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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2010 3:21:35 GMT 8
I am looking forward to watching the Pacific miniseries on HBO next month. Hoping it will cover Bataan and Corregidor in some significant way.
Can anyone recommend decent Hollywood depictions of Bataan, Corregidor, and the POW experience?
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Post by victor on Feb 25, 2010 8:13:48 GMT 8
Sorry to disappoint you Matt, there won't be anything about the Philippines in that series. It's mainly US Marines based on the book Helmet For My Pillow by Robert Leckie, and With The Old Breed by Eugene Sled. A decent recent documentary type would be this History Channel episode of Shootout. www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=4E7EFAE611DA2BC2
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Post by okla on Feb 26, 2010 3:56:07 GMT 8
Hey Vic....I am sure that you have lamented, as have I, the fact that there is so little photographic, both newsreel,etc and still pics, of those late 1941-early 1942 events in the PI. I would suppose the main reason there is little film record by the Fil/American forces is because of the geographic situation that the allies faced. Anything that was recorded on film had to come out primarily by submarine. My question is this- just how much was actually recorded on film. ? Not much I would wager, but what little was created on film is probably long lost, perhaps destroyed just prior to capitulation along with other records,etc. There could very well be Japanese film decaying somewhere in forgotten archives in Nippon. Who knows? There might be some black and white kodak type photos in attics,etc here in the USA that came out in personal letters on the few submarine runs during early 1942. It is apparent that little photographic evidence exists of those dark days and it is a disappointing fact to many of us. I am sure you would include yourself in this group.
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Post by batteryboy on Feb 28, 2010 9:51:54 GMT 8
There is hardly any real hollywood depiction of the Bataan and Corrgidor saga even in early films. Two movies that bear the name Bataan: "Bataan" (made in 1943 that stars Robert Taylor) and "Back to Bataan" with John Wayne. Although it did touch a little bit on the Bataan story but it was nowhere near the accuracy of the real thing as both wer fictional in nature. There was a terrible movie made about Corregidor whihc starred Otto Kruger and again, it was nowhere near any of the historical stuff.
The best source of films would be the documentary stills and reels shipped out before the capitulation that shows the beach defenses in late April and the damages by Japanese shelling and bombings in the batteries. it was taken by a serviceman using a porable camera. Its unfortunate that I cannot show even an excerpt of it as I have given my wornd not to show it in public. It was sent to me for analyzation purposes. One of the most disturbing scenes in the Bataan photos that I have analyzed was the chaos near the Lamao road leading to Cabcaben Field and Mariveles that shows the retreatring soldiers. They were a pitiful sight. Also a few of the rare photos taken on the western side of Bataan where it shows the defense lines with Fil trops manning them.
The other best source of surrender of Bataan and Corregdor were the documentary fims taken by Japanese news reel and propaganda teams during the surrender of Bataan and Corregidor.
FWIW,
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Post by okla on Feb 28, 2010 10:24:05 GMT 8
Hey Batts...You are so correct about that Otto Kruger film being an absolute "dog". I saw all three of the mentioned motion pictures when they first came out and the Robert Taylor and John Wayne film were very entertaining, but were absolutly fiction based, especially the former. It came out in 1943 and I thought was more of a hoped for morale boosting production. The Wayne picture was toward the end of the war when we had the enemy on the run and wasn't so much for raising the spirits of the home folks. Even though the pics of the demoralized, beaten American/Filipino troops were very disturbing, you are indeed fortunate to have viewed them. This film footage must have gone out on one of the last submarines (maybe on the last PBYs) if it depicts the rout suffered by our guys in II Corps in April 1942. Those Japanese newsreel films of the wounded in Malinta were very depressing to me, especially that guy encased in an upper body cast. Now I ask you, what chance in hell did he have in the POW pens?
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