Cry of Battle

Plot synopsis:
The film begins on December 8, 1941 with the Japanese attacking the Philippines. Dave McVey Jr., the son of a rich American businessman with extensive holdings in the Philippines, is attacked by murderous bandits. He is rescued by Careo, a Filipino patriot who has put together a group of anti-Japanese Filipino guerrillas. Carero hides Dave with an elderly Filpino and his granddaughter who teach Dave Tagalog.
Careo returns again to tell Dave that his father has left the Philippines, but Dave is joined by a fellow American, Joe Trent, a rough merchant sailor who was third mate on a cargo ship that was sunk by the Japanese. Joe's ship was part of a merchant line owned by Dave's father. Joe figures that Dave's father will reward him for keeping his son safe. Joe gets drunk and rapes the teenage granddaughter. When the girl starts screeming, Dave has no choice but to flee with Joe.
They meet a band of armed Filipinos led by Atong and the English-speaking woman Sisa. The quick-thinking Joe tells the band that if they bring them to Colonel Ryker, an American officer in charge of a guerrilla unit, Ryker will reward them. Ryker tells Dave that the Japanese would probably give him a comfortable existence and might repatriate him to the United States due to his father's extensive business dealings with Japan. Dave replies that his father's connections to Japan were from before the war and he would rather fight with the guerrillas. The group join Ryker's unit in fighting the Japanese.
Joe is promoted to lieutenant and is to accompany a Filipino captain on a raid against a Japanese-held sugar refinery and railway. Joe brings Dave, Atong, Sisa and a group of their original band on the mission. After the captain is killed, Atong kills one of his own men over the captain's pistol. Joe makes Atong give the pistol to Dave. Not wishing to complete their mission, Joe sends Dave and Sisa into a village to ask the locals for food. As they are negotiating, Joe's band massacres the villagers to steal their rice, with Joe shooting Atong during the raid. Sisa quickly switches her loyalties to Joe.

Tags: violence

Review:
Corrections in film and trivia..
I was the producer of "Cry of Battle".
The production name, Petramonte,is Stein(stone)berg(mountain) in Spanish.
The rape scene was with Van Heflin trying to rape Pinang, played by the Phillipina actress, Marilou Munoz, not Rita Morena.
For Trivia: I shot around Rita Morena so that she could fly back to LA for the Acedemy Award.
She got an Oscar that year, returned and continued shooting.
The working title was "To be a man".
The book called for an young adult.
Making the David McVey character younger with James MacArthur, it was better contrast as a much younger man.
We shot a number of days using jitneys (old cars used as buses) horse drawn carts in crowded streets.
This was that start of the Japanese attack.
All of that work and footage went into the trash can and we ended up with a simple line about the date..
This MacArthur Ain't Returning.
I'm sure that the title of this film Cry of Battle was no accident and I'm sure many a piece of change was spent on admission to this feature because folks thought they were seeing a re-release of the more well acclaimed Battle Cry. That was a big budget studio effort which had Van Heflin as a Marine Colonel during the Pacific War.Cry of Battle also starred Van Heflin as a less admirable character and my guess is that the American players who appeared here did this as a boost to the Phillipine movie industry.
Heflin shares top billing with Rita Moreno and James MacArthur with a cast of Filipino players.The premise of this film is borrowed a bit from the ending of Stalag 17.
William Holden in that film tells Don Taylor in no uncertain terms that he is helping him escape because of anticipated rewards from Taylor's rich family.
James MacArthur is the rich son of an American planter who like many Americans is stranded there after Pearl Harbor and the attack on Clark Field.
He meets up with Van Heflin who is a merchant seaman similarly stranded.
Heflin figures there might be a big reward in helping MacArthur out.Teaching him the facts of life involves rape for Heflin, but he's got an instinct for survival and he teaches MacArthur.
They join up with a newly formed band of Filipino resistance and meet the captivating Rita Moreno who's a survivor herself.
The rival gets good and heated.I'm sure flush from her Oscar in 1961, Rita Moreno could have gotten parts in bigger pictures than this.
But I do believe the Americans were just helping the Phillipines get some American dollars in receipts by appearing here.
She's quite the fetching girl temptress in this film.
Van Heflin has never played a more loathsome character in his career.
Yet he actually makes this guy likable, not an easy thing to do playing a rapist.
But he's that skilled a player, he never gave a bad performance.Fans of Van Heflin, including myself, would do well to see this film and see just how wide a range of characters that man could play..
A movie showing the contrasting lives and interaction between two men, one good--one bad, during WW2.
This movie will not be a favorite of those who thrill to color and glitter.
