Grade: C-
Synopsis: When the US retreat from the Philippines after it falls to the Japanese in World War II, a US Colonel (John Wayne) remains behind to organize guerrilla resistance.
Back to Bataan is a mediocre wartime melodrama marred by an aimless script and an overabundance of propaganda.
With filming going on while actual the war for the Philippines was still being fought, the filmmakers were constantly scrambling to update the script in order to reflect the latest events. While this approach worked in John Ford’s superior They Were Expendable (1945), it fails here since the film is essentially a melodrama that falls apart without solid three act structure.
John Wayne does his best to carry things, but despite his top billing, his character doesn’t do all that much. When the script isn’t interjecting talky bits of awkward propaganda, (the way they gloss over the US occupation is cringe-worthy) it mostly revolves around Anthony Quinn’s character as he anguishes in self-pity over his girl working for the enemy. At the very least, director Edward Dmytryk brings his usual excellent cinematography to the table, and tries to focus on Wayne as much as the script will allow.
In the end, Back to Bataan isn’t an awful film, just one that pales next to They Were Expendable, which covers much of the same territory.
