The Real Glory (1939)

A small American contingent tries to train rural tribesmen to defend themselves against fanatical Muslim radicals in 1906 Philippines.

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Jo Swerling (screenplay), Robert Presnell Sr. (screenplay),

Stars:

Gary Cooper, David Niven, Andrea Leeds

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gary Cooper	...	Doctor Canavan
David Niven	...	Lieut. McCool
Andrea Leeds	...	Linda Hartley
Reginald Owen	...	Capt. Hartley
Broderick Crawford	...	Lieut. Larson
Kay Johnson	...	Mrs. Manning
Russell Hicks	...	Capt. Manning
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	The Datu
Benny Inocencio	...	Miguel
Charles Waldron	...	The Padre
Rudy Robles	...	Lieut. Yabo (as Ruby Robles)
Tetsu Komai	...	Alipang
Roy Gordon	...	Col. Hatch
Henry Kolker	...	The General

Storyline

In 1906 the American army pulls out of Mindanao leaving a handful of officers to try and get the Philippines Constabulary into shape to protect the native population from ruthless invaders. By reputation and by their exploits the fearless zealots initially strike terror into the local militia but the doctor on the post starts to finds ways to combat this.

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Plot Keywords:

philippines | doctor | filipino | combat | muslim | 

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Taglines:

A Man... A Girl... and a thousand bolo knives

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Genres:

History | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

29 September 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Verdadeira Glória

Filming Locations:

Hunt-Salto Canyon, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 96 min (copyright length)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

David Niven felt badly miscast in the film, and did not even attempt an American accent.

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Quotes

Padre Rafael: As soon as the American troops are gone, the Moros will come down from the hills. They will kill all the men and carry away all the women and children into slavery. For you it will be a report written in ink, but for my people, it will be a report written in blood.

User Reviews

Fun movie...historical propaganda

This is a very enjoyable adventure that clearly influenced Raiders of the Lost Ark and the other Indiana Jones films. It is expertly directed by the unfairly forgotten Henry Hathaway and Gary Cooper is excellent in the lead role as a doctor assigned to help train Phillipine natives against the dangerous Moro tribesman who regularly invade their villages.

I must point out that another user comment, by one "skt171," attempts to make an analogy between this film and our current situation in Iraq. The analogy is correct, but not in the way the poster intended. This film is now widely considered both "historically and politically dubious," a fact pointed out by the well-respected Time Out Film Guide.

For this reason, it is hard for me to take the poster's assertions seriously, particularly when he tries to point out how our media would have "ruined" our successful intervention in Phillipine affairs as it (presumably) is ruining our involvement in Iraq. Except for one problem...our involvement in the Philippines was neither as noble nor as successful as this film depicts.

One other interesting point: this film is being shown repeatedly on the Fox Movie Channel prior to an important election in which Iraq is perhaps the most pressing issue. In fact, they are "celebrating" the legacy of studio-system "product" (their term, not mine) Henry Hathaway all month. Hathaway, of course, made MANY pro-war films during his career...which basically consisted of him taking whatever job the studio gave him. I can just see the Fox executives thinking to themselves, "if only movies were still like this...those Democrats wouldn't have a leg to stand on! Lets show nothing but Hathaway films until after the election." Im sure the reason for this is to prompt others to liken this inaccurate film to Iraq...it seems to have worked for skt171 (although he saw the film on VHS), thats for sure! Bottom line: enjoy this film as an adventure story. It works beautifully in this way. But look elsewhere for accurate history. And please, do not use this film as a basis for supporting our presence in Iraq, but rather as a blueprint for what a pro-Iraq War film would be like if we still lived in an era when movies were allowed to function as a propaganda arm of the US Government's military policy.