Cry Havoc (1943)

Set in a field hospital in the Philippines during the 1942 battle of Bataan. Thirteen women (two army nurses and 11 civilians) tend to the wounded and dying as the Japanese forces move inexorably down the peninsula. Based on the play by Allan R. Kenward and directed by Richard Thorpe (KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE). Two WWII films that were female centric came out in 1943. This one from MGM and SO PROUDLY WE HAIL from Paramount. SO PROUDLY WE HAIL received four Oscar nominations while CRY HAVOC received none but I think it's the better movie. It's darker and grittier and unlike SO PROUDLY WE HAIL which has prominent male characters, CRY HAVOC's males are either unseen or reduced to a few lines. I also like the actresses better. Margaret Sullavan brings a quiet authority to her army Lieutenant while Ann Sothern and Joan Blondell have tailor made roles as brassy blondes who find their toughness scraped away and their empathy strengthened. It may have a tinge of the MGM gloss but it comes across as a sincere view of women in war. With Fay Bainter, Marsha Hunt Ella Raines, Heather Angel, Diana Lewis (who would retire from acting and marry William Powell), Frances Gifford, Connie Gilchrist and a young Robert Mitchum, who has one line.