So Proudly We Hail! (1943)
Director: Mark Sandrich
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, Veronica Lake
Genre: Drama War RomanceA group of WWII army nurses returning from the war, recall their experiences in combatin thePhilippines.What makes
So Proudly We Hail! unique is it was actually made during the world war II. This was released in 1943 at a time when the war in the Pacific Theater with Japan was an uphill battle for the USA who had lost many of their Pacific fleet Naval ships during the attack at Pearl Harbor.
So Proudly We Hail! is based upon true events as experienced by a nurse who served in the Philippines during one of America's darkest hours when General Mac Arthur was forced to flee and U.S. troops surrendered to the Japanese Imperial Army.
I'm impressed with the honesty of this film. It could have easily sugar coated the harsh truth of Bataan and Corregidor, but it doesn't do that. There's no supermen here who single handily defeat the Japanese Army, nor are the Americans triumph in the battle. Instead we see the story told from the viewpoint of the women nurses who staid behind at great risk to themselves. For most Americans who were state side, this was as close to being there as it got.
Claudette Colbert is one of my favorite actresses. She's always good and here she does a terrific job at being real...and that helps make the movie. I like Paullete Goodard too, but it's Veronica Lake's performance that stands out. She's furious at the enemy and wants to kill a wounded Japanese which makes for one of the best scenes in the film. To the film's credit it shows restraint in not demonizing the enemy, which for war time is rare. Instead we see there's a job to do and when it's done the nurse just want to go home.
Some will say there should be more battle scenes....nah, there's plenty of films like that around. For me it's the very personal stories of the nurses that make this special.