The film follows a group of American Red Cross nurses sent to the Philippines during the early days of World War II. The movie was based on a book written by Lieutenant Colonel Juanita Hipps,[2] a World War II nurse – one of the "Angels of Bataan" – who served in Bataan and Corregidor during the time when MacArthur withdrew to Australia which ultimately led to the surrender of US and Philippine troops to Japanese forces. Those prisoners of war were subjected to the Bataan Death March. The film was also based, in part, on Hipps's memoir I Served on Bataan.
Plot
The film begins with a group of several nurses arriving in Australia, having been some of the few evacuated before the Japanese captured their base. One of them is Janet "Davey" Davidson, who wanted to stay and fainted at the start of the evacuation and remains in a coma. An officer asks the other nurses to describe their journey up to that point, beginning a flashback.
The flashback begins in California, as the girls prepare to set off for the Philippines. Joan, another nurse, is revealed to have two fiancés because she cannot say no to a man. Davey covers for her by stopping the two from figuring out her relationship, and the nurses quickly get on the boat. The war begins as they go to Hawaii, and the boat is rerouted to the Philippines. One of the boats in the convoy is also sunk, with survivors being taken aboard the nurse's boat. One is Olivia, who is very rude and uncaring towards her fellow nurses. On the boat Davey meets John Summers, a soldier who she initially dislikes. They come to like one another over time. Joan meets a man called Kansas, a marine who initially seems nervous. The ship has a party to celebrate Christmas, where Joan and Kansas dance as well as Davey and John. After a fight, Olivia reveals she was supposed to get married that day. However, her husband was killed in the Attack on Pearl Harbor. Since then, she has sworn to kill as many Japanese as possible.
Eventually, the ship arrives in the Philippines. Manila has been declared an open city, so it goes to Bataan instead. The nurses do their best to heal their patients, but supplies run low there. Joan takes a liking to the Filipino children in the base, while Janet does the best of anyone. Olivia initially takes up the job of taking care of wounded Japanese POWs, but she cannot bring herself to kill even one. At the base John and Davey reunite and kiss. However, the base eventually has to be evacuated as the Japanese advance. Olivia sacrifices herself to ensure the other nurses escape by suicide bombing the approaching enemies with a grenade.
The troops move onto a jungle "hospital", which is practically untamed but near a town. Supplies continue to run low here, although everyone does their best. Ma, the leader of the nurses, has to have her son's legs amputated which puts her through grief and puts stress on the entire unit. Kansas and Joan also reunite, with Kansas having fought and now leading a regiment of Filipinos. Janet and John also reunite again. Eventually, a bombing raid destroys much of the base and kills several nurses and doctors. The Japanese show no respect for international law, bombing clearly marked hospitals and ambulances. After John reveals the base's supply convoy has been destroyed and reinforcements are not on their way, the nurses evacuate to a fortress island along with most others. Joan notably has to knock Kansas out with a rock as he refuses to surrender and wants to fight to the death. On the island everything starts going well, but soon takes a turn for the worse. Bombing becomes more common, and it becomes more and more apparent even this "Gibraltar of the East" is going to fall.
John and Davey decide to get married, despite this being against military law. The base chaplain conducts a makeshift ceremony, and the two are married. Not long after, John and several other soldiers set out to Mindanao to try to secure supplies. Before he can return, the base financial department starts burning money and the nurses are told they are being secretly evacuated first. Initially hesitant, most agree to go. Joan gives many of her belongings away to her patients, and tells Kansas not to die. He says he never dies, which is not reassuring as every time he's said something never happens to him it does soon afterward. Davey refuses to leave, saying she promised John she would be here when he returns. Ma tells her John's expedition is considered lost, but only the officers were informed. Upon learning John is probably dead, Janet faints. The nurses evacuate, and not long afterward the Japanese take the island.
The flashback ends, with the officer saying he knows how to wake Davey up. He goes to her, and reads a heartfelt letter from John. John informs her he is still alive, still fighting, and still loves her. Davey wakes up and simply says, "John" and the movie ends.
The movie was very timely, released just 13 months after the end of the Battle of the Philippines, with focus on allied efforts at Bataan and Corregidor as well as MacArthur's dramatic escape from the Philippines. Although the love-story plot line is the primary thrust of the film, the difficulties and emotional toll of war are also shown.
