Those obviously hastily assembled to cash in on current headlines, Manila Calling shows no signs of this haste in its execution. Lloyd Nolan stars as Lucky Mathews, the leader of an American guerilla unit, sworn to keep fighting even after the Japanese invasion of Mindano. Likewise staying on is nightclub entertainer Edna Fraser (Carole Landis), who has fallen in love with Mathews, and radio engineer Jeff Bailey (Cornel Wilde). Relying on Bailey's electronic knowhow, the guerillas construct a short-wave radio station and continue broadcasting information of Japanese troop movements to the Allies. As in MGM's Bataan, the ultimate deaths of the courageous protagonists is treated as a moral and spiritual victory. Of interest in the cast is Martin Kosleck, frequent screen impersonator of Joseph Goebbels, in a rare sympathetic role.