‘Back to Bataan’: Beyond Orders—A Portrait of Brotherhood

The battle in the Phillipines shows the mutual respect of Americans and Filipinos during World War II.

Col. Joseph Madden (John Wayne) leads his unit of Filipino guerilla fighters, in “Back to Bataan.” RKO Radio Pictures

NR | 1h 35m | Drama, War | 1945

Long before the dense tropics of Southeast Asia became a familiar battleground in Vietnam and post-Vietnam cinema, only a handful of Hollywood productions ventured into the murky, vine-choked terrain of jungle warfare. The major chapters of World War II, particularly Europe, remained the dominant backdrop for mid-century war films, leaving the Pacific front and its guerrilla campaigns underrepresented.