List Price: $19.97 Our Price: $17.97YOU SAVE $2!
Buy it
DVD Back to Bataan
John Wayne and Anthony Quinn star in this touching 1945 drama inspired by real-life heroism in the Philippines following General MacArthur's withdrawal in 1942 and the islands' subsequent conquest by the Japanese army. Wayne plays Colonel Joe Madden, an American who stays behind to organize a ragtag guerrilla army in the forests and hills. At his side is Captain Andres Bonifacio (Quinn), grandson of a legendary revolutionary martyred in the nation's old war against Spanish colonialists. Joe, Andres, and their fearless irregulars (with support from a schoolteacher, played by Beulah Bondi) sap the enemy's resolve through hit-and-run missions, but as time passes the locals wonder, with pronounced disillusionment, why America doesn't return with masses of troops and weapons. Wayne's star power is undeniable, and Quinn is very good as a man uncertain of his role or destiny. Edward Dmytryk (Murder, My Sweet), soon to be imprisoned during Joseph McCarthy's witch hunt of Hollywood communists, directs. --Tom Keogh
This was another John Wayne movie that is so good & an asset to any video library. It's an oldie but goodie! The performances by supporting actors are excellent. I do not recommend for very young children, but for 12 & above it would be good to see!
It's a very patriotic film and well worth the viewing.
Gutsy but intimate filmmaking
War movies can be a tricky recipe to pull off because they've been done so often and fall into cliches sooo easily. This film was saved by bravura and sincerity. It's a good film. What at first may seem like a generic Duke vehicle quickly exposes itself as a small ensemble drama on an epic stage.
Part of the appeal of this film is to watch it with history in mind. It tackles a lesser known part of WWII history, the war and guerilla movements in the Philippines. This film is totally unselfconscious in how it deals with the war, in one scene it features real Bataan POWs marching in a parade and introduces them documentary style with a narrator, and it hired Filipino extras and actors for important roles. This is what really touched and surprised me, how it elevated and glorified Filipino nationalism, culture, and history (Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifácio are frequently quoted and reverently referred to throughout the film); and, in an age where African American actors still were unfairly stereotyped and Asian actors almost nowhere to be found in Hollywood films, this treated Pinoy characters as equals and as heroes. This openmindedness on the part of the filmmakers was refreshing, but very reflective of the US fighting men's appreciation of the contributions of the Filipino people.
The film is passionate about the people it portrays. It's common for wartime films to be full of propaganda and overly zealous, but this film is more touching and intimate in its approach. Patriotic speeches actually have meaning and tears behind them, swelling music doesn't feel manipulative, no doubt because it was filmed with so many soldiers and civilians involved and in 1945, these people had just gone through all this and everything is done with a real and raw memory. It feels like it's built on real stories and people, and the actors seem to know they're not dealing with run of the mill cutout characters. There's a sincerity inherent in all of their performances because of the immediateness of the subject matter. John Wayne is less gruff than usual (and even downright dashing). Anthony Quinn's confused young man: brooding heartbrokenly when he's away from his informant fiancee, tender when he's around her, not sure how to fulfill what many feel is his destiny, and his own personal journey is lovely. Beulah Bondi (as a teacher evacuee who helps the men out) teary eyed when she thinks of her students; the motley crew mix of American GIs and Pinoy volunteers who surrounds the two officers, casual and down to earth. It's a tight cast in a friendly fight to upstage the others, and you'd better believe they milk every scene for what it's worth.
The film moves along quickly and realistically. Instead of complicated plot movements and intricate bloated twists, the story seems like it was taken from any number of jungle war experiences which makes it fascinating and unpredictable, like real history. Director Edward Dmytryk, later blacklisted, paid no heed to Production Code regulations for violence, and filmed scenes that were fairly explicit (for the time) in their portrayal of cruelty and violence inflicted on soldiers and civilians in an attempt to realistically dramatize some of the atrocities that occurred during the war which lends the film an air of impending danger and gravitas.
From before the era of ambiguous and complex war stories (which is how I usually prefer my war flicks to be served), this one of the best "classic" war films I've ever seen. (If you like this, check out "An American Guerilla in the Philippines" which was shot on location by the great Fritz Lang in 1949/50 and very similar in many regards.)
