''Women of Valor'' is a 1986 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

about

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

directed by

Buzz Kulik Seymour "Buzz" Kulik (July 23, 1922 – January 13, 1999) was an American film director and producer. He directed 72 films and television shows, including the landmark CBS television network anthology series ''Playhouse 90'' and several ep ...

and starring

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...

and Kristy McNichol. It premiered on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

on November 23, 1986 and was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on March 10, 1998.

Plot

A group of American Army nurses are captured by the Japanese in April 1942. They are marched along with American soldiers as part of the Bataan Death March. They are put in a

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...

Bataan Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the enti ...

, where they spend nearly three years. The story focuses on Lt. Margaret Ann "Maggie" Jessup, the head army nurse who survived the camp and testified against the Japanese. She lobbied for awards of valor to be given to the women prisoners, in front of the United States Congressional subcommittee years later as a colonel.

Cast

as 1LT/ C Margaret Ann Jessup * Kristy McNichol as T.J. Nolan *

Alberta Watson Faith Susan Alberta Watson (March 6, 1955 – March 21, 2015), better known as Alberta Watson, was a Canadian film and television actress. Early life Watson was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1955.Rita Zekas"Alberta's Feeling At Home On Deranged", ...

as 2LT Helen Prescott *

Valerie Mahaffey Valerie Mahaffey (born June 16, 1953) is an American character actress and producer. She began her career starring in the NBC daytime soap opera '' The Doctors'' (1979–81), for which in 1980 she was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outst ...

as 2LT Katherine R. Grace *Suzanne Lederer as 2LT Gail Polson *Patrick Bishop as Captain Matome Nakayama *

Terry O'Quinn Terrance Quinn (born July 15, 1952), known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He played John Locke on the TV series ''Lost'', the title role in '' The Stepfather'' and '' Stepfather II'', and Peter Watts in ''Millennium'', ...

as MAJ Tom Patterson *

Neva Patterson Neva Louise Patterson (February 10, 1920 – December 14, 2010) was an American actress. Early years Born on a farm near Nevada, Iowa, Patterson was the daughter of mailman George Patterson and seamstress Marjorie Byers Patterson. After gradu ...

as Lady Judith Eason *

Jay Acovone Jay Acovone (born August 20, 1955) is an American actor. Among his most famous roles is Charles Kawalsky in the TV series Stargate SG-1. Personal life Acovone was born in New York City. His family later moved to Mahopac, New York where his par ...

as CPT Rader

Criticism

The film was generally negatively received. One of the main criticisms was that it was not realistic. The cast was also criticized for retaining their looks while trying to survive in poor conditions. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' stated the story should have given more attention to the people rather than the situations.The New York Times
'Women of Valor' on CBS, About Prisoners of War

References

External links

* * 1986 television films 1986 films Pacific War films World War II prisoner of war films 1980s war drama films Films directed by Buzz Kulik Films scored by Georges Delerue Films set in the Philippines CBS network films Bataan Death March Films shot in the Philippines Films set in 1942 Films set in 1943 Films set in 1944 Films set in 1945 1980s English-language films American drama television films Japanese occupation of the Philippines films {{war-drama-film-stub