I agree with almost all of the comments above, except in one important aspect. In calling "So Proudly We Hail" 'superior' to "Cry Havoc," the writer overlooks the fact that, as in most Golden Era films, women's stories were almost exclusively told in relation to their romantic relationships with men. What hobbles "So Proudly We Hail" (and it is a terrific film, don't get me wrong), is its constant undercutting the challenges and dangers faced by WWII American nurses in the Pacific by shifting the characters' priorities to romance. That detail is handled very nicely in "Cry Havoc" by having almost no men appear. "Smitty" and "Pat" face off over a man, sure, but we never see him and so it becomes a greater conflict about command, duty, subordinating oneself to the greater good etc. And face it, as wonderful as films from this era are, its all too rare (then and now!) that those kind of issues are presented as significant to women. So in some ways, although "Havoc" could be considered more static and talky (from its stage origins, as mentioned above), I find it "better" than "Proudly," because I feel it lets the women stand front and center -- and stay there. Enjoy this rarely seen film!
Review of Cry 'Havoc'
