| Last Stand in the Philippines | |
| Director: | Antonio Román |
| Starring: | Armando Calvo José Nieto Fernando Rey Guillermo Marín Manolo Morán Conrado San Martín Tony Leblanc Nani Fernández |
| Music: | Manuel Parada |
| Cinematography: | Heinrich Gärtner |
| Editing: | Bienvenida Sanz |
| Runtime: | 99 minutes |
| Country: | Spain |
| Language: | Spanish |
Last Stand in the Philippines is a 1945 Spanish biographical war film directed by Antonio Román.[1] It is based on a radio script by Enrique Llovet, Los Héroes de Baler, and novel, El Fuerte de Baler, by Enrique Alfonso Barcones and Rafael Sánchez Campoy.[2] [3]
The movie theme song "", composed by Llovet (lyrics) and Jorge Halpern (music), became very popular. It was lip synced by actress Nani Fernández and sung by Maria Teresa Valcárcel.[4]
See main article: Siege of Baler. "The Last Ones of the Philippines" is the name given to the Spanish soldiers who fought in the Siege of Baler against Filipino revolutionaries and against the US Army during the Spanish–American War (in Spain also called "The Disaster of 98").
The siege of Baler lasted from 1 July 1898 to 2 June 1899. During these 11 months, the Spaniards were isolated in a church that became their fortified position. The Spanish troops were a small garrison of 50 soldiers from the "2º de Cazadores" under the charge of Lieutenant D. Juan Alonso Zayas. They faced approximately 800 rebel soldiers. The Spanish soldiers fortified the church and resisted the constant attacks of the rebels for 11 months without provisions and unknowing that the war had ended in December 1898.