La legión blanca

Claudette Colbert heads up a team of army nurses caring for the wounded and dying in "So Proudly We Hail!" It's a great ensemble of fine actresses, including Paulette Goddard, Veronica Lake, Barbara Britton and others. This is the women's story, not often told, but certainly harrowing and inspiring. These nurses are in the Phillipines when MacArthur pulls out and they become stranded on Corregidor.

The film is told in flashbacks, when the women are actually on their way home by ship, and Colbert, who plays "Davy" (Janet Davidson) is catatonic. The ship's doctor is trying to figure out how to help her and asks the women to tell their story. It's a rough one, filled with bombings, filth, malaria, little food, exhaustion, and dying.

When "So Proudly We Hail!" was released, no one knew how the war would end as we do now, and the fall of the Philippines was seen as a major defeat for the U.S. I suspect that although the impact of seeing it today is very strong, it must have been a lot stronger for wartime audiences.

As mentioned, it was wartime, so Hollywood didn't have a lot of men to choose from. George Reeves - today himself the subject of a film - plays Davy's love interest, John, and he's not only hunky but excellent. I couldn't figure out if he had a good speaking voice or I was just so used to hearing it after growing up with "Superman." But he's very effective, and it's sad that after serving in the war, he couldn't get his career back on track. Unfortunately, that happened to many actors who were just getting a foothold when war broke out.

The other actor is the often maligned Sonny Tufts, a big, good looking blond who wasn't much of an actor, but he doesn't detract from the film either. He was probably more suited to this role than he was to others later on.

But this is a women's movie all the way. At 40, Colbert was probably a little old for the role. However, she does a good job as a tough but motherly woman, protective of her nurses and quite the rule-breaker herself after she meets John. Veronica Lake gives what is perhaps her best performance as the angry Olivia. The supporting Oscar nomination should have gone to her - it's a showy role, and she does a fantastic job. Paulette Goddard did receive the nomination. She's a flirty, sexy man magnet and extremely likable. I've always thought in real life, with all that charm and charisma, she must have had to beat men off with a stick.

"So Proudly We Hail!" gives as realistic a depiction of the conditions of war and the tremendous work of the nurses who served. It covers the same material as the excellent "Cry Havoc!" - also about nurses on Bataan. I highly recommend both films.

As a bit of trivia, there were nurses who did not get out of Corregidor and were captured. They worked in the prison hospitals and had to endure terrible conditions, but surprisingly, they did survive -a tribute to their incredible inner strength and devotion to the wounded.

"So Proudly We Hail!" is an absolutely magnificent film in every way. This movie was NOT a propaganda film like so many made during that time were. There was no "rah-rah" attitude anywhere in this film. This is one of the first films that put women in the spotlight as true war heroes, and in the front lines. The movie was extremely important for women, and how women are viewed in films. This film centers around the true horrors that the courageous nurses who served in WWII at Corregidor went through. NOTHING at all was candy coated, so to speak. As you watch this film, and remember that it was made in 1943, you will be shocked at some of the content for that time period. Amazing performances by all, including the great Claudette Colbert, George Reeves (from Superman fame), Veronica Lake (In certainly her finest performance), and Paullette Goddard who was nominated for an Academy Award. The script for this film was written by using the stories from journals, and diaries of the actual nurses who served at Corregidor. Some of these nurses made it back, and some didn't. Some of the surviving nurses of Corregidor were also brought in during production as technical advisors to the film makers. A few of them were even used as extras. Issues of Life magazine, and photographers from Life magazine who were there, were brought in assure even more accuracy concerning uniforms, and surroundings. The fact that this movie was released while the war was still going on, is further testament to it's courageous stance in not candy coating the horrors of war. This is one of the few old WWII films that I would love to see remade. A remake of this film could be as huge as "Saving Private Ryan" As you watch the film, you will see what I mean. This film was well written, had outstanding acting, mature subject matter for the time period, and was an historical achievement for putting courageous women in the spotlight. All of these elements together, make for a classic film that is a MUST SEE for everyone. Why this film is not in the AFI Top 100 is a mystery to me.

