It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Producer: Mark Sandrich. Copyright 22 June 1943 by Paramount Pictures Inc. New York opening at the Radio City Music Hall: 9 September 1943 (ran 4 weeks). U.S. release: 26 June 1943. Australian release: 18 February 1944. Sydney opening at the Prince Edward: 18 February 1944 (ran 9 weeks). 11,351 feet. 126 minutes.WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Nurses stationed in Bataan. NOTES: Nominated for four Academy Awards (winners in brackets): Supporting Actress, Paulette Goddard (Katina Paxinou in For Whom the Bell Tolls), Original Screenplay (Princess O'Rourke), Black-and-White Cinematography (Song of Bernadette), Special Effects (Crash Dive).One of the top thirty box-office attractions in the U.S./Canada for 1943, the picture did even better in Australia, coming in 2nd to Double Indemnity as Paramount's top draw of 1944. Number 9 in The Film Daily "Ten Best" poll of American film critics. COMMENT: Seen to-day, Allan Scott's script could be accused of conventionality. But at the time of release, it seemed more daring and original. Certainly a military withdrawal (in this case from Bataan) has never been more graphically depicted than in this stunning picturization (produced and directed by the man whose present fame rests entirely upon his Astaire-Rogers musicals). Made with the extraordinary co-operation of the United States Defense Department, the action scenes are the most harrowing and realistic ever seen in a movie of this period. The usual jingoism is still abundant, but on this occasion it serves to heighten the picture's hideously stark realism. No expense has been spared in bringing these terrors to the screen. The technical skills, both behind and in front of the camera, are formidable.

During WWII, Hollywood made a bazillion war films. Almost all of them were clearly propaganda pieces--lacking realism and intended only to bolster the war effort. Allied soldiers were, generally, supermen and the enemy were subhuman monsters. The films were effective but don't age well. However, a few war films from the era managed to be very effective yet realistic--sticking to the facts but doing such a thoroughly good job that they are timeless. Two of the best of this era have to do with the same events--the loss of the Philippines to the Japanese. One, "In Harm's Way", is told from the viewpoint of two Patrol Boat captains and this film, "So Proudly We Hail!" concerns an ensemble cast of nurses stuck on Bataan during the final weeks of this battle. Both are about equally good--and both are true classics.The film begins with a small group of nurses en route from the Philippines. They've been evacuated and are heading to safety. However, several of them are clearly damaged--in particular the one played by Claudette Colbert. The story then flashes back to the beginning of the story--and you learn about all the nurses but particularly how Colbert got to this state. Among the cast are Colbert, Paulette Goddard and Veronica Lake. And, among the guys they fall for during the war are George Reeves (TV's Superman) and Sonny Tufts.What I really liked about the film is that although the characters are fictional, the action is very real. The war isn't sensationalized or sugar-coated--it's bloody, brutal and unrelenting. And, unlike most war films of the day, it doesn't assume the audience is stupid and realizes it can paint a realistic portrait and still contribute to the war effort. The usual jingoism is absent--just a lot of good folks giving their lives in the line of duty. As a result, the film is often heartbreaking and is bound to make an emotional connection with the viewer. Paramount should be appreciated for a great script, exceptional acting and wonderful sets and special effects, as it looks like you'd think the Philippines SHOULD look. One of the best war pictures of the era--and one worth seeing.By the way, Colbert's next film, "Since You Went Away" was also one of the greatest films of the era to deal with the war. It tells an amazingly touching story of a mother and her two daughters as they cope with the absence of loved ones. It's also a tearjerker and well worth seeing.

This WWII film looks at the lives of a group of nurses as they serve from Pearl Harbor to Bataan. Made while the war was still raging, it's understandably patriotic. It offers a rare glimpse at the distaff side on the war front. Colbert is solid as the head nurse. Goddard is wonderful in an Oscar-nominated performance. Although a popular star at the time, Lake has a brief and rather strange role as a disgruntled nurse. Future Superman Reeves plays Colbert's hunky love interest. Coincidently, there's a scene where Goddard is telling kids about Superman. Sandrich, a veteran of Astaire-Rogers musicals, is surprisingly effective in staging the Bataan battle scenes.

Not a single nurse in 1942-1945 who served in the Philippines died during the Japanese invasion or later in Japanese prison camps.In contrast, the death rate among males in both situations, which included the Bataan Death March (in which the nurses did not participate), was absolutely horrific, and included slave labor in Japan by being transported there by unmarked Japanese hell ships routinely sunk by unknowing U.S. submarines where starved, sick, suffocating men locked in holds drowned by the thousands.There were endless aspects of the movie that tried the viewer, even in 1943: maudlin speeches by the chaplain, nurses, and others (including a speech in a love letter at the end of the movie) every 15 minutes or so; front line soldiers and a Marine (who for some reason wanders around all alone in an Army unit, on the voyage over and in the Philippines when he should have been with his fellow Marines in the 4th Marine Regiment) who nonchalantly stroll back and forth at will from the front lines to the rear to schmooze with their girl friends; fraternization (absolutely forbidden) between a nurse and the (apparently) lost enlisted Marine (who is a PFC in his blouse and a Pvt. in his shirtsleeves); absolute confusion as whether these nurses were Red Cross (civilians) or U.S. Army and Navy; the usual tiresome 1940's litany of wisecracks; not a single, solitary mention of the U.S. Army medics and Navy Hospital Corpsmen who, unlike the nurses, indeed WERE in the front lines, decimated, and left behind with their patients (no Australia for them); Claudette Colbert and Paulette Goddard obviously too old for their roles; Veronica Lake with hair shoulder length; endless, childish cat fights; and a scene with Veronica Lake, Japanese soldiers (who don't fire but obligingly gather around), and a hand grenade which has no competition for the 20th Century's Prize for the Hands Down Stupidest Scene Ever Filmed in a War Movie. The production values were good, but that and its patriotism are the only positive things you can say about this movie.