In Harm's Way

Barbara Bouchet as Liz Eddington is the initial focus of this war movie, dancing wildly and parading herself before the officers while her husband Paul (Kirk Douglas) is away on duty. But 'In Harm's Way' isn't just her story, it is a number of personal stories interwoven with battle with the Japanese from Pearl Harbor onwards.

In the nominal lead is big John Wayne, drawling his way through the role of Rock Torrey as only he could. In war movies he was probably at his most effective as his whole bearing says 'I'm in charge'. He also has a personal life - a romance with croaky nurse Maggie (Patricia Neal, good as ever), and conflict with his sulky son Jere (Brandon de Wilde). Also in the cast are Stanley Holloway (as an Australian who leads the soldiers through dangerous terrain), Burgess Meredith (who has the memorable discussion about cowardice with Wayne), Dana Andrews, Franchot Tone, Henry Fonda, Bruce Cabot, Tom Tryon, George Kennedy, and James Mitchum.

This Otto Preminger film is as much about the lives of men at war as it is about battle sequences (although when they appear they are impressive). It also boasts an interesting sequence of shots over its end titles. Perhaps too long at two and a half hours plus, it nevertheless has a decent script, clever characterisations, and manages to keep the viewer awake.

Although an excellent film, Otto Preminger's "In Harm's Way" (1965) has never been one of my personal favorites; probably because the most interesting character, Commander Eddington (Kirk Douglas), inexplicably turns into sex maniac and must redeem himself with an extremely silly kamikaze gesture. Since you have a lot invested in the character, the sudden manifestation of mega self-destructive tendencies (both figurative and literal) cause the film to self-destruct along with his character.

The only positive about Eddington's downward spiral is that it allowed Preminger to give additional screen time to his ingénue Jill Haworth. Her Ensign Annalee Dorne character ranks near the top of cinema's all-time cuteness scale, a pleasant memory whenever one thinks about the film.

"In Harms's Way" feels more like a film made just after the war than 20 years later. It begins extremely well with probably the best "attack on Pearl Harbor" sequences ever-in part because they are not the main thrust of the story and are not all that elaborate. Captain Rockwell Torrey's (John Wayne) is at sea when the attack begins and for him the biggest battle is political. With the help of politically savvy Commander Egan Powell (Burgess Meredith), and the moral support of a nurse from his generation Lieutenant Maggie Hayes (Patricia Neal), he weathers the accountability storm and eventually assumes a key command under Admiral Nimitz (Henry Fonda).

As noted above, Torrey's aide (Eddington) is never able to adjust to the death of his less than faithful wife (Barbara Bouchet). His main competition for Haworth's character is Captain Torrey's estranged son, nicely played by Brandon De Wilde although the physical differences between the two actors make it very hard to accept the parentage premise. Interestingly, their relationship and physical mismatch is virtually identical to Wayne's earlier one with actor Claude Jarman in John Ford's "Rio Grande" (1950). Both De Wilde ("Shane") and Jarman ("The Yearling") were famous child stars trying to transition to adult roles. De Wilde was killed several years after his "In Harm's Way" appearance.

The villain of the story (at least until Douglas becomes totally unglued) is Commander Neal Owen (Patrick O'Neal), a publicity seeking former congressman who has enlisted to serve as PR officer to incompetent Admiral 'Blackjack' Broderick (Dana Andrews).

Somehow Torrey eventually finds time to actually fight the Japanese.

Because "In Harm's Way" is often melodramatic soap opera rather than action adventure, Wayne gets a chance to really act and makes the most of it. It is arguably his all-time best performance, aided by Preminger's excellent acting for the camera direction and a very strong supporting cast that really challenged Duke to let it all go. His scenes with Neal are his all-time best.

Preminger and his editor get high praise for the film's pacing, inserting quality subplots (like the Tom Tryon and Paula Prentiss romance) to keep things moving along nicely. Not so praiseworthy are the special effects, which may in part account for the 1940's feel of the film. There is poor use of optical-printer effects and the ship models sit so high in the water that they betray all efforts to make them behave realistically.

There's an incredible panoply of recognizable stars including Slim Pickens, George Kennedy, Hugh O'Brien, Carroll O'Connor, Larry Hagman, and Stanley Holloway.

Paramount's DVD is not just widescreen glory (an excellent 16x9 B&W transfer) but has a considerable number of nice special features. A featurette with outtakes and three trailers.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

"In Harm's Way" was about the last of the major films made from those big, best-selling novels about WW2 that were written by men who had "been there".

The 1950s was their time: "Battle Cry", "The Young Lions", "From Here to Eternity", "The Caine Mutiny ", "Between Heaven and Hell", "In Love and War" and others.

In 1965, Otto Preminger's "In Harm's Way" made from James Bassett's novel was somewhat of a throwback despite contemporary hairdos and other anachronistic touches. That era of movies had passed. Those authors who had served in the war had got "The Great American War Novel" out of their systems.

With that said though, 55 years later, "In Harm's Way" holds up pretty well.

