So Proudly We Hail (1943)

Directed by Mark Sandrich
Written by Allan Scott
Musical Score by Miklos Rozsa

starring
Claudette Colbert
Paulette Goddard
Veronica Lake
George Reeves
Sonny Tufts
Barbara Britton

I'm not sure how many women have heard the story about Warner Brothers President Jeff Robinov stating that they will be making no more films with women leads because two such films, The Brave One with Jodie Foster and The Invasion with Nicole Kidman had both lost money along with Emma Robert's Nancy Drew, a movie that I wrote about HERE in which I cited the reasons for its failure, none of which had absolutely anything to do with Emma Roberts.

Robinov later said he didn't really mean it. Of course, all the upcoming movies he mentioned also had male leads and the ones that didn't were aimed strictly at thirteen and fourteen year old's. In other words, mature adult female leads need not apply. So in today's climate when sexism and misogyny have become the norm, I'm not buying Robinov's b.s. Frankly, with attitudes such as that and as long as such an attitude has prevailed in Hollywood it's a wonder that a film like So Proudly We Hailed ever got made. It stars not just one mature lead, it boasts three of the best ever in Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, and Veronica Lake.

How often have we forgotten the role that women played in World War II? Sometimes we have to be reminded that everybody played a part and it just wasn't the men in the trenches.

I know it must have been a shock to moviegoers in 1943 to see these woman disembarking from a plane looking anything but glamorous in the opening scene. It is obvious that they had all been to hell and back, a point emphasized even moreso when Lt. Janet "Davey" Davidson (Claudette Colbert) is removed from the aircraft on a stretcher. Later, as the women are on ship which will transport them back to the United States, they tell their story in flashbacks.

So Proudly We Hail is the story of Army Nurses who are sent to the Bataan Peninsula to help with the wounded during the initial days of World War II. The head nurse is the aforementioned Lieutenant Davidson. Also on board are Lt. Joan O'Doul (Paulette Goddard) and Lt. Rosemary Larson (Barbara Britton).

The story actually begins as Joan is trying to keep her two fiancees from meeting up and Rosemary is saying a long goodbye to her parents. After helping Joan take care of her boyfriend problem, Davey assures Rosemary's parents that Rosemary will be returned home safely. The destination of the nurses is suppose to be Pearl Harbor, but when the Japanese attack, they are diverted from that destination and left to wander around in the Pacific accompanied by a small convoy of ships.

It is after two of the ships are destroyed in a submarine attack that Lt. Olivia D'Arcy (Veronica Lake) comes aboard with such a major chip on her shoulder. Also on board is a former collegiate football player that goes by the name of "Kansas" (Sonny Tufts) and develops an instant attraction to Rosemary. Later an injured Lieutenant by the name of John Summers (George Reeves) comes on board as well. He is treated to a sponge bath by Davey, and they prove to have instant chemistry. At any rate, thoughts of romance take a back seat to the tasks at hand once the women reach land in the Philipines.

Eventually, Olivia breaks down and reveals that the boy she was going to get married to was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Shortly after that the nursing corp is ordered to Bataan where Captain "Ma" McGregor (Mary Servoss) is in charge of the medical personnel.

Once on Bataan, the nurses find out how bad the situation really is. There is never enough doctor or nurses. Medical equipment and medicine is in short supply or non existence. Sleep or rest comes only when one is exhausted and can go on no further. Joan is assigned to take care of the children while unbeknownst to Davy and the others, Olivia volunteers to take care of the Japanese wounded to extract her revenge.

