Storyline

In 1906, Col. Hatch (Roy Gordon) is stationed in the Philippines and ordered to withdraw his forces from the island of Mindanao. Worried that an insurgent army headed by the ruthless Alipang (Tetsu Komai) will slaughter Filipinos and seize power, Hatch recruits a group of tested military officers -- including Bill Canavan (Gary Cooper), a military doctor, and McCool (David Niven) and Larson (Broderick Crawford), two rambunctious Lieutenants -- to train the locals.

Plot Keywords

colonel, native, military officer, wife, daughter, doctor, thrilling, philippines, island, boat, village, uprising, love triangle, epidemic, ambush, colonialism, military, transformation, sacrifice, underdog, adventure, 1900s

Short Review

Gary Cooper is very, very good playing a kind, intellectual adventure hero, a variation of the character he incarnated in his greatest roles. He's got a little bit of Frank Capra's social conscientiousness and a little bit of the bravura of Indiana Jones. The movie depicts a distant Philippine outpost of the US Army in 1906 whose job it is to prepare the local militia, in this majority Catholic country, from attacks by the minority Muslim Moros. Religious zealotry, traditions and superstitions play important roles in the plot. There is lots of derring-do and other movie clichés befitting a traditional colonial adventure and military film of the 1930s, and those are a bit hard to take in 2021, but at least it has good and believable production values befitting such films. Broderick Crawford and David Niven bring life to the screen. One curiosity for movie historians: why does this American film about the US Army have so many British actors ?

Trailer

Streaming Service

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2. Apple iTunes : Track Price: 9.99, Track Rental Price: 2.99, Collection Price: 9.99, Track Hd Price: 9.99, Track Hd Rental Price: 2.99, Collection Hd Price: 9.99