"Manila Calling" is a WWII propaganda film made to bolster the war effort. Being made in 1942, it came out about the same time that the US was in some of its darkest days of the war...when victory seemed out of reach. Just after the fall of the Philippines came this picture...to encourage everyone that just because these islands fell does not mean that the war is over or even close to it.
The story begins just after the fall of the islands. A group of American and Filipino folks have gathered together to form a band of guerillas. Their goal is to resist and fight the Japanese military occupation to the end. The film is about their struggle and eventual decision to create a clandestine radio station to encourage the locals to fight.
This is a decent propaganda film because although this ragtag group of folks seem to have almost super-human fighting abilities, they are NOT impossible to stop. One by one they are killed and the message is not that resistance is without costs or that impossible odds are actually very possible....something I appreciated. Worth seeing if a bit jingoistic at times.
The story begins just after the fall of the islands. A group of American and Filipino folks have gathered together to form a band of guerillas. Their goal is to resist and fight the Japanese military occupation to the end. The film is about their struggle and eventual decision to create a clandestine radio station to encourage the locals to fight.
This is a decent propaganda film because although this ragtag group of folks seem to have almost super-human fighting abilities, they are NOT impossible to stop. One by one they are killed and the message is not that resistance is without costs or that impossible odds are actually very possible....something I appreciated. Worth seeing if a bit jingoistic at times.