Review of So Proudly We Hail (1943) by Jay N — 12 Jul 2008

Possibly the best War movie I've ever seen. The horrors of War were never so vivid without resorting to blood and gore, this film really impressed me. When you realize that the events that take place had happened very recently in the minds of the audience, you can understad what kind of effect it had on them.

Claudette Colbert played Lt. Janet "Davy" Davidson, and IMO she was magnificent. Some people say she was too old for the part, but she was only in her 30s, its not like she was 50 or something. Seeing her here was a different experience for me as I'm used to seeing her in comedies like "it Happened One Night". She really pulled this off very well.

Paulette Goddard played Lt. Joan O'Doul, and I feel she kind of stole the spotlight on occasion, she was so engaging It was hard to take my eyes off of her. She certainly deserved the Oscar Nomination, whether she stood a chance of winning it I don't know I haven't seen the competition yet. I bought this film because of Paulette, after seeing how close she came to being Scarlett O'hara, I wanted to see some of her best films.

Veronica Lake played Lt. Olivia D'arcy, a young nurse who lost her Fiance at Pearl Harbor. The scene were she recollects the loss of her beloved was very intense and certainly worthy of Oscar consideration. Many say this was possibly her best role, until I see more of her work, I'll save my judgement. I have seen Veronica before, in a film called "I Married A Witch", which was the obvious inspiration for the TV series "Bewitched". I remember her being quite funny in that, so its also strange to see her in this kind of role.

George Reeves played Lt. John Summers, a medical technician that "Davy" nurses back to health after his ship was torpedoed and later falls in love with. As many of you know, George played Superman on TV years later, and here you see just how wasted he was in that role, he was a much better actor than they needed to play "The Man Of Steel". I'm told that his Army Career interupted his film career just as roles like this were establishing him, and unlike the leading men of the day, when the war was over he had nothing to go back to as it seems he was forgotten. George Reeves is one of Hollywood's great tragedies, you can only wonder how different things would have been for him if he hadn't gone off to war and built up his movie career instead. He might have lived to a ripe old age.

A tremendously powerful movie that doesn't see much publicity nowadays, go out and get it and you won't be sorry.