The film originally was titled Hands of Mercy. It was announced in July 1942 with Allan Scott to write the script and director Mark Sandrich.[3]
In August 1942, the title was changed to So Proudly We Hail.[4] The same month Claudette Colbert was announced for the lead.[5]
Cry Havoc, a unsuccessful play about nurses on the Bataan peninsula, had been much criticized for its inaccuracies so Paramount took extra care with the film to get approval from the War Department and military and nursing advisers.[6] MGM released a film based on the play in 1943.
MacDonald Carey and Joel McCrea reportedly were meant to star at one stage.[7]Paulette Goddard reportedly had the script rewritten so her role was as prominent as Colbert's.[8] George Reeves was borrowed from producer Harry Sherman.[9]Sonny Tufts made his debut in the movie.
Reception
In his September 10, 1943, review in The New York Times, Bosley Crowther observes that the picture "does give a shattering impression of the tragedy of Bataan. This accomplishment is due in large measure to the unremitting realism with which Producer-Director Mark Sandrich has reenacted battle-action scenes. He has put into unforgettable pictures the torture of the Bataan campaign—the weariness, the hopelessness and misery; the inadequacies in equipment and men; the pathos of having to treat the wounded and the sick in shacks and even out of doors; the horror of enemy bombardments from the undefended skies, and, above all, the bitter irony of courageous fighters having to retreat, falling back slowly and wearily, their strength, but not their spirits, played out ... because of it this is a picture which it is shocking and maddening to see. But unfortunately Mr. Sandrich has not been able to parallel the reality of the setting with that of his characters ... Probably because the story ... [is] so empty of real dramatic quality, the performances are hackneyed ... However, a strapping new actor by the name of Sonny Tufts does wonders to give credibility and warmth to the scenes in which he plays ... He conveys the essential illusion of being the genuine thing ... Walter Abel, as an Army chaplain, in one brief speech is truer than any of the girls".[10]
Variety's December 31, 1942, review raved: "Mark Sandrich's So Proudly We Hail! is a saga of the war-front nurse and her heroism under fire. As such it glorifies the American Red Cross and presents the wartime nurse, in the midst of unspeakable dangers, physical and spiritual, in a new light. Director-producer Sandrich and scripter Allan Scott have limned a vivid, vital story. It's backgrounded against a realistic romance of how a group of brave American Nightingales came through the hellfire to Australia and thence back to Blighty ... Paulette Goddard does a capital job as running mate ... Sonny Tufts walks off with the picture every time he's on".[11]
The film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 6 reviews from modern critics,[12] including Matt Bronson: "One of the countless World War II dramas Hollywood produced while the conflict was still raging, this focuses on the American nurses stationed in the Philippines when the fighting there was at its most intense. Yet those who might be tempted to derisively write this off as a 'woman's weepie' had best reconsider, since it's as brutal as Objective, Burma!, Wake Island, or any other he-man WWII offering from the period".[13]
In February 2020, Steven Vagg wrote in Diabolique magazine that "Lake's breakdown scene shows her limitations but overall it's a splendidly effective performance, with a spectacular on-screen death – she should have played more death scenes in her career. She had a very good track record in that department".[14]
^"Screen News Here and in Hollywood". New York Times. 30 July 1942. p. 17.
^"Screen News Here and in Hollywood: Kober to Write Vehicle for Danny Kaye Based on Stage Play, 'Sometimes I'm Happy' - Film to Aid War Work: United Artists Will Make the 'Stage Door Canteen,' Profits Going to the Theatre Wing". Aug 11, 1942. p. 15.
^"Fay Bainter, Spring Byington and Lionel Barrymore Join Cast of 'Human Comedy'". New York Times. Aug 29, 1942. p. 18.
^THOMAS F. BRADY (Dec 6, 1942). "What's News in Hollywood?: Fictitious Drama About Bataan Nurses Draws Rebuke -- Other Items". New York Times.
^"Screen News Here and in Hollywood". New York Times. Oct 20, 1942. p. 25.
^"Hedda Hopper's Hollywood". Los Angeles Times. Nov 9, 1942. p. 23.
^"Screen News Here and in Hollywood". New York Times. Nov 12, 1942. p. 31.
