The Battle of Corregidor involved hundreds of thousands of troops and tons of airplanes, tanks and ships. Tiny little Atlantis Pictures tried to capture it...on the cheap. Instead of hundreds of thousands of troops, you might see a dozen or so. And instead of modern equipment, they use a lot of stock footage--though at least many of the planes are actually Japanese (unlike many other US films which used Dauntless or Texan aircraft and tried to pass them off as Japanese Mitsubishi fighters). I say many because sometimes the clips are all wrong...but at least they're more right than wrong! As for the backgrounds, they are VERY cheap and the jungle set is almost laughably bad.The story involves a couple of doctors who, one minute are going to break up and the next they get married. Soon their honeymoon turns crap when the Japanese attack...and they spend the rest of the film trying to survive. She's really in love with another guy--so you can guess where it goes next. Otto Kruger, Donald Woods and Elissa Landi are fine in the movie, though the trio aren't exactly leading stars (especially Landi)...which isn't surprising with an Atlantis film. They simply couldn't afford a Clark Gable, Jimmy Cagney or Pat O'Brien. So is it any good? Not especially. Mostly the Japanese just line up waiting to be easily shot...and if Corregidor was really that easy the United States/Filipino forces would have won that battle!! But at least the Japanese aren't drooling animals like they were in many other American films of the day* (entertaining...yes...but not exactly realistic). Everyone tries their best but with the film's many limitations it manages only to be slightly entertaining and not much more. *I've seen some Japanese and German wartime films and the Americans are every bit as subhuman or one-dimensional in them as well.

(Some spoilers) A bit more accurate then the usual war movie that was cranked out of the Hollowwood studios during the Second World War. "Corregidor" honestly portrays the heroic US and Phillipino siege of the island fortress known as "The Rock. Corregidor held off massive Japanese attacks from land sea and air from the time that Battan fell on April 9, 1942 to it's eventually surrender to the Japanese imperial forces on May 6, 1942, a total of 28 days. The movie starts on December 6, 1941 at Manoi in the Phillippines with Dr. Royce lee coming to the islands with her live-in maid Hyacinth, Ruby Dandridge, from New York City. Royce meets her long and forgotten, on his part, love Dr. Jan Stockman, Otto Kruger, and in less then 24 hours the two lovebirds get married. After The Wedding, December 7,1941,the Japanese air force strikes the wedding party as well as all the US bases in the Pacific West of Hawaii, notably Perl Harbor getting the USA into WWII. The surprise Japanese attack Kills the presiding priest, Frank Jaquet, as well as Hyacinth among other guests at the ceremony. Going north away from the advancing Japanese army the two, Jan & Joyce, link up with a group of US soldiers and travel, through the jungle and over the waters of Minila Bay, to the island of Corregidor for the US army's last stand against the Japanese. We then have a really schmaltzy love triangle between Jan Joyce and an old flame of her's back from her medical school days in New York US Army Dr. Michael, Donald Woods. Dr. Michael dumped Joyce back then when she, being a blue blood and having lots of the green stuff, rented an office for Dr. Michael's medical practice on the fancy and prestigious New York's Park Ave. The guy could have evened things out by not charging fees to his clients for his services if he had such a violent dislike for making money. While on the island we also have another war love story between US Army nurse Hey-Dutch Van Doren, Wanda McKay, and her US Army boyfriend Cpl. Pinky, he's called Pinky that's because he'll so large, Mason, Rick Villin. Both Pinky & Hey-Dutch end up getting killed in the fighting. Hey-Dutch from a Japanese aerial bombardment and Pinky from being machine gunned, by a Japanese Zero fighter plane, that he also shot down from his tail-gunner position on the last plane out of Corregidor.On the island Jan changes his mind about getting married to Joyce, this after three short months, and dumps her, like Dr. Michael did, back into Dr. Michael's lap. Jan also solves the problem of Joyce being torn and divided between him and Dr. Michael by having himself get killed by a Japanese bombardment. Leaving Joyce free to marry Dr. Michael, but even that didn't go too well with Joyce being forced to leave the island as Dr. Michael stayed behind to be either killed or captured by the invading Japaneses troops. I found the love triangle and love story,between Jan & Joyce & Dr. Michael as well as Pinky and Hey-Dutch, far more interesting the the battle action scenes themselves.

