the leading man is my tpye

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

...if you don't already know the punchline to this joke, you WILL by the time the white guy is laughing maniacally at the end of this movie.Bataan lags at some points but you should never be discouraged. It's a wonderful piece of U.S. cultural legacy. It should really be on exhibit at the Museum of American History in Washington D.C.The overall message? We all must/will come together to win this war against a demonically evil but efficient enemy, the unholy Japanese Empire. Proof that we will/can accomplish this hard task is on exhibit in this film which displays the wonderfulness of the valiant defenders of America's farthest colonial outpost bastion, The Philippine Island's Bataan peninsula.But Uncle Sam needed more troops. If you weren't in a factory making weapons everybody was needed to be in the fight. Hence the producer put in EVERYBODY. blacks, asians, latinos, jews (based on name), and people with names that end in -ski. Perfect! A recruiting poster of a movie for the Army. The promise? You too can be an immortal hero if you give it up for your country...no matter how lowly you are.And by 1943 standards that was quite a message. That message, apparently, was not lost on southern whites who, according to the IMDb trivia section, protested (in letters to the producer) the black guy's inclusion. One can imagine their dismay. On a huge screen was a huge black man, acting bravely, firing a machine gun, looking relatively Hollywood handsome, thinking and reacting proactively to situations, holding his head up to white folk, TRAINED in explosives, and basically contradicting every denigrating description a racist might wish to attribute to African-Americans. No wonder the civil rights movement kicked into high gear soon after the war. It was all this movie's fault! It sort of makes up for the fact they make the black guy dig every grave in this film until he dies (courageously, in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy).The Japanese attackers don't fair so well in the positive portrayal department in this movie, but this flick wasn't meant to swell their service ranks. The less said about their portrayal the better, but let's just say that the term 'monkey' and Japanese are used synonymously throughout this film.The combat is brutal, the killing violent, and the tactics/accuracy more than a bit questionable.Still, it's a film you should turn out the lights and watch in the dark and imagine you are in a crowded smokey cinema back in the 1940's. Would you feel inspired? Head to the nearest recruiting office? It isn't the most realistic film you will ever see, but it does nicely represent critical time in WWII history. Where it became IMPORTANT to portray every American as useful, noble and good.

The film talks about the Pacific battle , during WWII , concerning the defenders of Bataan but Japan has just invaded . A small group of soldiers (Thomas Mitchell , LLoyd Nolan , Desi Arnaz , among others) flee from Japanese repeatedly attack and they head for blowing-up a bridge on the Bataan location and their final destination : Corregidor . The captain (Lee Bowman) dies and the top-sergeant (Robert Taylor) takes command along with an Airbone lieutenant (George Murphy). The military unit surrounded by the Japanese in a foggy set , lush jungle and progressively dwindling group . The defenders gave a few days for posterior victories and future US conquest like Midway , Island Salomon and Bismark . The Bataan of the film's title refers to both the World War II Battle of Bataan and the place Bataan which is a Central Luzon region province on Luzon island in the Philippines which occupies the whole of the Bataan Peninsula on the island . This movie's dedication states that it is dedicated to the heroes of Bataan. This classic warlike movie is nicely starred by Robert Taylor at one of his best roles as a tough sergeant , he's accompanied by a plethora of first-rate secondaries . This exciting actioner warfare completed with slice of military stereotypes although some characters are very one-dimensional , as well as presenting an African American in an intelligent and sympathetic manner , attempting to avoid any racial speeches in the script . The original plot belongs to ¨Lost patrol¨ (1934) by John Ford , whose screenplay has been pretty imitated and remade many times but it's still a magnificent entertainment . In fact , Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer paid RKO a lot of money for the right to use scenes from Lost patrol in this movie . As ¨Lost patrol¨ was subsequently remade and reworked several times : ¨Sahara¨ (by Zoltan Korda) with scenarios in Libya desert ; ¨Last of Comanches¨ (Andre De Toth) in California desert ; and even part of ¨Flight of Phoenix¨ (Robert Aldrich) in Sahara desert , and , of course , this ¨Bataan¨(Tay Garnett) in Philippines jungle . This is one of a handful of feature films that have featured the story of the World War II Battle of Bataan , they include ¨So proudly we hail¡¨ by Mark Sandrich (1943) ; ¨They were expendable¨ (1945) by John Ford and ¨Back to Bataan¨ (1945) by Edward Dmytryck . The film is set into a lush , abundant jungle with a dense fog made by usual Metro Goldwin Mayer production designer , Cedric Gibbons , and it contains an atmospheric as well as thrilling musical score by Bronislau Kaper . The motion picture was professionally directed by Tay Garnett, a good Hollywood craftsman.The actual deeds about Bataan concern an unsuccessful attempt by US and Filipino troops under General Douglas MacArthur to defend the peninsular against the Japanese 1 Jan-9 April 1942 . Following the surrender of Bataan , MacArthur was evacuated , but Allies captives were force-marched 95 km/60 mi to the nearest railhead in the Bataan Death March,ill-treatment by the Japanese guards during the march killed about 16.000 US and Filipino troops .

In addition to Bataan being one of the finest World War II films ever done, it also marked the final transformation of Robert Taylor from romantic leading man to tough action star. After this one Taylor, NEVER got cast in any powder puff roles.He's a tough, believable army sergeant who's in command of a squad that's been cobbled together from remnants of other squads and given a suicide rear guard mission to hold off the Japanese from taking and crossing a key bridge. Some of the other men of his squad are Lloyd Nolan, Thomas Mitchell, Robert Walker, Barry Nelson, Desi Arnaz. There's an army pilot with a plane to be repaired played by George Murphy and when Captain Lee Bowman is killed Taylor is in command.So they hold the Japanese off, the Battle of Bataan in microcosm, hoping for aid that never came because the United States had no aid to give at that point. In the tradition of The Alamo, they all go down, one at a time.Of the cast I'd single out Lloyd Nolan and Desi Arnaz. Nolan is another army veteran, a hardbitten hardcase almost a mirror image of Taylor. Their scenes have some real bite to them. But Lloyd Nolan was never bad in anything he ever did.Desi Arnaz is quite a revelation. His accent is pretty thick, he never got to be a Latin Lover leading man like Fernando Lamas or Ricardo Montalban did. In fact that accent was part of his whole shtick with his wife later on in I Love Lucy. But Arnaz shows her he was capable of being far more than the patient but sometimes exasperated Ricky Ricardo. Too bad he never got more opportunities like Bataan.No derring do heroics in Bataan. These are ordinary people of the greatest generation doing a job that had to be done.

BATAAN is one of my very favorite war movies and is based on an actual endeavor in the Phillipines. Sgt. Bill Dane(Robert Taylor) leads a small platoon of thirteen devoted men in the mission of blowing up a pivotal bridge, the Japanese need to prolong their war efforts. The Japanese do not take their bridge being blown up lightly. Realistic WW2 combat scenes as a few brave men fight for survival in the South Pacific. Great ensemble cast featuring: George Murphy, Lloyd Nolan, Thomas Mitchell, Robert Walker, Desi Arnaz, Barry Nelson, Phillip Terry and Tom Dugan. One of my favorite scenes is when the enemy invades as a group of 'walking shrubs'. Plus the energy of Arnaz as he finds Tommy Dorsey on the radio. The finale is memorable as Taylor is berserk with desire to defend himself surrounded by the enemy. Thanks to AMC and TCM for showing this classic as much as they do.