Nurses in the movies War and Military films

Nurses in War Films, Military Movies

So Proudly We Hail 1943

There seem to be more nurses in military movies about those set at wartime than any others. What are your favorite films, the ones you remember most? 

Those of us who have family members who are veterans and are in the service, people who are in the medical profession will appreciate the movies that much more.

Historical movies, some from famous novels, adaptations. How does a 1930s movie differ from the 1950s version? How often will they make a movie adaptation and why? 

Are there films that made you go into nursing or into medicine in general? These are in no particular order.

1) So Proudly We Hail! (1943) Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, Veronica Lake.  A group of nurses returning from the war in the Phillippines recall their experiences in combat and in love.

2) MASH (1970) Sally Kellerman Jo Ann Pflug. Margaret Houlihan Hot Lips
sometimes referred to as Margaret O'Houlihan.  
 

Sally Kellerman Autographed Photo

4077 MASH unit Korean War field hospital. Feel that it's more the Vietnam War? Preceded the M*A*S*H television show with Alan Alda, where the character of Hot Lips is played by Loretta Swit.

Stars of the movie also included Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt and Robert Duvall.



3) A Farewell to Arms (1932) Helen Hayes. Also starred Gary Cooper and Adolphe Menjou. From the Ernest Hemingway novel.

The 1957 film starred  Jennifer Jones, Rock Hudson and Vittorio De Sica.

A tale of the love between ambulance driver Lt. Henry and Nurse Catherine Barkley during World War I. 2014 is the centenary of WW1.

4) The Army Nurse (1945).  Short film with Gary Cooper Details the importance of U.S. Army Nurses and all of the hard work and compassion that they provide on a daily basis. The film also shows the many different conditions they have to deal with in and out of work during wartime.





5) War Nurse (1930) Anita Page, Robert Montgomery. 

6) Pearl Harbor (2001) Kate Beckinsale. Also starring Ben Afflek and Josh Hartnett.

Pearl Harbor - Movie Poster

7) The Nun’s Story (1959) Audrey Hepburn. Also starring Peter Finch, Peggy Ashcroft and Edith Evans. The story based upon the life of Marie Louise Habets, a Belgian nurse who similarly spent time as a nun.



8) Battle Circus (1953) June Allyson costars with Humphrey Bogart.  Set in Korea and made during the war. Love story, an  Army surgeon and a new nurse ready to save the world. The 8666th MASH mobile field hospital. Keenan Wynn also stars.

9) Nurse Edith Cavell (1939) 

There was an earlier Australian silent film called Nurse Cavell. 

10) Miss Evers' Boys (1997) Alfre Woodard. Also stars Laurence Fishburne.  The true story of the US Government's 1932 Tuskeegee Syphilis Experiments, in which a group of black test subjects were allowed to die, despite a cure having been developed. 

Miss Evers' Boys Art Poster Print

Also check out Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet 1940, directed by William Dieterle with Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Gordon, Otto Kruger. Both films should get more attention.

11) Men Must Fight (1933) Diana Wynyard, May Robson. Also starring Lewis Stone and Phillips Holmes.

Nursesneeded now,Army Corps recruitment
World War posters,S Savage 1944

Related Pages of Interest:

Nurses in Drama films

Nurses in Comedies and Comedy-Dramas
Includes Operation Petticoat with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis  

WWI Centenary Gardens Chelsea Flower Show-Never Forget

Julia: from Television Moms series Diahann Carroll, Nurse on TV, costumes

Tributes, Alternative Songs for Memorials, Setting up a memorial at a wedding or other event 

Related Books and Movies:

Saving Lives: Why the Media's Portrayal of Nurses Puts Us All at Risk

The Picture of Health: Medical Ethics and the Movies by Henri Colt, Silvia Quadrelli, Friedman Lester 

Precode Hollywood, Pre-Code movies Find out more, whatever your interest. A variety of Books, films, documentaries...

Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood