Back Door to Hell

World War II has probably been the most focused-on topic in cinema. Practically every genre has depicted the six-year global conflict. There's no shortage of famous movies about it - I recently saw "A Bridge Too Far" - but there are also the lesser known movies. Monte Hellman's "Back Door to Hell" is an example. It depicts some US troops (one of them played by a young Jack Nicholson) scoping out the Japanese-occupied Philippines to prepare for a US invasion. Joining up with some locals who are waging a guerrilla war against the occupiers, the US troops soon find out that this is no time to play fair.

It's no masterpiece, but still a good focus on how it's hard to be the "good guy" in a desperate situation. I understand that all sides flouted the Geneva Conventions during WWII. And it turned out to not even be the last war ever fought.

Anyway, interesting movie.

One time pop singing star Jimmy Rodgers is teamed with a VERY young Jack Nicholson, in this tale of three Intel-recon rangers, landing in the Phillipines, just prior to McArthur's return. This is an early directorial effort by Monte Hellman, and combined with the young cast, and several Phillipino actors there is a sense of awkwardness to the film that actually lends to its authenticity. The story, centered on knocking out a Japanese communication center is simple, the dialogue terse. Theatre owner/producer Lippert is credited as an executive producer, and the film is reminscent of his earlier release "Silent Raiders" (1954). Worth a look, just to see a young Nicholson, honing his craft.

Three US soldiers come ashore on a Philippine island to do intelligence work in preparation for the big US invasion to retake the islands from the Japanese. Led by Jimmie Rogers as sensitive Lieutenant Craig with pacifist leanings, with Jack Nicholson playing a communications expert with a lot of philosophical observations, and John Hackett as Jersey the tough realist among them, they meet up with the local resistance led by Paco (Conrad Maga), who have been fighting the Japanese for the last few years and have grown cynical about the Americans ever coming back. This film is a direct contrast to the John Wayne movie Back To Bataan in which the Americans were seemingly idolized as they were led by the Duke himself. Maga tells Rogers that he (Maga) is in charge if they are to work together. Rogers, Nicholson, and Hackett have to find out where the Japanese defenses are as the invasion is about to happen, and the film hikes us through the jungles and highlands in pretty sharp black and white, with some authentic flourishes about interrogation of captured Japanese soldiers and another ragtag guerrilla band that is looking to make a profit out of the war. The details are what make this well worth checking out, as the film dodges any of the obvious heroics it could have exploited. Get through the opening credits and you see that it was directed by Monte Hellman (Two Lane Blacktop) and he delivers a war film with enough action as well as some semblance of authenticity giving us a multi-faceted story.

If it weren't for the presence of Jack Nicholson in the cast of Back Door To Hell I doubt this film would be remembered at all. Watching it today you can see the beginnings of the legendary cynical persona that Jack Nicholson was hewing for his later image that we know so well. That voice is unmistakable.

Although this World War II film was shot on location in the Phillipines for production values it's pedestrian and the direction is non- existent. Singer Jimmie Rodgers is not exactly an inspiring leader of men. Rodgers, Nicholson, and John Hackett are three advance scouts prior to the invasion of Luzon who are seeking intelligence on Japanese troop movements. The story is their mission and how they obtain what they need.

Jack Nicholson fans, this one's for you and very few others.

Hollywood has frequently (and variably) dealt with the WWII Pacific conflict: this is another such film, for which 'indie' director Hellman managed to secure the backing of a major studio, Twentieth-Century Fox (though the end result being just 69 minutes long, it was clearly sold as a 'programmer'). Anyway, Hellman's talent for introspection is even more evident (in an otherwise slightly-plotted effort) than before, with the emphasis on characterization (pertaining especially to the initial-distrust-which-develops-into-mutual-respect between the different races involved)...though the action, whenever the film resorts to it, is sufficiently well-handled.

Jack Nicholson co-stars as one of a trio of American soldiers who arrive by raft to the Philippines in anticipation of the imminent Allied invasion of Japan. Though good as always, and already displaying his chameleon-like abilities, the role (joker, radio operator and Japanese interpreter all rolled into one!) does not allow him to shine like he did in the simultaneously-shot FLIGHT TO FURY (1964), another Hellman collaboration. The chief reason for this has to do with the fact that the central figures here are Nicholson's conscientious superior (a youthful-looking but undeniably effective Jimmie Rodgers) and the dehumanized leader of the rebel army (imposingly played by Gerald Maga).

The third member of the outfit, then, is blood-thirsty John Hackett (who co-wrote the film!), while the locals also number among them a strong-willed girl who became attached to Maga after he lost his family during the early days of the war. The two units clash over the treatment to be accorded some Japanese officers they capture, but soon they are fighting them side by side: the Americans' radio having been rendered useless in a skirmish, the trio then decide to infiltrate the enemy camp in order to send word back home that their mission is accomplished. Caught in the act, however, Nicholson succumbs to a hail of bullets and, when the two groups eventually reconvene, the girl tells Rodgers that Maga has fallen as well!

Though reasonably impressive as a cinematic exercise, the general tone proves rather too low-key for the film to be properly gripping as a whole. Besides, the overall pace is decidedly leisurely (consequently feeling longer than its running-time would suggest!), while the overly familiar situations that unfold throughout do not exactly help make it a distinguished example within such a prolific genre.