Bataan

The working titles of this film were Back to Bataan, Bataan Patrol and Bataan's Last Stand. The film's opening credits include the following written dedication: "When Japan struck, our desperate need was time-time to marshal our new armies. Ninety-six priceless days were bought for us-with their lives-by the defenders of Bataan, the Philippine army which formed the bulk of MacArthur's infantry fighting shoulder to shoulder with Americans. To those immortal dead, who heroically stayed the wave of barbaric conquest, this picture is reverently dedicated." The following written statement appears at the end of the picture: "So fought the heroes of Bataan. Their sacrifice made possible our victories in the Coral and Bismarck Seas, at Midway, on New Guinea and Guadalcanal. Their spirit will lead us back to Bataan!" According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, Bataan was to include a disclaimer that read: "Although the characters depicted in this photoplay are fictitious, its events are adapted without exaggeration from known fact." Only the standard disclaimer was used in the completed film, however.
       As depicted in the film, for three months after being driven out of Manila, American and Filipino forces defended the mountainous Bataan penisula against Japanese attack. Along with thousands of refugees, the soldiers were crowded into a ten-mile square area and many suffered from beriberi and other deficiency diseases. On April 9, 1942, General Edward King, who took over command after General Douglas MacArthur was sent to Australia, surrended Bataan to the Japanese. The prisoners were subsequently forced to march to captivity, and the long trek became known as the Bataan Death March after 25,000 soldiers and civilians died along the way from mistreatment and starvation. With no supplies coming in, Lt. Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright surrendered nearby Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942, and 10,000 troops, medical personnel and civilians were taken prisoner. Manila, Bataan and Corregidor were not liberated from the Japanese until early 1945.
       Hollywood Reporter news items and M-G-M publicity items add the following information about the production: Hollywood Reporter announced in April 1942 that M-G-M had hired Bill Lyons and Eddie Read to write the film's screenplay. The contribution of these writers, if any, to the finished film has not been determined. In July 1942, in an apparent attempt to stave off any copyright infringement suits, M-G-M paid RKO $6,500 for the right to use any part of RKO's 1934 war film The Lost Patrol (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.2580). In that picture, which was directed by John Ford, Victor McLaglen heads a unit of British soldiers who become lost in the North African desert and are killed one-by-one by unseen Arab snipers. [In his autobiography, M-G-M executive producer Dore Schary referred to Bataan as a "remake" of the Ford film.] Walter Pidgeon was announced as the star of Bataan in October 1942 and was to play "Sgt. Bill Dever," a "new model sergeant" in the "new model United States Army." At that time, the story featured nineteen principals, including a Native American character, each representing separate arms of the service. In mid-November 1942, Robert Young was announced as George Murphy's co-star, and on the first day of shooting, Richard Whorf was announced in the role of "Barney Todd" and Richard Carlson in the role of "Matthew Hardy." William Gargan was to play an Army truck driver. Although Robert Walker, a former radio star, did not make his screen debut in the film, as some reviews contend, "Leonard Purckett" marked his first significant role. The Variety review noted that Walker won the part after a previous "Hollywood brushoff" and predicted that he would prove "one of the top 'finds' of the year." Other reviewers praised Walker's performance as well, and the actor went on to star in M-G-M's 1944 comedic military film See Here, Private Hargroves, after appearing in a smaller part in Madame Curie (see below entries).
       Bataan also marked the first dramatic screen role for Desi Arnaz, and won him much praise. In his autobiography, Arnaz claimed that he suggested that his character utter the same Latin confessional prayer, Mea Culpa, he had learned as a boy in Cuba as part of his death scene. (The ethnicity of Arnaz' character is not clearly established in the film, though he describes himself as a Californian.) Richard Derr and Leigh Sterling are listed as cast members in Hollywood Reporter news items, but their participation in the final film has not been confirmed. Hollywood Reporter lists Mary Elliott as a nurse, "the only female in the film," but she was not seen in the viewed print. In addition, CBCS lists Lynne Carver and Dorothy Morris as "nurses," but they were not seen in the viewed print. According to Hollywood Reporter, Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra are heard offscreen during a scene in which "Felix Ramirez" listens to a radio broadcast of a jazz number. Technical advisor Lewis C. Chappealear, Jr., was a member of the 45th Infantry, Philippine Scouts, according to Hollywood Reporter.
       Many film historians consider Bataan a seminal World War II combat film. According to modern sources, M-G-M and the OWI planned the film together, and the OWI enthusiastically endorsed the script, particularly its depiction of "Lassiter's" unit as "democratic" in nature. The OWI approved the inclusion of the African American soldier, but disapproved of the condescending way in which the Filipino soldiers were first drawn. Although not the first film to depict gritty World War II combat, real or fictional, Bataan was distinctive in that virtually all of its action takes place on the battlefield. It was also the first World War II picture to include a pointedly multi-ethnic, multi-racial cast of characters, a device that became relatively common in later World War II films. Reviewers commented on the film's graphic, realistic depiction of war. Bosley Crowther wrote about the film: "This time, at least, a studio hasn't purposely 'prettified' facts. This time it has made a picture about war in true and ugly detail....There is sickening filth and bloodshed in it." The Variety reviewer stated that "Bataan graphically generates public hate of the Japs, and is the first picture of that kind in the high budget class since release of Wake Island" .
       The role of "Pvt. Wesley Eeps" was reportedly inspired by Pvt. Robert H. Brooks, the first American soldier killed in the Philippines, and the man for whom the parade grounds at Fort Knox were renamed. (It has not been determined whether Brooks was African American.) As all U.S. Armed Forces were segregated during World War II, the casting of African American actor Kenneth Spencer was notable. The New York Times reviewer commented favorably on the Eeps character, noting that his "placement in the picture is one of the outstanding merits of it." The Hollywood Reporter review stated that "the one Negro role included in the group is performed with distinction by Kenneth Spencer, and the note he sounds is an effective tribute to his race." In early June 1943, the NAACP awarded M-G-M a scroll of merit, congratulating the studio for the film's realism and for showing "how superfluous racial and religious problems are when common danger is faced." In February 1944, the Junior Council of NAACP gave M-G-M a special award for its sympathetic and intelligent portrayal of a black soldier. According to his autobiography, Schary deliberately did not tell writer Robert Andrews that he was going to cast a black actor in one of the roles because he did not want any race-conscious speeches in the script. Hollywood Reporter reported in May 1943 that the film had been pre-screened for a group of soldiers, press correspondents and dignitaries who were on Bataan during the siege, and all approved of the picture. In 1945, RKO produced Back to Bataan , a fact-based sequel to Bataan.