Bataan (1943)

Directed by Tay Garnett
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros)

Relentlessly downbeat film about a small platoon of soldiers fighting a hopeless battle in the Philippine jungle. No punches are pulled, it's violent and bloody, frequently enshrouded in ground fog that makes it feel more like a horror film than war. The ensemble cast is excellent: Robert Taylor is the war-weary Sergeant, he's got a personal beef with Lloyd Nolan in perhaps his best role, even Desi Arnaz turns in a good performance as the jazz-loving Ramirez. The ending is a knockout.