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CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

B.J. Rice This is a seldom referenced and very overlooked old movie, but Fritz Lang still shows what an amazing filmmaker he is here. The script is good (not great) but the direction and some surprisingly good acting turn this one into a real winner. Definitely worth watching.

Steffi_P There were hundreds of these cheap-ish World War Two quickies in the decade following the close of the conflict itself. They differed little from those produced during the war, still being in a kind of adulatory propagandistic mode, except that they were a little more vague usually having no direct message. What's more, as more time went by the seemed to get further and further from the realities of the conflict.An American Guerrilla in the Philippines sees Tyrone Power, swashbuckling idol of the pre-war years, as an officer battling Japs in the Philippine jungle. Power has matured as an actor since his pictures a decade earlier, appearing tougher and less boyish, although he has also become less interesting in the process. His performance is steady and natural, but he is unable to make anything of what is admittedly a rather bland character on paper anyway. His buddy Tom Ewell is an unusual addition to the cast. He was in later years a very fine comedy actor, but it's hard to tell if he's appearing here as comic relief or not. In some moments, such as his burbling in the water trying to stay afloat, seem as if he is trying to play them for laughs, inappropriately if so, and certainly not at all funny. The rest of the cast is simply plain bad or plain boring.Director Fritz Lang is normally someone who can give a nice baroque touch to even the most American of film formats, while still remain true to genre and tone. He seems uncertain however quite what to do with this one. He gives many shots in the jungle an abstract feel, with no familiar points of reference, giving them a threateningly wild look. Often his camera takes a spectator's position, peeping out through foliage. It's hard to tell what purpose this serves, as it distances us from the events on screen. Incidentally, Lang was a very good director of crowds and action, as evidenced in his big-budget silent pictures. There are some very powerful moments, with characters moving straight towards us down the middle of the shot and memorably stylised movements. However for a director who is normally so good at imbuing his work with a dark and nightmarish feel, An American Guerrilla in the Philippines has none of the bleak terror of, say, Operation Burma, a picture which really worked because it made us the audience feel lost within the jungle ourselves.And ultimately An American Guerrilla in the Philippines is too light, and too sparing on any true sense of tragedy. It's lack of a real feeling of danger gives it many dull stretches, and its lack of realism does a disservice to those involved in the conflict. All of which is rather odd because the picture is also far from being a comedy. The only thing which saves it and makes it watchable is Fritz Lang's strong, vibrant imagery, such as dozens of hats waving in the air or a soldier's dying scream just inches from the lens. Having said that, there are far better Fritz Lang pictures to see these brilliant touches in.

Spikeopath It's because it simply isn't very good, not painfully bad exactly, just a meanderingly paced time filler is all. Adapted by Lamar Trotti from a novel by Ira Wolfert, it stars Tyrone Power, Tom Ewell and Micheline Presle. The plot focuses on Chuck Palmer (Power) & Jim Mitchell (Ewell) who are stranded in the Philippine Islands waiting for Gen. Douglas MacArthur's return. As the impending surrender to the Japanese is unappealing to the guys, they attempt to escape the Islands. Only to be thwarted at every turn. So digging in they set about building a communications station to aid the guerrillas in the war effort. But the Japanese are closing in.First time viewers should not be fooled by some of the advertising catch phrases that proclaim this to be a rousing spectacle, or a great Pacific adventure. It's a sedate character driven story that's more concerned with flag waving jingoism than any adherence to action entertainment. Which would be fine if Trotti's script wasn't so unimaginatively bland. It's nicely shot at the actual locations by Harry Jackson, and Power is as ever, watchable; working from actual military experience helps of course. But with Ewell and Presle out of their depth {the former out acted by ants in one of the film's rare suspenseful moments} and the romantic sub-plot as tiresome as it pointless, this only serves to be a huge disappointment as a picture, and a blot on the directors CV. 4/10

Homer900 While it seems that the premise of this film was based on actual events in the Philippines, it comes across as a good actioner and little more. The movie is enhanced with location filming and, being only 5 years removed from the end of WWII, many of the people in this film served during that conflict. SPOILER: While the end of the movie is pure Hollywood, the cavalry, in the form of the U.S. Army and General MacArthur, riding to the rescue saved the real band of guerrillas, it makes for a tidy, yet abrupt ending to the movie. END SPOILER. For the poster that said the movie was to get the American public ready for Korea, your history is a bit off. The Korean War started in June of 1950, over 3 months before this movie was released and by the time it came out, we were very much involved; the amphibious landings at Inchon, South Korea came in September of 1950. This was not a propaganda movie per se, it was a look back at a time when Filipinos and Americans fought together to defeat the Japanese.