It is a Black/White film but this goes well with the story as it was set in an era when B/W films were common and expected.The actors were not in a very glamorous or beautiful setting until near the end.
Depicting the typically poor Filipino lifestyles and modes of living of those times, it is historically true-to-life in costume, food and customs.There is the contrast of a good man, innocent in his lack of worldly experience, and a bad man who was shown as a typical, although a bit stereotyped, sailor who did not care for anyone but himself.
A girl is raped (Rita Moreno) by the bad man near the end of the movie although this is shown in the best of taste, no details are shown.
It also leads up to the dramatic ending and leaves the viewer with a keener sense of satisfaction that justice was done.
However, even though this and the earlier rape of Pinang were shown with a great degree of good taste, quite unbelievably so for rapes, but to an adult mind they are clearly understood.
This permits the movie to be shown to all ages and it could be somewhat useful in juvenile development.Viewers with adult understanding do not come away lacking and young minds are not affected by it because they only see a girl being carried away or crying afterwards and nothing more than this.
Actual violence to the girl is not shown nor is language given that is offensive to young ears.
These scenes are done in a way that no one is disappointed by a story lacking in important details.The times for the setting were rough times.
The actual language was no doubt rough and vulgar, to some degree, but this was not made part of the story because the story stood on its own merit and did not require such sensationalism.
A study in appropriateness is thus shown to the viewer and nothing is lost.The actors were marvelous.
As a linguist and traveler to the Philippines, I know that the language used is authentic; Rita Moreno is admirable in her use of the language because her native Spanish is a large part of the language heard a few times in the movie.The Filipino actors are among the best the Philippines had to offer at that time and still are 100% believable in their roles.
One comes away feeling that the viewer is sharing part of real life where nothing is artificial or ill-construed to gain viewer interest or merely to fill space in the allotted time for the movie.
In fact, there is nothing extraneous in the story and viewers benefit best by making sure to not miss a single word so that get full impact.
A satisfying and complete understanding of the story is the result.This movie is highly recommended for younger viewers as well as older ones because it comes off well in teaching children and young adults that the world is composed of both good and bad people and that good does indeed overshadow evil, especially in the end.I found that the movie was thoroughly enjoyed by both Asians and non-Asians.
No one who enjoys a good story, well put together and well-done, is left lacking.
In fact, some don't mind seeing it again not long afterwards.
It is somewhat historical but mostly it is believable and this is pulled off by the story itself combined with the superb work of the actors..
Lost Diamond.
Cry of Battle is a WWII film that portrays a side of the war not normally focused on, the conflicts in the Philippines.
The film overall proved to be quite interesting in both the historical and plot aspects.
Specifically the plot was just not focused upon a love triangle, but also corrupted friendships and the theme of man vs.
man.
The film held many underlying themes that were projected both to better tell the story and also display the historical context of the film.
The three lead actors (Van Heflin, James MacArthur, and Rita Moreno) rightfully portrayed their characters developing them throughout the movie.
All in all Cry of Battle is one of the thousands of war films glossed over during the mid twentieth century, except it actually was a diamond lost in a pile of rocks..
Hard-bitten war movie is unsentimental and unsympathetic.
Disney movie veteran James MacArthur does a real about-face in this impossibly tough war-drama about a young American man in the Philippines during World War II who is forced to grow up quickly after being unceremoniously placed into battle against the Japanese.
Silvery black-and-white cinematography, some intriguing ideas, but mostly a grating, ungainly picture which MacArthur's youthful finesse can't quite elevate.
Van Heflin, as a hard-drinking soldier who's also a rapist and murderer, gets stuck with the worst scenes, though Irving Lerner's direction is good and there are gripping sequences for fans of this genre.
An hour and a half I'll never get back.
For some unknown reason, Joe, 3rd mate on a merchant ship, is given a spot promotion to 2nd Lt, and given a squad of Philippinos with orders to attack a Japanese sugar processing plant.
This is the last we hear of the plant.Tagging along, again for unspecified reasons, is the snot-nosed scion of an unseen mogul who falls in love with the heroine.
The heroine, alas, is something of an opportunist, and ends up in bed with Joe just because.
Naturally, the green-eyed monster makes an appearance.The only thing this film has to do with war are the 17 or so Japanese soldiers who occasionally make their appearance.
Most of this movie deals with the angst felt by the snot-nosed kid in his never-ending attempts to pry the heroine away from Joe.I found this film to be a grand waste of time..
Fine Actors In A Pointless Story.
"Cry of Battle" was released in 1963--the same year that "Spencer's Mountain" hit the big screen.
