It's great when a good picture shows up when you weren't expecting one - and this was a good picture. Can't tell if it was a strong 'B' or a weak 'A', but it was worth the 80 minutes I spent on it. It is a jingoistic, patriotic, support-the-troops World War II film that is thoroughly enjoyable. Lots of action throughout, and with lots of dead (as I lose myself in the heat of the moment) Japs, and with good jobs all around in the acting department. Stalwart Lloyd Nolan is the star of the picture, but when Carole Landis is on screen it's hard to take your eyes off her.
Nolan leads a group of civilian engineers in the Phillipines trying to string wire prior to the arrival of Japanese forces. They wrest a ranch/farm from a garrison of Japanese soldiers as a base of operations and Landis arrives with another civilian purported to be her boyfriend - or maybe not. From there on things don't go well for the Americans, among them James Gleason as a caricature of an Irishman and Cornel Wilde as an assistant engineer.
There are several good firefights and a rousing speech on the short wave by Nolan, and I gave the whole production a rating of 7. It was at least that good. This film is not available in any format and I bought a print from one of the many fly-by-night film copiers found in magazines and newspapers.
Nolan leads a group of civilian engineers in the Phillipines trying to string wire prior to the arrival of Japanese forces. They wrest a ranch/farm from a garrison of Japanese soldiers as a base of operations and Landis arrives with another civilian purported to be her boyfriend - or maybe not. From there on things don't go well for the Americans, among them James Gleason as a caricature of an Irishman and Cornel Wilde as an assistant engineer.
There are several good firefights and a rousing speech on the short wave by Nolan, and I gave the whole production a rating of 7. It was at least that good. This film is not available in any format and I bought a print from one of the many fly-by-night film copiers found in magazines and newspapers.