Women of Valor | |
---|---|
Genre | Drama War |
Written by | Jonas McCord |
Directed by | Buzz Kulik |
Starring | Susan Sarandon Kristy McNichol |
Theme music composer | Georges Delerue |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers | Jonas McCord Philip L. Parslow |
Producers | Buzz Kulik Carol Davies (uncredited) |
Cinematography | Mike Fash |
Editor | Les Green |
Running time | 100 minutes |
Production companies | Jeni Productions Inter Planetary Productions Corporation Inter Planetary Interplanetary Pictures Productions |
Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | November 23, 1986 |
Women of Valor is a 1986 American made-for-television war drama film about World War II directed by Buzz Kulik and starring Susan Sarandon and Kristy McNichol. It premiered on CBS on November 23, 1986 and was released on DVD on March 10, 1998. [1]
A group of American Army nurses are captured by the Japanese in April 1942. They are marched along with American soldiers as part of the Bataan Death March. They are put in a prisoner-of-war camp in Bataan, where they spend nearly three years.
The story focuses on Lt. Margaret Ann "Maggie" Jessup, the head army nurse who survived the camp and testified against the Japanese. She lobbied for awards of valor to be given to the women prisoners, in front of the United States Congressional subcommittee years later as a colonel.
The film was generally negatively received. One of the main criticisms was that it was not realistic. The cast was also criticized for retaining their looks while trying to survive in poor conditions. The New York Times stated the story should have given more attention to the people rather than the situations. [2]
The Philippine Scouts (Filipino: Maghahanap ng Pilipinas/Hukbong Maghahanap ng Pilipinas) was a military organization of the United States Army from 1901 until after the end of World War II. These troops were generally Filipinos and Filipino-Americans assigned to the United States Army Philippine Department, under the command of American commissioned officers (though a handful of Filipino Americans received commissions from the United States Military Academy). Philippine Scout units were given the suffix "(PS)", to distinguish them from other U.S. Army units.
The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war (POW) from the municipalities of Bagac and Mariveles on the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell via San Fernando.
Christina Ann McNichol is an American former actress. Beginning her career as a child actress, she rose to fame in 1976 with her portrayal of teenaged daughter Letitia "Buddy" Lawrence in the TV drama Family for which she won two Emmy Awards. Subsequent roles included Angel in the film Little Darlings, Polly in Only When I Laugh, and Barbara Weston in the TV sitcom Empty Nest. McNichol retired from acting in 2001.
The United States Navy Nurse Corps was officially established by Congress in 1908; however, unofficially, women had been working as nurses aboard Navy ships and in Navy hospitals for nearly 100 years. The Corps was all-female until 1965.
The Battle of Bataan was fought by the United States and the Philippine Commonwealth against Imperial Japan during World War II. The battle represented the most intense phase of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during World War II. In January 1942, forces of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy invaded Luzon along with several islands in the Philippine Archipelago after the bombing of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor.
The Great Raid is a 2005 war film about the Raid at Cabanatuan on the island of Luzon, Philippines during World War II. It is directed by John Dahl and stars Benjamin Bratt, James Franco, Connie Nielsen, Marton Csokas, Joseph Fiennes with Motoki Kobayashi and Cesar Montano. The principal photography took place from July 4 to November 6, 2002, but its release was delayed several times from the original target of fall 2003. The film received negative to average reviews from critics and was a commercial failure.
Jose Cabalfin Calugas was a member of the Philippine Scouts during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle of Bataan.
Paradise Road is a 1997 Australian war film directed by Bruce Beresford, about a group of English, American, Dutch, and Australian women who are imprisoned by the Japanese in Sumatra during World War II. It stars Glenn Close, Frances McDormand, Pauline Collins, Julianna Margulies, Jennifer Ehle, Cate Blanchett in her feature film debut, and Elizabeth Spriggs. The film received mixed reviews from critics.
Colonel Ruby Bradley was a United States Army Nurse Corps officer, a prisoner of the Japanese in World War II, and one of the most decorated women in the United States military. She was a native of Spencer, West Virginia but lived in Falls Church, Virginia, for over 50 years.