Rosemary assists a Fillipino surgeon, Dr. Jose Bardia (Ted Becht), who speaks endlessly of the tragedy and consequences of war while he patches men, women, and children up only to see them killed again. While delivering a breach birth from a woman who will die soon Dr. Bardia lectures as if he is still at the university:

You must forgive me if I talk while I'm operating. I'm so used to lecturing my students. Sometimes I thank my stars for my scientific education. A baby to be born, breach delivery, only three out of five live. Live for what? Don't people die fast enough without destroying each other? Is life too long? No, we mustn't ask that. I wonder how scientific those heaps out on the battlefield feel. Guns, machines, so much rubbish. What was it in my student days? Chemically a man is worth 97 cents. Probably $1.05. What with the shortage of parts and monopoly now, the dead have risen in value. Two for $1.98 on dollar day. This little fellow we're about to introduce to the world tonight, what for him? I don't know. They forgot to teach me about spirit somewhere. Ninety seven cents worth of body but a priceless spirit. May he be born to live in freedom."

It is small details like that which can lift a movie such as this from being run of the mill. Before long, Rosemary is like his second set of hands and they are inseparable.

When not taking care of the medical needs of the children, Joan entertains the children with wondrous tails about the heroic deeds of Superman until one of the children asks if Superman is so good, why isn't he here helping them. Joan's reply, "He just landed with the

marines, his name is Kansas." (Funny when you consider that George Reeves who plays John Summers would go on to play Superman on TV.)

As the Japanese close in, the nurses are forced to evacuate the wounded in the hospitals from one base to the next. And evacuation is not always easy, as some will sacrifice, some will die, and a few will live on with lives that will forever be altered.

At one stopping point there is no hospital. It is nothing more than jungle where the patients are kept hidden as much as possible even though there are between five and eight thousand patients. Malaria and dysentery became common among the patients and those attending them.

When the bombing attacks do come, director Mark Sandrich and his special effects crew do an outstanding job of making them as realistic as any I've seen in films from that era. They are strikingly intense which is why the film was nominated for an Academy Award for it's special effects.

Writer Allan Scott's Oscar nominated script is also much better than what one usually finds in some of the by the numbers war films of the forties. The romance between Davy and John is undoubtedly thrown in to appease the audiences of the time and at times threatens to derail the film. But Scott manages to balance things out by having the type of non-romantic romance between Kansas and Joan become more of a battle of wits with Goddard always having the upper hand over the lovestruck and hapless Kansas in a role Tufts was probably born to play. (Although judging from the men running today's studios and what they DECIDE women want to see, they would probably make it ALL about the romance and the war and sacrifice would be an afterthought).

What I found most amazing is that Scott was not only able to insert Dr. Bardia's clearly anti war speech into film, but also has Davey lamenting about our own failures as a country:

"Why isn't there any quinine? Why isn't there any food? Why isn't there any supplies? Why are we waiting here like rats in a cage waiting for the man to come and pour scalding water over us?

Why was nothing done? Why? I'll tell you why, it's our own fault. Because we believed WE WERE the world. That the United States was the whole wide world.

Those outlandish places, Bataan, Corregidor, and Mindanao. They're not American Names. They're just American graveyards."

Which is another reason why Scott's screenplay was nominated for an Oscar. You can also stir in Miklos Roza's memorable score and Charles Lang's topnotch black and white cinematography which will make it seem as if the bombs are exploding in your face as they fall.

But let's be real here. This is Colbert, Goddard's, and Lake's film and they are magnificent in it. To be able to see these three greats working together would be enough to make this film worth renting or purchasing, but they put everything they have into these roles and it shows in every single scene. They didn't just show up to get screen time and a paycheck.

They go from being just being nurses to becoming every bit as tough and gritty as any man ever thought of being during war. And in two unforgettable scenes that by themselves make this film unforgettable, Veronica Lake almost steals the film out from under her costars . Those two scenes alone make this film memorable although it was Paulette Goddard who received a best actress in a supporting role nomination.

It doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman. It is the kind of film that every person regardless of sex should see and is certainly the kind of film that they should be making featuring talented women but seldom do these days. It's amazing that a film of this quality seldom gets any notice. No, it may not have John Wayne battling it out on the front lines, but it has so much more to offer in so many ways and you know when a film has that I have no choice but to give it my grade which would be an A.

So Proudly We Hail is available on DVD rental from Netflix or to purchase from Universal Home Video. It also appears from time to time on Turner Classic Movies so check the listings on their web site.