User reviews

This World War II TV movie opens with a Japanese single-engine plane flying in the Philippines. The pilot broadcasts the "news" to the people below (civilians and POWs), that "the Americans have surrendered." The war is over, he proclaims. Japan has been successful.

Of course, that was a lie. But it is a true picture of the type of propaganda that Japan used throughout the war. The Japanese army and navy put a great deal into these efforts to demoralize and deflate the people. Weakened enemies would speed up their conquest of the Pacific Ocean nations. Later broadcasts from Japan that became known by the Americans and Allies as "Tokyo Rose," were similar propaganda efforts. These were aimed to demoralize and weaken the Allied troops..

After this opening, the movie plot then picks up on the ground where hundreds of POWs are being marched off by Japanese soldiers. So, this was probably set in late December of 1941, before the Japanese had overrun the entire islands.

Most people know the entry of the U. S. in WW II after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. But that was not its sole target to begin its siege of the Pacific. The very next day, Japanese ships, planes and troops attacked the Philippines with a fury. The Philippines and USA were allies. And, military command for the South Pacific was there, under Lt Gen. Jonathan Wainwright. So, this was a key objective of the Japanese forces. The embattled and bombed Allied forces on Bataan surrendered on April 9, 1942. By that time the U. S. and Filipino forces had lost 25,000 killed, 21,000 wounded, and 100,000 captured.

Of course, few believed the Japanese propaganda. Not the Allied force, nor the people of the islands. Indeed, the underground fighting and resistance to the Japanese by the Filipinos equaled that of the French underground and its efforts against the Nazi invaders in Europe.

Well the bulk of this story is about the break away from the POW march by one American GI, and his subsequent efforts to escape that soon include a missionary priest, some orphan children, and a Navy nurse who had been in hiding. It's a fair story as they make their way across their island over 100 miles to a pickup site the nurse knew of for people fleeing the Japanese. Doug McClure is okay as the American corporal, Steve Bennett, and Katharine Ross is okay as Lt. Laur Huntington. Ricardo Montalban plays the missionary, Father Sanchez. He and several of the children are part of the best of this film.

While some may find the film slow, especially with the fast action of so many modern movies, I urge anyone who starts the film to stick with it. It has quite a surprising and very meaningful ending. And, it's interesting to realize that more than 20 years after the end of WW II, the American public, and indeed, people in Europe and around the globe, were still very much interested in the war and movies about it. Interest in WW II would wane slowly through the end of the century. But in 1967, this TV movie was tied with another, "The Doomsday Flight," for the highest rated TV movie of the year.

I have always enjoyed watching the film "The Longest Hundred Miles" since I was a kid. I have recently seen the film and noted some veteran Filipino actors who played Japanese soldiers. At the end of the film the cast did not include them. I was quite disappointed since these were two highly respected actors. The first Japanese general who invaded the church was played by Vic Silayan. He has appeared in numerous films in the Philippines and in the U.S. including " No Man is an Island" and " Night of the Cobra Woman ". Silayan also co-wrote a book about Filipino cinema that reflected all his work.

The second Japanese general who pursued the contraption bus in the film was played by Vic Diaz. Much like Vic Silayan he has appeared in a lot of Filipino and American movies like " Impasse " and " Daughters of Satan ". Diaz was known for his smooth talk and persuasiveness on screen.

I feel these two actors have been overlooked during "The Longest Hundred Miles ". This is my salute to Vic Diaz and vic Silayan for their excellent work.

This war-action-drama movie is personally memorable and I'm sure it is too for many Filipinos, especially the WWII veterans. I saw this on television when I was a child with the whole family in the early 1970s re-run and remember liking it so much not only because it was filmed in the Philippine countryside but also because of its historical theme, and the action scenes too. It was also a delight seeing Hollywood actors on-screen with Filipino actors, including the little Vilma Santos. A theatrical release would have been a hit too.It would be great to see it again on DVD as a grown-up. A 40th anniversary DVD release and TV re-run would be perfect in 2007. Howabout that?

There was a scene in this movie of the infamous Bataan death march. We're then HS students of Gubat,Sorsogon,Philippines (where the shooting took place)and we were taken as extra's soldiers in the long march. As far as I know, I think this is the only movie that the shooting took place in our town.

The main actors and cast in this movie stayed in our town and enjoyed the unspoiled and beautiful Rizal beach. Coming from a rural town it was a fascination to see big Hollywood actors and actresses in person.

I have not seen this movie that's why I'm very interested to get a copy of this film. Can anybody help me secure a copy of this movie. Thanks a lot.

McClure and company, at the time of the Vietnam war, manage to tell an optomistic story during a time without much good news. As others have probably mentioned, the song "500 Miles" (covered by the Kingston Trio and others) was popularized by this film.

i was stationed at clark ab philippines in the air force at the time, they took 35 of us to use as extras in the film. it was a great experience getting to meet and work with the actors and also got to meet katherine ross during the three days we were there. we were portrayed as the prisoners of war in the first part of the movie. i have a copy of the movie on VHS, just recently made a copy for a doug mcclure fan in perth Australia..i was 20 years old at the time... great time a long time ago..this was filmed in south luzon out in the middle of nowhere, we slept on old army cots in a thatch hut. they had a party for us every nite we were there with the actors being our host. our trip from clark to the location and back was kinda hairy as we were on a phillipine air force c47 and landed on a grass strip in the middle of a palm forest..the take off (short strip) was interesting also barely missing the tops of the palm trees..lots of san miguel beer also..good times in our younger days.....kenny smith

It's an important great movie for Filipinos and American alike. It brings back memories of my childhood in the Philippines specially the unspoiled scenery and sound- the song the children were singing at the end credits. I remember miles and miles of rice and sugarcane fields going north and miles of jungle and coconut plantation heading south of Manila. Those were wonderful trips my parent took me. I would also recommend "American Guerilla in the Philippines" filmed right immediately after WW2. It's part of our history and heritage as Filipinos and Filipino-Americans. And "the Great Raid". Also recommended it the PBS Special of on Filipino American who fought in WW2 "AN UNTOLD TRIUMPH" 2003 Also read "The Bloody Liberation of Manila", Lt Ramsey's War, Behind Japanese Lines, hopefully we can pass along these movie gems and knowledge to the next generation of Filipinos.

I haven't seen this movie for about 30 years, but I believe it was probably one of the better movies showing a frantic escape from the brutal Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Doug McClure is very good as the GI who really does not want to get caught up with a bunch of civilians...especially kids while running from a dangerous enemy. Ricardo Montalban is great as usual. Don't remember much else, except the scene where the brakes on the bus failed and the kids acted like it was a big rollercoaster, saying "That was fun! Can we do it again?"

Well worth viewing.

The longest hundred miles are referred to the distance of travel to a safe location in the picturesque Philippine islands during world war II. Father Sanchez(Montalban) leads a group of young children and two military personnel to evade the Japanese soldiers who want to take them as prisoners. Together, they must find a way to escape to the other side of the island in an old bus contraption fueled by coconut husks.