Both star James MacArthur in a coming of age story, but it would be difficult to find two films so different from each other.
Where "Spencer's Mountain" is filled to the brim with scenes about the virtues of family bonds and living in harmony with the land, "Cry of Battle" is nearly morally bankrupt.
In fact, I am surprised the novel was chosen for filming.Set during World War II, the film features MacArthur as the son (David McVey) of a wealthy businessman, trapped on a remote island of the Philippines.
He is befriended by a creepy opportunist named Joe Trent (Van Heflin)--a man for whom he feels both revulsion and loyalty.In refreshing contrast to the script, which is distasteful, is the performance of Rita Moreno as Sisa, a Filipina who is caught up in the tragedy of the war and the stormy relationship between the two men.The final scenes try to resolve the moral ambiguity of the film, but end up being abrupt, unsatisfying and enigmatic..
Taking the moral low ground....
"Cry of Battle" is definitely a different sort of war movie.
Clearly, it's NOT the sort of film you would have seen during WWII and even in 1963, it was pretty adult and modern in its sensibilities.When the film begins, David is living with his rich family in the Philippines when WWII breaks out.
He's nearly killed by a group of thugs--after all, law and order have disintegrated.
But he's fortunately saved by some Filipino insurgents--men who have taken to the countryside to fight a guerilla war against the invaders from Japan.
However, one of these benefactors, Joe (Van Heflin) is a completely amoral sort of guy.
Sure, he'll fight and kill the enemy but David is horrified to find out that he's also just raped a local girl!
David naturally hates him but is forced to stick with him due to the war.
Over time, they fall in with another group of rebels and David's naivete about these people and war is challenged, as he finds Joe isn't the exception to the rule...there are many others with severely challenged moral compasses...to say the least.
Can David manage to remain morally pure while also becoming a man who must kill?
And what of his lady, Sisa (Rita Moreno)?
I am a bit surprised that Van Helfin agreed to play such a sleazy character.
As a supporting actor, of course he had to play jerks now and then...but a rapist?
It certainly is one of his more challenging portrayals!
Overall, a very good but strange war film...and seeing James MacArthur (Danno from "Hawaii 5-O") playing the lead makes it all the more interesting...and jarring!.
A big dud of a war movie.
I normally review films with a positive bent, but make exceptions from time to time.
Only a few people have commented on "Cry of Battle," and I wonder if any of them saw the same movie I did.
I don't see how it can be considered a war movie at all.
There are two short scenes with any shooting between the "good" guys and the Japanese.
There isn't much intensity about evading capture.
And the one supposed mission to knock out a Japanese warehouse never comes to pass on film.
So, most of this film is about crime.
Van Heflin, one of the stars, is a rapist, a racist and a murderer.
Most of the "good" guys that he and James MacArthur tag along with are bandits taking advantage of the war.
They rob, pillage and kill their own people.
Some may argue that this shows a part of reality that is seldom shown about war, especially in the Philippines.
Was there really such a situation with all bad eggs doing no good?
There have been a number of good films made about resistance fighting in the Philippines during WWII.
They show the struggles, the persecution of the Filipinos by the Japanese, and the heroic efforts of the people.
This film shows none of that, and only alludes to one true resistance group fighting the enemy.
The plot is weak to start with, and the characters and acting for the most part are all quite bad.
MacArthur is fighting mad about Van Heflin's rape of a young Filipina.
In the next scene he's almost forgotten about it.
Van Heflin spends much of his time getting drunk on the local coconut liquor.
In the movies based on true stories about the Philippines, the few Americans and the Filipinos themselves were rightly scared, wary of the Japanese and too alert to go on frequent drunks.
And, just think of all those other war movies we have seen that show Americans getting drunk while trying to elude the enemy and save their lives.
Is it any wonder why there aren't any?
The only way I can see that this film relates to a war movie is that it bombs out.
Or, maybe the filmmakers just wanted to make a movie about ugly and dumb Americans..
Cry of Battle- A Battled Stinker.
I thought that Rita Moreno wanted to break out and have someone sing for her as was done two years before in her supporting Oscar win for "West Side Story."This picture, as far as I was concerned, was a first-class stinker.
You don't feel a World War 11 atmosphere in the Philippines.
The Japanese enemy is rarely seen and you begin to wonder who the good and bad guys are in the film.The Van Heflin role as Joe is so complex and complicated; you don't really know where he is coming from.
Rita Moreno is not exactly Pilar (Katina Paxinou) in 1943's "For Whom the Bell Tolls."James MacArthur, as the spoiled son of a wealthy American businessman stranded in the area, is about the only bright spot in this rather dull film.