So Proudly We Hail!

So Proudly We Hail!
theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mark Sandrich
Produced by	Mark Sandrich
Written by	Allan Scott
Starring	Claudette Colbert Paulette Goddard Veronica Lake
Music by	Edward Heyman Miklós Rózsa
Cinematography	Charles Lang
Editing by	Ellsworth Hoagland
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	June 22, 1943 (premiere) September 9 (NYC)
Running time	126 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

So Proudly We Hail! is a 1943 film directed and produced by Mark Sandrich, and starring Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard – who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance – and Veronica Lake. It was produced and released by Paramount Pictures.

The film follows a group of military nurses sent to the Philippines during the early days of World War II. The movie was based on a book written by nurse Juanita Hipps a World War II nurse – one of the "Angels of Bataan" – who served in Bataan and Corregidor during the time when McArthur withdrew to Australia which ultimately led to the surrender of US and Philippine troops to Japan. Those prisoners of war were subjected to the infamous Bataan Death March. The movie was based on Lieutenant Colonel Hipps' memoir I Served On Bataan.

Plot

The story covers many day to day events, and contrasts the brutality of war against the sometimes futile efforts of the nurses to provide medical aid and comfort. There are several striking moments in the movie, including a shocking "self-sacrifice" by a female character to save her fellow nurses. Each of the nurses has a past or present love story with a soldier, with the longest term and most interesting romance the one between the characters played by Colbert and Reeves. The flashback narration gives a sense of historical import and resonance. The sequence where the nurses and injured soldiers are stranded in Malinta Tunnel pinned down by aircraft fire, is one of the more claustrophobic scenes in wartime cinema.

Moviegoers of the time found great timeliness in the movie, since MacArthur and the battles for Bataan, and Corregidor were familiar to every American. Although the love-story plot line is the primary thrust of the film, the difficulties and emotional toll of war are strongly shown.

Cast

	Claudette Colbert as Lt. Janet "Davy" Davidson
	Paulette Goddard as Lt. Joan O'Doul
	Veronica Lake as Lt. Olivia D'Arcy

• George Reeves as Lt. John Summers
• Cora Witherspoon as Mrs Burns-Norvell
• Barbara Britton as Lt. Rosemary Larson
• Walter Abel as Chaplain
• Sonny Tufts as Kansas
• Mary Servoss as Capt. "Ma" McGregor
• Ted Hecht as Dr. Jose Bardia
• John Litel as Dr. Harrison
• Dr. Hugh Ho Chang as Ling Chee
• Mary Treen as Lt. Sadie Schwartz
• Kitty Kelly as Lt. Ethel Armstrong
• Helen Lynd as Lt. Elsie Bollenbacher
• Lorna Gray as Lt. Tony Dacolli

Miscellany

• Veronica Lake was at the peak of her career and popularity at the time of this film's release. During World War II female army nurses emulated her famous peekaboo hairstyle, something that caused a bit of a problem and Lake herself chose to change the style to a more practical one for this film.
• Paulette Goddard received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance, however she lost out to Katina Paxinou for For Whom the Bell Tolls.
• It was predicted that Veronica Lake would be nominated for an Oscar as well, however that did not happen.

External links

• So Proudly We Hail! at the Internet Movie Database
• So Proudly We Hail! at the TCM Movie Database
• So Proudly We Hail! at AllRovi