Margaret Elizabeth Doolin "Peggy" Utinsky was an American nurse who worked with the Filipino resistance movement to provide medicine, food, and other items to aid Allied prisoners of war in the Philippines during World War II. She was recognized in 1946 with the Medal of Freedom for her actions.
William Edwin Dyess was an officer of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He was captured after the Allied loss at the Battle of Bataan and endured the subsequent Bataan Death March. After a year in captivity, Dyess escaped and spent three months on the run before being evacuated from the Philippines by a U.S. submarine. Once back in the U.S., he recounted the story of his capture and imprisonment, providing the first widely published eye-witness account of the brutality of the death march. He returned to duty in the Army Air Forces, but was killed in a training accident months later.
Ann Agnes Bernatitus was a United States Navy nurse who served under combat during World War II. She was the first American recipient of the Legion of Merit.
Cry 'Havoc' is a 1943 American war drama film, produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Richard Thorpe. It stars Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern and Joan Blondell, and features Fay Bainter, Marsha Hunt, Ella Raines, Frances Gifford, Diana Lewis, Heather Angel, Dorothy Morris and Connie Gilchrist.
The Angels of Bataan were the members of the United States Army Nurse Corps and the United States Navy Nurse Corps who were stationed in the Philippines at the outset of the Pacific War and served during the Battle of the Philippines (1941–1942). When Bataan and Corregidor fell, 11 navy nurses, 66 army nurses, and 1 nurse-anesthetist were captured and imprisoned in and around Manila. They continued to serve as a nursing unit while prisoners of war. They were freed in February 1945.
Samuel Charles Grashio was a United States Army Air Forces pilot who was captured by the Japanese in World War II. He survived the Bataan Death March and participated in the only successful mass escape from a Japanese prison camp.
Josephine May Davis was an American nurse who served in the United States Army Nurse Corps. She was second-in-command of the Angels of Bataan, army nurses stationed in the Philippine Islands during World War II, who were the largest group of American women taken as prisoners of war. Nesbit was noted for her "humane, dynamic leadership style." She was credited with the survival of the nurses during the years they were held in captivity at Santo Tomas Internment Camp.
Maude C. Davison was a Canadian-born, American nurse. After a career in Canada, she moved to the United States. She served as the Chief Nurse of the United States Army Nurse Corps in the Philippines during World War II. She received numerous awards for her military service in both World War I and World War II. In 2001, she posthumously was granted an Army Distinguished Service Medal for her leadership of the Angels of Bataan, the first and largest group of American military women taken as prisoners of war.
The military career of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos during World War II has been the subject of debate and controversy, both in the Philippines and in international military circles. Marcos, who had received ROTC training in the University of the Philippines, was activated for service in the US Armed Forces in the Philippines after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He served as a 3rd lieutenant during the mobilization in the summer and fall of 1941, continuing until April 1942, after which he was taken prisoner. According to Marcos's account, he was released from prison by the Japanese on August 4, 1942, and US military records show that he rejoined USAFIP forces in December 1944. Marcos's military service then formally ended with his discharge as a major in the 14th Infantry, US Armed Forces in the Philippines Northern Luzon, in May 1945.
Dorothy Still Danner was an American Navy nurse in World War II, and, as a prisoner of war held by the Japanese from 1942 to 1945, one of the Twelve Anchors.
Naval Base Manila, Naval Air Base Manila was a major United States Navy base south of the City of Manila, on Luzon Island in the Philippines. Some of the bases dates back to 1898, the end of the Spanish–American War. Starting in 1938 civilian contractors were used to build new facilities in Manila to prepare for World War II. Work stopped on December 23, 1941, when Manila was declared not defendable against the Empire of Japan southward advance, which took over the city on January 2, 1942, after the US declared it an open city. US Navy construction and repair started in March 1945 with the taking of Manila in the costly Battle of Manila ending on March 2, 1945. Naval Base Manila supported the Pacific War and remained a major US Naval Advance Base until its closure in 1971.