In Harm's Way (1965)

Awesome Movie

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This movie is one of the reasons I think John Wayne looks his best in a U.S Navy officers uniform. Some may say that all-star casts are not a guarantee of success, but that is not the case with this movie. Henry Fonda does as good a job portraying Admiral Nimitz in this picture as he did several years later in "Midway", if not better. It is usually difficult to weave many subplots together as in this one, but it comes together well. The relationship between Tom Tryon and Paula Prentiss is one of the best done, without getting too mushy, to borrow from the younger generation terms. If there is one fault with this movie, it is the special effects with the ship models during the battle scenes. They look too much like toys, but this was ten to fifteen years before CGI and "Star Wars" and "Krull". I will give them some leeway on that one. All in all, I feel this is some of the best work of many of these actors careers.

. . . must have been the most botched flick ever made about the infamous Japanese Sneak Attack which drew America into World War Two. As it turns out, there's at least one film lamer than that 2001 Josh Hartnett vehicle called IN HARM'S WAY. Some Bozo Director who specialized in making B-Movies about trashy trailer park murders concocts a phony baloney version of WWII's War in the Pacific which makes BATTLESHIP look authentic by way of comparison. In this bogus martial exercise, Emporer Hirohito's boys are defeated primarily due to alcoholic rapist Kirk Douglas' moment of rash remorse. Since Kirk's suicide reconnaissance flight would not have gotten off the ground had not Nurse Annalee honor-killed herself, SHE'S the one who should get the Medal for Winning WWII. Give John Wayne's son--lost on PT 108 1/2--an asterisk for helping to motivate his fiancée Annalee to off herself, and award one of those to Wayne's senior citizen squeeze Patricia O'Neal as well for dooming her naive young charge with nursery rhymes in lieu of sensible orders and supervision. Speaking of Patty, she and "The Duke" make extramarital sex look about as exciting as shuffleboard. Hopefully, John and Pat's final Hospital Ship trysting zone has such a game up on the deck, since that will be enough of a challenge for the pair now that John's down to one leg to stand on.

Mostly a soap opera masquerading as a war film. Kirk Douglas' character is second billed and he dies as a hero right after he rapes a woman, and nothing is mentioned about it ever again except that the girl he raped commits suicide afterwards, yet Douglas continues to be respected by his Navy colleagues.Not a standard action film and the melodramatic scenes are likely to put you to sleep. Wayne is his usual gruff self... too bad he wasn't given much to do except ride in a jeep from one location to another so he could stand around some more. Pretentiously directed by Otto Preminger. Somewhat peculiar casting, primarily by Hollywood's better known faces (Burgess Meredith, Carroll O'Conner, etc.). Could have been a more exciting film with a better script and a lot less bugle oil about who's dating who.

A largely forgotten entry from 1965 this has now turned up on DVD and at Thrift-Shop prices had to be good for at least one viewing given the names involved. The 'best-selling' novel on which the screenplay was based has somehow eluded me unlike say, From Here To Eternity, The Young Lions, The Caine Mutiny, The Naked And The Dead, Battle Cry, etc but we mustn't begrudge Hollyood its flacks. It turns out to be fairly enjoyable and entertaining with Duke Wayne well up to heading a starry cast, some of whom - Franchot Tone, Hank Fonda, Burgess Meredith - had established themselves before Duke and others - Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Brandon de Wilde, Paula Prentiss, sometime later, making for a nice melange. Preminger keeps a firm if fairly dull hand on the wheel and a fair time is had by all.