One lady in the theater didn't stop crying all through the picture. Maybe she had the cramps, but probably not. She didn't even stop at those funny parts when about fifteen Marines get blasted to pieces by Jap bombers. But "So Proudly We Hail" is that kind of a picture.

The movie is a portrayal of the heroic work done by the nurses in Bataan and other strategic points. It is a tough, cruel picture (especially when you have to see Veronica Lake get her hair parted by her own hand-grenade) but it drives the truth home.

It is a questionable point, however, whether the blood and gore is justified. Is it right to ask the public to watch mass murder with all the gruesome details of a close-up? True, it brings the war home to the civilians. It certainly tries to tell just what is going on in jungle warfare. Perhaps it even sells a few Bonds. But "So Proudly We Hail", as was the case with the earlier "reality", "Bataan", appears to defeat its own purpose by its very realism.

But whether or not the realistic movie-drama is good for a wartime audience, Claudette Colbert, Veronica Lake, and dirtied Miss Goddard put the picture across. As Lieutenant, Miss Colbert is efficient, masterful and as romantic as Colbert can be.

And when Veronica blows herself up along with a messy pile of Japs, you forget that she's the babe with the "peekaboo bang" and get a little respect for the American female. About Paulette Goddard: well, she's good too, except now it's a sure bet that Hollywood can't put out a single picture without at least one sheer black nightie in it.