So Proudly We Hail!

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.

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

Since both of my Philippine parents were born while World War II was on and my mom eventually became a nurse, I've long wanted to watch this war drama about American nurses as they struggled to keep their sanity during that conflict. Before I go to the leading ladies, I have to mention that one of the first people we see on screen is one Mary Treen, a player from my favorite film-It's a Wonderful Life, who is another of the medical staff who provides some of the narration of the first half. She's just as compelling as many of the rest of the supporting cast which includes Sonny Tufts as a goofy soldier who falls for Paulette Goddard, and George Reeves as an Army man who takes a shine to Claudette Colbert. It's largely Colbert and Goddard who provide the spirit and occasional heartbreak of the film as we watch them both praise and whine about how the war is going. But the one genuine surprise here is Veronica Lake, usually a glamor girl in her roles, who becomes sullen here because of a tragedy involving Pearl Harbor. So on that note, So Proudly We Hail! comes highly recommended.

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.

Without some of the sappy romances, I would have rated this powerful movie a couple of stars higher. That's only my tastes in films. For the ladies, they might like this "war movie," a lot more because it pays tribute mainly nurses and all the romances are probably just the ticket.

But for 126 minutes, I would have liked to see a bit less courtship scenes, which included some corny dialog. I realize they needed to break up the action scenes and give something for the females to watch, but they often made no sense. For example, near the end Colbert marries George Reeves (yes, Superman) even though she admits she knows almost nothing about the man!!.

I did enjoy watching Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard and Vernoica Lake, however. All of them looked very pretty. Lake was missing her peek-a-boo long blonde hair but probably - at least facially - looked better than I've ever seen her. Her role was the most interesting.

The movie succeeds in paying tribute to unsung heroes of any war: the nurses. They were an extremely hard-worked, under-appreciated group during World War II, so this tribute is well- earned and I'm glad to have seen it. God bless those ladies who made such sacrifices.