The film was re-issued in 1942 with the title "A Yank in the Philippines," but the Office of War Information (OWI) requested that it be withdrawn; the Philippine Moros--the bad guys in the film--had become allies of the US in World War II.
The US annexed the Philippines in 1898 after the Spanish-American War, along with Puerto Rico and Guam.
After the film was completed, it was viewed in a special screening by J. M. Elizalde, the Philippine Island Resident Commissioner, at the request of the Philippine president, Manuel Quezon. On behalf of Quezon, Elizalde requested the deletion of scenes that depicted "his people as inferior, mortally afraid of the Moro tribe and reflect[ed] in general against the courage of the Commonwealth." Producer Samuel Goldwyn at first refused to make the deletions, but after consulting with aide James Roosevelt, the son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the producer gave in to the commissioner's request and deleted some sequences.
The "New York Times" reported that the dam destruction scene had to be re-shot, costing more than $10,000.