A classic war movie
It is certainly not the greatest movie but it shows you a kind of movies that has been shot in the 40's and the 50's. The good one's and the bad ones. it is in black and white.
John Wayne and Robert Ryan co-star in Flying Leathernecks, Nicholas Ray's intense 1951 war movie that managed to appeal to RKO studio chief Howard Hughes's passion for thrilling aerial footage while supplying Ray's own fascination with the human psyche under near-inhuman duress. Wayne plays Major Dan Kirby, commander of a Marine Flying Corps squadron in the South Pacific of World War II. After witnessing the slaughter of men under his command at Midway, Kirby is battle-hardened and in no mood for the familiar style of his executive officer (Ryan). Emotions are further strained as Kirby's pilots are picked off one by one in grueling missions, leading to a crisis that ultimately forces each man to reevaluate his attitude toward sending men to their likely doom. The drama is built... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Wayne - Robert Ryan Director(s): Nicholas Ray DVD Release Date: Released the 04 May 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.97 Your Price: $17.97YOU SAVE $2!
Buy it
If not a seminal World War II submarine picture, then Operation Pacific is at least an entertaining one. John Wayne stars as "Duke" Gifford, first officer of the submarine Thunderfish. Patricia Neal is Duke's ex-wife, and when they meet again after four years, the couple tries to recapture "that old zing." Complications arise when Duke goes on a mission with dud torpedoes, and his best friend's younger brother goes after Neal. Fans will be pleased with Wayne's role, as the Gifford character is one of Wayne's simplest, but most honest performances. Wayne regulars Ward Bond and Jack Pennick are on hand as well; Bond plays sub captain "Pop" Perry, and Pennick the sub's Chief. The scene in which Pop tells his crew to "Take 'er down!" came from real life; a sub skipper... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Wayne - Patricia Neal Director(s): George Waggner DVD Release Date: Released the 13 May 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.96 Your Price: $13.46YOU SAVE $1.5!
Buy it
They Were Expendable is the greatest American film of the Second World War, made by America's greatest director, John Ford, who himself saw action from the Battle of Midway through D-day. Yet it's been oddly neglected. Or perhaps not so oddly: for as the matter-of-fact title implies, the film commemorates a period, from the eve of Pearl Harbor up to the impending fall of Bataan, when the Japanese conquest of the Pacific was in full cry and U.S. forces were fighting a desperate holding action. Although stirring movies had been made about these early days (Wake Island, Bataan, Air Force), they were gung ho in their resolve to see the tables turned. They Were Expendable, however, which was made when Allied victory was all but assured, is... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Robert Montgomery - John Wayne Director(s): Robert Montgomery - John Ford DVD Release Date: Released the 16 May 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.98 Your Price: $15.98YOU SAVE $4!
Buy it
The dvd was like advertised, NEW and it came within 5 days, excellent DVD, excellent service, much appreciated. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Wayne - Susan Hayward Director(s): Edward Ludwig DVD Release Date: Released the 22 May 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.98 Your Price: $13.48YOU SAVE $1.5!
Buy it
John Wayne personally produced many of his '50s films, which is why some of them have languished in corporate limbo following his death. The High and the Mighty was one of his most popular vehicles (no pun intended). This long, necessarily sedentary drama aboard an endangered airliner is a CinemaScope bridge between 1932's Grand Hotel and 1970s disaster movies. Despite Wayne's iconic presence as a pilot--now copilot--who survived the plane crash that wiped out his family, it's an ensemble movie with an impressive cast: Robert Stack sharing the cockpit, Oscar® nominees Claire Trevor and Jan Sterling, Laraine Day, Robert Newton, Paul Kelly, John Qualen, Regis Toomey, the ubiquitous Paul Fix, and director William A. Wellman's good-luck character actor Douglas Fowley.... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Wayne - Claire Trevor - Laraine Day Director(s): William A. Wellman DVD Release Date: Released the 02 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.99 Your Price: $14.99YOU SAVE $5!
Buy it
