Two more stills from movie "Bataan"

[Rick the Librarian]

As the 1943 movie "Bataan" was my favorite movie while growing up, I've collected a number of movie stills over the last few years and I thought I'd post a couple of more which feature M1903s.



1. Here is a still of probably the most famous "remembered" actor from the movie, Desi Arnez. Arnez (who married Lucille Ball in 1940), was know best for small roles in musicals featuring Latin American songs and dancing. He was about 9 years away from his most famous role in "I Love Lucy" with Ball. In "Bataan", he had a serious role as a jitterbugging Mexican-American from Los Angeles, Felix Ramirez. He stated his unit as the 192nd Tank Battalion, which really did serve on Bataan ("Wheel counter's" note - technically, he would have served with the 192nd's sister unit, the 194th, which contained a company from the California National Guard). Note the rifle he is holding. It appears to be a Bannerman or Sedgely rifle with a Krag-type rear sight



2. Lloyd Nolan, who played Corporal Barney Todd, the "tough guy" soldier with a hidden past, props up a "dead Japanese" (actually most of the extras in the film were Filipinos from the LA-area) to draw enemy fire. Note the Krag bayonet on the M1903 that Nolan is using. The rifle also appears to be a Sedgely/Bannerman with a Krag rear sight.

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[tmark]

I saw this as a 9 year old kid blanketed in front of the tv by my WWII vet father. It is one of his favorites. Needless to say, I have the VHS. This is one movie I would like to see "colorized". The scene that sticks in mind is when a soldier climbs a coconut tree for a look-see. A Jap sniper finds his mark.
Thanks, Rick, for the pics. Now I gotta get the DVD format for better acuity. Is it available in DVD? I got Windtalkers (Nicholas Gage) at Wal-Mart for $5

[Rick the Librarian]

There are TONS of DVD copies available on eBay and I see it at Walmart and other sources. My DVD copy has not only "Bataan", but "Back to Bataan", as well. "Back to Bataan" is not near as good, IMHO, but it does have a good scene showing the Bataan Death March and another section which does a pretty good job showing the raid on the POW camp at Cabanatuan in early 1945.

[VeeVee]

While a colorized version of this movie would be nice, I vote for a remake updated version along the lines of Band of Brothers.

[smle-man]

Camp San Luis Obispo (California National Guard) has a very nice display of a M3 Stuart tank breaking through a Japanese roadblock during the Bataan campaign. It is based on an illustration of this action. The participants were a CAARNG tank unit from Modesto. The survivors were prisoners of the Japanese. The M3 was a target on a gunnery range and was never hit in the whole time it was on the firing line! Maybe the gunners spared it based on its historical significance. I have a picture around somewhere of the display that I took when I was there in 2005.

[Rick the Librarian]

Below is the painting that SMLE-Man is referring - "A Roadblock on the Road to Bataan", one of the "National Guard in Action" series of prints. It was based on a true event involving the 194th Tank Battalion.

(Another "wheel-counter" note: The M3 in the painting is actually a later one than that used in the Philippines with the "round" turret. The 192nd and 194th used an earlier model).

[lovemymilsurps]

While a colorized version of this movie would be nice, I vote for a remake updated version along the lines of Band of Brothers.

they should remake all of the old war movies

[Dollar Bill]

Watch out for what you ask for. Just think of "Tora Tora Tora" and "Pearl Harbor". While my daughter loves the later, I find it full of to much total crap that the special effects can't possibly make up for.

[Rick the Librarian]

Totally agree - "Pearl Harbor" was a total bomb (no pun intended).

[TDH]

Totally agree - "Pearl Harbor" was a total bomb (no pun intended).

Not a total bomb Kate Beckensale was more than worth the price of admission although the person that cast Alec Baldwin in any war movie should be shot being the left wing commie he is. But that is just my opinion.