So Proudly We Hail!

Directed by Mark Sandrich
USA 1943

Brimming with all the patriotic rhetoric typical of war flicks of the time, So Proudly We Hail! (1943) was nevertheless something of a change of pace for audiences as it followed the adventures and hardships of a troupe of military nurses through some of the darkest hours of the war in the Pacific. Told in flashback as the women arrive home, it takes them from December 1941, with their Hawaii-bound ship diverted to Bataan after the attack on Pearl Harbor, through Corregidor and finally back to the U.S. about a year later.

Those Philippine islands were the sites of two of the most crushing Allied defeats in World War II. On Bataan, thousands of U.S. and Filipino troops died in a brutal "death march" to a prison camp after their capture by Japanese forces. And Corregidor was bombarded for five months by the Japanese, finally forcing the May 1942 surrender of 10,000 U.S. and Filipino troops. Although So Proudly We Hail! was fairly typical for a Hollywood war film, its glamorous stars were dragged down into the mud and gore that the realistic story required.

Excerpt from Turner Classic Movies located HERE

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Theatrical Release: June 22nd, 1943

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DVD Review: Universal - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Universal Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	2:05:36
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.9 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital Mono)
Subtitles	English, French, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Universal Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Robert Osborne Introduction (2:15) • Trailer (1:41) DVD Release Date: May 22nd, 2007 Double-lock Keep Case Chapters: 19

Comments:

This such a better film than I was expecting and I read somewhere "far ahead of its time" - and I fully agree. I'm surprised I had never seen it before and am so glad it made it to DVD. A great film!

This is dual-layered and the transferred image looks very good. There is some expected digital artifacts but it has moments of exceptional greytone clarity. Although not advertised as having any form of restoration - it certainly looks that way. I'll just assume the print was in very strong condition. There are some speckles and light damage but overall this is a super image and strong bitrate considering the age of the film. It is progressive and sports optional English (hoh) or French subtitles. Audio is mono but consistent enough to interpret the dialogue very easily.

No extras save a trailer and the short Robert Osborne introduction, but I'm not complaining and the price, around $10, makes it a must-buy as far as I am concerned.

Gary W. Tooze

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