La glorieuse aventure

A few years earlier, Gary Cooper starred in the very entertaining LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER--an adventure film about an uprising in Afghanistan and the actions of the British army to crush this rebellion. In this case, the film cast made some sense, as Gary Cooper's accent could be explained away by his being a Canadian. But here, we once again have him playing a very similar role as a soldier in the American army but he is surrounded by British actors. They never really explained how the very-British Reginald Owen and David Niven were American soldiers! But, despite this silly casting, the film is highly entertaining and worth seeing--provided you ignore the strange accents. In addition, like LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER, there was a local tribal insurrection that must be eliminated by training loyal locals to fight to ensure the peace. In the case of this film, it is set in the Philippines and based on the very brief Moro uprising towards the beginning of the 20th century. It's the sort of adventure film you can enjoy provided you have only modest expectations--in other words, this isn't deep or philosophical, but more like a traditional Cowboy and Indian movie set in a tropical setting.

With the American troops retreating from the Philippines due to the strength of the Moro uprising and leaving the locals open to massacre, they leave a few men including Gary Cooper, David Niven and Broderick Crawford behind to train the natives how to defend themselves. The Moro are though determined to lure everyone to the jungle where they can attack them.

Like many gung ho adventures created largely for propaganda purposes in thirties and forties this plays fast and loose with the truth generally in favour of the Americans. Interesting the film was banned in 1942 given that it showed the Moro as blood thirty savages who became allies in WWII.

All this aside, this is a stirring quite brutal gung ho adventure with plenty of high drama, a cholera epidemic, a frightened commanding officer and a number of impressive action packed set pieces. This and Cooper, Niven and Crawford our fearless go getters out to save the locals and battle the blood thirsty savages, what more could one ask for.

This is a very enjoyable adventure that clearly influenced Raiders of the Lost Ark and the other Indiana Jones films. It is expertly directed by the unfairly forgotten Henry Hathaway and Gary Cooper is excellent in the lead role as a doctor assigned to help train Phillipine natives against the dangerous Moro tribesman who regularly invade their villages.

I must point out that another user comment, by one "skt171," attempts to make an analogy between this film and our current situation in Iraq. The analogy is correct, but not in the way the poster intended. This film is now widely considered both "historically and politically dubious," a fact pointed out by the well-respected Time Out Film Guide.

For this reason, it is hard for me to take the poster's assertions seriously, particularly when he tries to point out how our media would have "ruined" our successful intervention in Phillipine affairs as it (presumably) is ruining our involvement in Iraq. Except for one problem...our involvement in the Philippines was neither as noble nor as successful as this film depicts.

One other interesting point: this film is being shown repeatedly on the Fox Movie Channel prior to an important election in which Iraq is perhaps the most pressing issue. In fact, they are "celebrating" the legacy of studio-system "product" (their term, not mine) Henry Hathaway all month. Hathaway, of course, made MANY pro-war films during his career...which basically consisted of him taking whatever job the studio gave him. I can just see the Fox executives thinking to themselves, "if only movies were still like this...those Democrats wouldn't have a leg to stand on! Lets show nothing but Hathaway films until after the election." Im sure the reason for this is to prompt others to liken this inaccurate film to Iraq...it seems to have worked for skt171 (although he saw the film on VHS), thats for sure! Bottom line: enjoy this film as an adventure story. It works beautifully in this way. But look elsewhere for accurate history. And please, do not use this film as a basis for supporting our presence in Iraq, but rather as a blueprint for what a pro-Iraq War film would be like if we still lived in an era when movies were allowed to function as a propaganda arm of the US Government's military policy.

The film comes to life in some brief flashes of proto-Indiana Jones action. Otherwise, it's a standard melodrama of an occupying fort holding on in hostile country. The unusual setting in the Philippines circa 1910 is under-utilized. For all the difference it makes, the film could easily have been set in the British Raj- or, with only a little rewriting, in a post-Civil War U.S. frontier fort.

THE REAL GLORY is a terrific follow-up to the adventure classic LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER (1936) which saw the previous pairing of star Gary Cooper with director Henry Hathaway. THE REAL GLORY is a 'Boy's Own' style adventure romp through the jungles of the Phillipines following the Spanish-American War. Cooper leads a small band of American soldiers and medical personnel as they train a police force to fight back against vicious Moro pirates who terrorize and prey upon the local villagers. Cooper and co-star David Niven are the perfect Hollywood mix of heroism, gallantry and self-sacrifice. Director Hathaway fills THE REAL GLORY to the brim with rousing action sequences, desperate derring-do and the kind of buckle-swashing that heavily influenced modern classics like Spielberg's RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. An absolutely top-notch film in every department. This is escapist entertainment as only Golden Age Hollywood could produce. If you like 'GUNGA DIN/RAIDERS' style filmmaking then this is a must-see. A perfect Saturday night popcorn film.