RKO. Director Edward Dmytryk; Producer Robert Fellows (exec.); Screenplay Ben Barzman, Richard H. Landau; Camera Nicholas Musuraca; Editor Marston Fay; Music Roy Webb; Art Director Albert S. D'Agostino, Ralph Berger
John Wayne
Anthony Quinn
Beulah Bondi
Fely Franquelli
Richard Loo
Philip Ahn
Events are based on fact, according to foreword, and clips of several US fighting men released from Jap prison camps with the return of MacArthur's army are used both at beginning and end. Plot [from a story by Aeneas MacKenzie and William Gordon] spans time from fall of Bataan and Corregidor to the Yank landings on Leyte, and depicts adventures of John Wayne as a colonel leading Filipino patriots in undercover sabotage against the 'islands' temporary conquerors.
Love interest is given over to Anthony Quinn, portraying the descendant of the Filipino hero, Bonifacio, and Fely Franquelli, Manila contact for the band of heroes. Quinn does a particularly outstanding job, as does Franquelli. Wayne makes a stalwart leader for the guerrillas, commendably underplaying the role for best results.
(B&W) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1945. Running time: 95 MIN.
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