We've Never Been Licked

A bit of trivia, my mother was enrolled at Texas Women's College when this movies was filmed. Many Texas Women's College girls appeared in the dance scene in Sbisa, but because the female lead was wearing a light colored dress and all the girls in lighter colors were left out and they had to remove their shoes to not interfere with the sound recording.

And it wasn't Victor Mature claiming it was his worst film on Johnny Carson Tonight Show. Noah Beery would go on to star in the Rockford Files. I forget what the deal with the Japanese was. I personally like the remake with Robert DeNiro better even tough I can't stand him as a person.

This World War II propaganda film is not to be missed. As one of my father's friends described it: "The other night I saw this crazy movie about an Aggie kamakazie..."

Well the plot is odd, set at Texas A&M College (Whoop!). You have to see this movie at the Grove, on campus in the summertime to really get the full effect. Audience participation is essential.

It is a classic of sorts, along with the Victory at Sea series, this belongs in a time capsule about political incorrectness. Still, it's fun to see Robert Mitchum playing his minor part. The voice will grab you anyway. Fun stuff from a bygone era. The closing scene is worth waiting for.

I worked for years with Aggie Cinema and we used to show this movie to the incoming freshman at our outdoor theater, the Grove. Aggie Cinema is defunct, along with the Grove so I'm not sure if the freshman get to see this gem any more.

The interesting bit of trivia was that we were constantly trying to get decent copies of this film to show in the days long before movie restoration. We kept coming up empty handed. We later found out that Robert Mitchum had bought up most of the copies and burned them because he hated his performance. It was not a bad performance. This could have been a lost piece of film lore! Also, note the "mountains" in the scenes of College Station's countryside, which is rolling coastal plain.

One of the reviewers comments that this film is "corney[sic]...(and) if you're not an Aggie, would probably won't like it." Well, I'm not a [Texas] Aggie but I saw this film at the old Kern theater in Bakersfield when I was a kid. I thought it was a true story and went on believing it until I saw it again one night on the late night show on TV. Corny? Well, that may be a bit harsh but in the context of WWII and the times, it doesn't seem so. The fact is, it's dated. Created for US feel-good propaganda during the war, its anti-Japanese message comes across as racist and hate-mongering. But, isn't that what propaganda is all about? As a serious student of the Pacific War, this story shows a horrible lack of understanding of Japanese culture. But, bridging differences and fostering understanding was not the order of the day in 1943. It was "kill Japs," and sadly, this is what this film portends. I hope we don't believe that way now.

Richard Quine is an army brat who grew up in the Far East. Now he's journeyed halfway around the world to attend Texas A&M, his father's alma mater. He hopes to be an Aggie, and bring modern farming techniques to the Philippines. But he's not used to the strange and onerous discipline of the school, despite his friendship with his room mate, Noah Beery Jr., his respect for professor Harry Davenport, and his love for Davenport's daughter, Anne Gwynne. His understanding of the Japanese language and people make him the butt of the growing evidence of Japanese savagery in China. Certainly, upperclassman Robert Mitchum won't let him be.

Walter Wanger produced this 100+ minute propaganda film for Universal. Sometimes it seems a bit long-winded about the college. I checked and was surprised that Wanger did not go to Texas A&M. He started out in vaudeville as a child, then went into the movies as an actor. He switched over to directing in the late 1940s, and specialized in light comedies, often, at first, with scripts by Blake Edwards. He died in 1989 at the age of 68.