The Real Glory (1939)

I had no idea what to expect from THE REAL GLORY, a 1930s adventure film set in the Philippines but shot in California. It stars Gary Cooper in a role long before HIGH NOON, and he plays one of many officers stationed in the Philippines and attempting to stifle an uprising by Muslim rebels. The film is directed by Hollywood director Henry Hathaway, who directed a lot of good stuff over a long career including John Wayne's TRUE GRIT. The tale starts off a little slow but it turns out that it's merely taking time to get to know the characters before involving them in an action-packed tale. Indeed, THE REAL GLORY gets better and better as it goes on, turning into a pulp story full of outlandish incident and heroism.Things culminate in an incredible siege climax which is one of the best-directed I've seen from the era. It's edge of the seat stuff, full of violence, stunts, and general excitement, ending the movie on a real high. Cooper is a solid and likable lead and given fine support from the likes of a youthful David Niven and Broderick Crawford. Even Andrea Leeds isn't out of place as the token female. Watch out for Japanese actor Tetsu Komai who made a career of playing villainous Oriental types in the 1930s.

I saw this film for the first time today and it definitely beat my expectations. Gary Cooper played an unforgettable role as the brave, yet insubordinate Doc Canavan, a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army working at a medical clinic in a small, mostly Catholic Filipino town in Mindanao ( presumably on the island of Basilan ) which was under constant attack from the ( presumably ) Tausug Moro rebels from the Sulu Archipelago ( which actually did take place for over 300 years in the region ). As a speaker of Tagalog, it was fun to hear the dialog between the Filipino actors and actresses in the film, and I was entertained by the fact that they had so much of it.Although the film is entirely a work of fiction and does not assert that this is a depiction of historical events, some reviewers here seem to have tried to label this film as "propaganda" and as being an "Arm of the U.S. Government's War Machine" because it depicts the U.S. military as something other than a rowdy gang of puppy-tossing, blood hungry murderers and thugs. This is somewhat upsetting. After seeing this movie I was inspired by the message that the movie sent, and was reminded of how there really was a time in American history where Americans were somewhat cognizant of how things actually work in the world. A time when Americans actually supported the country which birthed them, pampered them, and allowed them to enjoy a freedom so comfortable that it created an atmosphere capable of cultivating ANTI-American ideals.

The USA didn't have much of a foreign colonialist period. Like Germany, we came rather late to the game. Besides which Americans were busy colonizing their own interior.But in the mid- to late 1930s stories of colonial adventures abroad seemed to become suddenly popular in Hollywood, or at least simplified and romanticized versions of same. Gary Cooper was in a surprising number of them. Usually they're a lot of nonsensical fun. Discounting American Westerns, there were "Gunga Din," "Lives of a Bengal Lancer," "Beau Geste," "Morroco," "The Charge of the Light Brigade," others whose names escape me, and this one, "The Real Glory." It takes place in the land of the Moros (Filipino Moslems) who resent the Westernization of their cobbled-together country by first Spain, then, after the Spanish-American war, the Americans. That war is still being fought. But, not to worry, everything in the movie turns out alright in the end -- well, almost.Gary Cooper, David Niven, and Broderick Crawford are Army lieutenants stationed at an undermanned fort surrounded by jungle and enemies. If you think of this as a rather typical situation for this sort of action movie, you're probably on the right track. It usually leads to a heroic defense of the fort by our side. And it gives the writers a chance to have hordes of evildoers charging the fort to be mowed down in rows like wheat by a motorized reaper. There must be at least one heroic sacrifice too, of a secondary character. Sometimes there's just one (Gunga Din) and sometimes, as here, both Niven and Crawford are given a chance to make the supreme sacrifice. Of the two sacrifices, Crawford's is the more supreme. A harmless, doltish officer who is devoted to growing orchids, he is captured by the Moros, his head smeared with honey, and then he is buried up to his neck in an ant hill. Those Moros were pitiless cookies. If I'm not mistaken the Colt Model 1911 .45 caliber automatic, a veritable cannon at the time, was developed partly because smaller caliber pistols were thought unable to stop a charging Moro.The rafting scenes were done, it appears, in the lower reaches of the Kern River. This is a dangerous area to raft or inner-tube in. It's the only rushing water for ten thousand miles around Bakersfield, California, and is a popular bathing spot in the summer, even though a few rafters and tubers usually are lost. It's interesting too in that it is the only known home of the Kern Valley salamander (Batrachoseps simatus), and only for a stretch of a few miles along the bank -- and only the northern bank.I think I like Gunga Din better because there is more slapstick, more laughs all around, and because the characters are a little better developed. But "The Real Glory" is nothing to be ashamed of. An enjoyable romp by stars wearing colorful uniforms in an exotic location and involved in a conflict nobody ever heard of.

THE REAL GLORY is a terrific follow-up to the adventure classic LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER (1936) which saw the previous pairing of star Gary Cooper with director Henry Hathaway. THE REAL GLORY is a 'Boy's Own' style adventure romp through the jungles of the Phillipines following the Spanish-American War. Cooper leads a small band of American soldiers and medical personnel as they train a police force to fight back against vicious Moro pirates who terrorize and prey upon the local villagers. Cooper and co-star David Niven are the perfect Hollywood mix of heroism, gallantry and self-sacrifice. Director Hathaway fills THE REAL GLORY to the brim with rousing action sequences, desperate derring-do and the kind of buckle-swashing that heavily influenced modern classics like Spielberg's RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. An absolutely top-notch film in every department. This is escapist entertainment as only Golden Age Hollywood could produce. If you like 'GUNGA DIN/RAIDERS' style filmmaking then this is a must-see. A perfect Saturday night popcorn film.