above the usual crowd of jingoistic American war films. Now I am NOT being critical saying the films are "jingoistic", as this was positive propaganda that slightly exaggerated the truth in order to unify the country against the Japanese. After all, we were at war and Japan had conquered most of the Pacific. But films made during the war often sacrificed reality in order to deliver the message--such as in AIR FORCE when a B-17 bomber almost single-handedly wipes out half the Japanese planes!! Fortunately, beneath the occasionally heavy-handed patriotism, the film itself was a very good representation of the war in the Philippines. This, combined with excellent action scenes and better than average acting make this a film worth seeing. In particular, other than IN HARMS WAY, this is John Wayne's best WWII film, as his acting is a little less "bigger than life" and more realistic. Also, if you liked this film, I also strongly recommend BATAAN (starring a surprisingly macho Robert Taylor). This film focuses on the fall of Bataan and BACK TO BATAAN is a great companion piece as it focuses not only on this but its reconquest. Top notch entertainment and a decent history lesson to boot!