Formula: A Woman in Love with One Man Marries Another + Insidious Japanese Attack on American Territory + A Surgical Theater's Romantic But Unconsummated Menage a Trois=A Movie That Can't Decide What It's About.*****The Japanese December 1941 invasion of the Philippines, culminating in the surrender by General Wainwright of all forces under his command in early 1942, is still America's greatest military catastrophe. The defense and ultimate loss of the obsolete island fortress of Corregidor, here immortalized (less rather than more) in the film of the same name was, with the fall of the archipelago, a far more serious geo-strategic blow to America than Pearl Harbor.In 1943 veteran director William Nigh, a man who successfully transitioned from the silents to the talkies and who directed dozens of mostly forgettable films, made "Corregidor." His three stars were successful screen actors. Playing a doctor, Dr. Royce Lee Stockman, Elissa Landi, once a beauty, brought some depth to the story of a woman who traveled to the Philippines to marry one doctor while carrying a bright torch for another, an army medico named Michael who just happened to be stationed in the territory. She weds Dr. Jan Stockman (Otto Kruger, playing a nice guy for a change) the night before the Japanese air attack that presaged the invasion.Together with ragtag army troops, the couple reaches Corregidor where Michael is encountered. The trek through the backlot jungle provides a preview of some of the most unrealistic war scenes filmed anytime between 1939 and 1945.Idealistic Jan recognizes his bride's undiminished love for Michael and almost like a quintessential (but probably rare) English gentleman he urges her to go to him. This being 1943, no intimacy is shown or suggested.In any event, history takes its course and Corregidor falls but not before some of the women, including Royce are flown out (in reality, American army nurses were captured by the Japanese and while they were spared the horrors of the Bataan Death March, they didn't exactly have a nice time for the next three years either).The film is stolidly preachy about the virtues of democracy with declamations by the actors having the "Now for a message from our government" tone. The use of stock military footage reaches the asinine with no attempt to make planes uniform. A monoplane begins a bombing run that is concluded by a biplane. No excuse for that. Also, apparently to save time and money, the same shots of Japanese soldiers falling dead to the ground are recycled at several points.One historical curiosity: Royce's maid, killed at the beginning of the movie, is Ruby Dandridge, mother of Dorothy.Much more could have been done with this story and its experienced lead cast.4/10

Recently distributed in DVD, this movie was a disappointment. It takes a unique tact to bring noncombatants into a war film; an idea that should have been a basis for a great story. The missionary doctor and the brave bride hardly get any character development throughout the film. The story is one of a dedicated missionary doctor in the Philippines, who is surprised by the arrival of a former lover. On 6 December, 1941, she has followed the missionary doctor to marry him. He is surprised as he had disregarded the letter, being busy in his research. But, her real love is an Army doctor, currently stationed at Corrigidor. The Japanese attack happens at the close of the wedding ceremony. That begins a 600 miles journey through the jungle, with terribly directed combat scenes and with poorly dramatized suffering. Although we expect some period gloss over suffering and combat, the scenes are very poorly presented. At Corrigidor, the battle progresses, the three friends/lovers are reunited, and the devastating losses mount. I'll leave the ending to the viewer, but it is convincing neither in tone nor emotion. In 1943, there were probably not many technical advisers on the last scenes at Corrigidor, but suffice it to say, the last departees were not leaving on C-47s. I appreciate period pieces, and allow for the oversights, glamorization of the 1940's scripts and productions. And the patriotic message was both expected and deserved by the men and women who struggled on Corrigidor and throughout the Philippines. But, this is just poorly done, and loses all its punch. Too bad for a potentially great story line, in an honestly heroic setting. Having visited Corrigidor, I was hopeful for a powerful, though period based piece. The film was disappointing on all counts.