Hollywood deserves a big hand of applause for making SO PROUDLY WE HAIL at a time when the U.S. was still involved in WW2 and our struggles to overcome the Japanese in the Pacific. It opened to popular acclaim at New York's Radio City Music Hall where it played to contented audiences who were both entertained and impressed by the war realism depicted as nurses undergo the rigors of work among the wounded.

It's still pretty impressive, although some of the flag-waving gets a little heavy and the suds flow pretty freely when the nurses discover romance. Claudette Colbert leads the pack of nurses with a nobility only Claudette could demonstrate--and sincerity. In lesser roles, Veronica Lake and Paulette Goddard acquit themselves well, with Goddard receiving a Supporting Actress nomination.

Sonny Tufts achieved instant popularity with his role as the bumbling Kansas and George Reeves had one of the best roles of his career as Colbert's love interest.

What makes the film remarkable for its time is the way it handles all of the action sequences--and there are plenty of them. The explosions don't look as if they're happening on a studio set but in the jungles and terrain of the story--and they're mighty effective in their realism, something even today's audiences can appreciate.

On the debit side, the story is a little overlong and the flashback technique might not appeal to everyone. Still, it has holding power and is an example of one of the finer films of the period to deal with the role of women during World War II.

SO PROUDLY WE HAIL! (1943) has hard-hitting battleground action while telling a story about women (U.S. Army nurses) and women's issues. It's very well-done. The nurses struggle with their duty and their personal lives (romances, etc.) while facing the horrors of war. The special effects are surprisingly effective, rocking the camera with brutal explosions, and the war-zone drama is sure to bring a tear to one's eye.

The setting of the action is the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines, where U.S. forces were hopelessly outnumbered and cut off from relief early in WWII. The film was made in the middle of the war when the outcome was anything but certain. It's a bit unusual in Hollywood films to see the U.S. losing battles. Seeing the Americans routed by the Japanese in the Philippines almost makes one wonder if the U.S. had a chance in the Pacific. The film has a patriotic flavor and seems to say that Americans have the courage and the spirit to overcome the early setbacks and get the job done (in the name of freedom, etc.).

Claudette Colbert is solid as always in the lead, playing the selfless officer looking after the other girls. Paulette Goddard gives a great performance, earning an Oscar nomination. She's all personality. She's funny, but not overly so, and has some touching dramatic moments. Viewers will also see a side to Veronica Lake they'd never expect. Dark and serious.

George Reeves plays the soldier who falls in love with Colbert, giving her someone to worry about while she works to keep the hospital base running despite short supplies and occasional Japanese air raids. Marine Sonny Tufts pairs off with Goddard in a sweet, but more comical relationship.

Directed by Astaire-Rogers musical-comedy veteran Mark Sandrich, SO PROUDLY WE HAIL! is a very effective war drama. Even though it focuses on the nurses and not the soldiers, the depiction of war is gritty and tough. The action scenes pull no punches. Viewers sympathize with the characters in their personal struggles, but also with the greater American forces in the context of the war. It's interesting to see a film like this made during WWII when things could've gone either way for the "good guys". Sonny Tufts can't believe the U.S. is on the losing side of the Battle of Bataan. Claudette Colbert gives a speech about the reality of war, with Americans being killed in places Americans used to think of as exotic and far away. It's a global affair and the U.S. was in it now, for keeps.

7.5/10

Another fine film from AMC's 1998 "Veterans' Day Movie Marathon."

This one details (in flashbacks) the daily ordeals of a company of Red Cross nurses serving in Bataan and Corregidor during WWII. For a change, Paulette Goddard plays the nurse with most of the male admirers (Sonny Tufts in particular), with Veronica Lake showing up late in a decidedly unsexy role (about which I can't say much more than that, lest I ruin it for you). Both offer up career performances, if that's saying much. Their leader, durable talent Claudette Colbert, holds the troop together throughout, despite numerous tragedies. Helping to prop *her* up is her persistent suitor George Reeves (later of the TV series, "Superman"). Interesting for the fact that it was shot while the war was still raging ~ so there are a lot of decidedly non-PC references to "Japs" ~ but this is a real salute to the unsung women who served in "the big one." A must-rent.

4 Stars.