The place names and battles in the story are fictionalised. The film gives a feeling for the power plays and the command structure, and you can half recognise the campaigns it was based on, but the fake names weakened the credibility in the same way as did Norman Mailer's fictional island in "The Naked and the Dead" (1958).

The conflict between Admiral "Rock" Torrey (John Wayne) and his son Jeremiah (Brandon de Wilde) sits more comfortably within "In Harm's Way" than does the similar father/son conflict played out in the supposedly historically accurate "Midway" (1976).

Preminger knew the benefits of going on location; the film looks fabulous in wide-screen B/W. Real ships and planes gave it authenticity even if military buffs can pick the modern substitutes. Apparently Preminger threatened to use the Brazilian Navy if the U. S. Navy didn't come to the party.

Preminger also knew the value of music. Jerry Goldsmith composed a cracking score for this one. It had nothing to do with the 1940s or even the 1950s for that matter, but it has punchy themes such as "The Rock", and cool ones like "Native Quarter".

Preminger pushed the censorship boundaries. Petite Jill Haworth's character draws men like a magnet resisting three separate gropes. The scene with Kirk Douglas is disturbing, but the Hollywood Production Code, which ended a few years later, probably saved her from something more explicit.

"Otto Preminger: The Man Who Would Be King" by Foster Hirsch has illuminating information on the making of all his films and his life. He had a reputation for monstering his actors, and if they let him, he did. "In Harm's Way" was probably the last of his good movies. It was misses rather than hits after that.

John Wayne spent much of his later career foolishly playing much younger characters (e.g. "McQ" or "Brannigan") or indulging in clearly conscious self-parodies such as "True Grit." Most of his roles in the 60s and 70s were unworthy of his talents, but in 1964 he turned in one of his finest performances in Otto Preminger's "In Harms Way." His portrayal of Captain (later Rear Admiral) Rockwell Torrey saves an elaborate war film and shows that the Duke was a very capable actor.

Wayne will always be remembered as an action hero - riding, brawling, and shooting his way across the screen, stopping now and then for a drink or, less often, a kiss. But in this film, there are no horses, his one brawl is verbal, and he doesn't even carry a gun. Shorn of his usual props and plot devices, Wayne has no choice but to act and he delivers an extremely effective performance. He commands, he counsels, and in his own understated way, he loves. The picture's soap opera structure actually works to his advantage, giving him many opportunities to show different sides of his character's personality and to interact with almost every other performer in the film.

The rest of the huge cast is generally strong. Patricia Neal is fine as Wayne's romantic interest, playing a nurse who, as she says, is not a lady; Kirk Douglas is a bit overbearing at times as his exec, but then the role calls for it; Dana Andrews has one of his few good mature roles as the overly cautious Admiral Broderick. Everyone is up to the task but it's Wayne who carries the picture.

"In Harm's Way" is a heavily fictionalized account of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent campaign to take and hold Guadalcanal. Although the story owes more to the source novel than to real history, the tone of the film reasonably reflects the anxieties and uncertainties the Navy faced during the first year of the Pacific War.

War, it is often said, brings out the best and the worst in man... Stanley Kubrick clearly considered 'Path of Glory' as an effective comment on men exposed to repulsive circumstances…

The threatening morning of December 7, 1941—a quiet Sunday—is shattered by waves of Japanese planes bombing U.S Navy's base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, sending all its battleships to the bottom of the ocean... The scene is taken in brief, with few shots of airplanes and some explosions in the ocean...

Among the few ships that escape, in one piece, is the destroyer Cassidy protected by Lieutenant William McConnel(Tom Tryon).

Out on patrol, in high seas, a cruiser, commanded by Captain Torrey Rockwell (John Wayne), is having gunnery practice... It is this ship that serves as temporary operational headquarters for the survivors of the aerial attack...

In the aftermath of the surprise military strike, Torrey receives orders to amass his small fleet of warships and engage the enemy…

Photographed in black and white, the film has several characters, most of them very mature and realistic...

Paul Eddington (Kirk Douglas), a commander whose drunken wife (Barbara Bouchet) has committed adultery with a pilot (Hugh O'Brien). He relieves his anger by brutally raping a young nurse (Jill Haworth), and later, to save from being a total failure, defies orders by flying a reconnaissance plane and takes off alone to situate the hidden Japanese fleet in a very hazardous mission...

Egan Powell (Burgess Meredith), a sardonic wartime officer and a peacetime script writer who gives moments of sane observation, specially in a scene with Wayne discussing danger...

Patricia Neal, a mature and understanding Navy nurse who loves Captain Torrey and informs him that his son from whom he hasn't seen since for many years, is a naval officer on the island...

Brandon De Wilde is Jere, the young opportunist hoping to keep out of the way his PT boat assignment by leading a soft staff job… Henry Fonda is the admiral in command of the Pacific theater; Dana Andrews is the weak Admiral Broderick and Patrick O'Neal is a well-connected congressman-turned-officer Cmdr. Neal Owynn...