Bataan

Bataan (1943)

THE STORY OF A PATROL OF 13 HEROES

During Japan's invasion of the Philippines in 1942, Capt. Henry Lassiter, Sgt. Bill Dane and a diverse group of American soldiers are ordered to destroy and hold a strategic bridge in order to delay the Japanese forces and allow Gen. MacArthur time to secure Bataan. When the Japanese soldiers begin to rebuild the bridge and advance, the group struggles with not only hunger, sickness and gunfire, but also the knowledge that there is likely no relief on the way.

Date of release
1943-06-03
TMDB
6.4 / 10 (37)
Runtime
1h 54m
Genres
Action, Drama, War
Director
Tay Garnett

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Awards: 1 · Nominations: 0. Including: National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Bataan is a 1943 American black-and-white World War II drama film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Irving Starr, and directed by Tay Garnett, that stars Robert Taylor, George Murphy, Lloyd Nolan, Thomas Mitchell, Lee Bowman, Desi Arnaz and Robert Walker. It follows the fates of a group of men charged with destroying a bridge during the doomed defense of the Bataan Peninsula by American forces in the Philippines against the invading Japanese.

Production

The film is notable for depicting a racially diverse but integrated and cohesive fighting force (including a Black, Asian, Latino, and Irish soldier) at a time when the United States military was racially segregated. In his autobiography, Schary wrote that he was intentionally trying to break the color barrier in American war films and was specifically criticized by some studio executives for casting an African-American actor (Kenneth Spencer).

Scenes from the 1934 RKO film The Lost Patrol, directed by John Ford, were reused in this production.

The film premièred in New York City on June 3, 1943.

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