Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

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.

Legend has it that on the Eve of St. Mark's day, a maiden stepping into a church will see the people who will die the following year. It comes in handy when a group of soldiers marooned on a Philippine island fighting the Japanese, find themselves lost and probably dead in a short time.The story begins on a positive note as Quizz West, an eager young farm boy joins the army for a year stint. Coming home on a leave, Quizz brings along Janet, the girl he has fallen in love with, and who he will have to leave behind as he goes back. His parents, the Wests, are delighted with the choice; Quizz could not have elected a better person.As fate would have it, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, resulting in prolonging Quizz's stint, but wanting to serve his country in the hour of need, he goes to the Pacific theater of operations with his company. The men bonded since training camp and keep fighting together. During that time most men contracted malaria. With short supplies, they have to deal with a debilitating disease and the Japanese air power in the Philippines.A seldom seen film based on a theater piece by Maxwell Anderson, and adapted for the screen by George Seaton. The film was entirely shot inside the 20th Century Fox studios in California. John Stahl, the director, shows great ways in which he opened the film, including the war sequences that are convincing if one realizes the constrains of the production. The valor of the men in battle, as well as the camaraderie in basic training.The achievement of Mr. Stahl in the film was the level of acting he got from the cast that was gathered for the picture. Anne Baxter shows up as the sweet Janet, the girlfriend from home. William Eythe, as Pvt. West showed promise. Best of all is Michael O'Shea, a wonderful actor doing an excellent take as Thomas Mulveroy, the devoted fan of his Brooklyn Dodgers. Seen in minor roles, Frank Morgan, Ruth Nelson, Ray Collins, Dickie Moore, and the excellent Vincent Price as Pvt. Marion.

The stage play origins of this badly-dated wartime propaganda film are plain to see - or hear. People talk endlessly, and for the main part the aim seems to be to show just how ordinary their characters are. That's all very laudable, but it doesn't exactly make for riveting cinema.William Eythe, one of Hollywood's blandest leading men - whose faltering career would drive him to alcoholic despair and an early grave - fails to grab our attention or empathy as a farm boy who finds himself battling with the Japs on some Philippine island. Although he's listed as the leading man, the status is nominal, and he finds himself struggling to stand out amongst an ensemble cast that includes the likes of Harry Morgan and Vincent Price. Morgan is the voice of doubt in the unit, who looks to the past when forming an opinion instead of acting for the future of the next generation; Price is an impoverished Southern aristocrat type, given to quoting Shakespeare at the drop of a hat; it's an eye-catching performance, although not, perhaps, for the right reasons. His southern accent is so weak it barely manages to crawl from his mouth before tripping from his lips with a dull thud.The story plays second fiddle to the morale-boosting philosophising of its characters, and too much talk means the pace drags badly. In the final reel, the propaganda is ladled on like a thick creamy soup with characters speaking lines that must have had the audience squirming even back then. Essentially, the final message is a call to the parents of the nation to pass the baton to the next generation and allow all their fuzzy-cheeked boys to place themselves in the firing line.

There's something nicely symmetrical in the fact that this movie was adapted from a play by Maxwell Anderson. Almost forgotten today Anderson began his career with the Broadway hit play What Price Glory (co-written with Lawrence Stallings). Produced in 1924 and twice filmed it was, of course, set in World War One and was a comedy about the love-hate relationship between Flagg and Quirt, sergeant and private. Twenty years on Anderson was more philosophical as perhaps befits someone with a penchant for writing in blank verse. He also turned his hand to writing lyrics and collaborated twice with composer Kurt Weill on Knickerbocker Holiday and Lost In The Stars, neither exactly laff riots though the former did produce the evergreen September Song. By 1944 the was was definitely swinging in the favour of the Allies but this didn't guarantee that no blood was spilled. Farmboy William Eythe is the main protagonist but both his family, sweetheart, and his platoon get plenty of screen time and equit themselves well, not least Ray Collins, usually a belligerent banker/politician but here subdued as Eythe's farmer father. Ann Baxter may be wasted as Eythe's girl back home but there is a nice ensemble feel to the whole thing. Dated, perhaps, but still worth a look.

This much underrated and little shown movie is up there with the best of the WW2 morale boosters and truly deserves to be better known. Unlike many mawkish and sentimental American movies about the sacrifices made by America in WW2, this film is genuinely uplifting and soul stirring and manages to do so by some superbly poetic speeches made by several cast members, who delivered poetic stanzas as though Olivier and Barrymore were watching. Vincent Price- who as a Southern "aristocrat" has never been better IMHO, quotes readily from Shakespeare and does so without making the viewer feel embarrassed or uncomfortable. His role is that of charm personified and he carries it off perfectly. At other times the dialogue is snappy and amusing and the movies use of many outside locations gives it an added dimension that, along with the dialogue, demands the viewer's constant attention. This is a movie to keep and enjoy. I will !