Cry 'Havoc' - Ann Sothern

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Richard Thorpe
USA 1943

The priorities are clear for Army nurses on Bataan Peninsula in 1942. Take your quinine, malaria is rampant. Make do, supplies will not arrive. Stay strong, despite the overwhelming odds. The nation was shaken by the plight of U.S. and Filipino forces in the early days of America's World War II involvement, and Hollywood responded with three powerful 1943 films about that conflict: Bataan, So Proudly We Hail! and Cry "Havoc," a tale of courage and camaraderie featuring an all-female credited cast. Margaret Sullavan portrays the overworked head nurse guiding an inexperienced staff of civilian volunteers: a burlesque queen (Joan Blondell) , a waitress (Ann Sothern), a Southern belle, a socialite and more - all heroes.

Poster

Theatrical Release: November 23rd, 1943

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DVD Review: Warner Home Video (Warner Archive Collection) - Region 0 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Warner Home Video Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:37:21
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.53 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 2.0)
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Archive Advert (:59) DVD Release Date: January 19th, 2010 Keep Case Chapters: 9

Comments:

Propaganda or not... this is a great film. Cry 'Havoc' was based on a play "Proof Through The Night" by Allan Kenward and with the strong character base it's easy to see that it would work well onstage. It is an almost exclusively female cast (funny the DVD cover has a man though) with, among notables, Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern, Joan Blondell, Fay Bainter, Marsha Hunt and the underrated Ella Raines. While the performances are wonderful it is the story that carries the film. Very impressive from start to finish.

It's, standard, single-layered, but progressive and looks quite acceptable. The beginning and ending show some more lighter damage with heavier speckles than one might hope (see last capture) - but they are generally frame specific and not overly noticeable. Contrast is a little faint but greyscale is well supported. Detail is unremarkable but consistent. In short the DVD supplies a decent presentation. Certainly one that allowed me to appreciate the film without major, distracting, flaws.

As usual, no subtitles - and, unremarkable but clear 2.0 channel sound. Extras consist solely of the minute-long Archive advert that starts the disc presentation.

Great actresses here that all seem to work well together. I certainly wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. Wow! This is another example of the value of the Warner Archive. I might never have viewed this fantastic war-effort film if not for its availability on this DVD. I think many people might be surprised at Cry 'Havoc' and we recommend!