In Harm's Way

No, I didn't go to see Pearl Harbor this weekend. I stayed at home and watch my new DVD of In Harm's Way. The DVD cover is quite misleading. It sports a color photo of Wayne and Douglas, but the film is black and white. Their smiles would indicate a comedy.

Like From Here to Eternity, the human drama is set against the Pearl Harbor attack. Unlike, From Here to Eternity, the attack starts the film. And what a drama it is! Romance, infedelity, poor father/son relationship, honor, courage, rape, suicide. Never maudlin or schmaltzy, the performances are excellent, but low key. Back in 1965, taking the time to develop character was the norm, so to most young people, this movie would seem slow. Pity.

The battles scene are very good and the cinematography was Oscar nominated. There are some really breathtaking black and white high angel long shots of Hawaii with leaning palm trees and dark skies filled with billowing clouds.

And the cast! Your face will light up with every new character that appears. George Kennedy, Stanley Holloway, Hugh O' Brien, Dana Andrews, Bruce Cabot.

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.

Critically under-valued at the time of it's release and now largely forgotten, Otto Preminger's World War Two movie is a first-class entertainment, intelligently scripted, crisply photographed and very well directed. (There is a beautifully sustained scene where Preminger cross cuts between John Wayne's date with Patricia Neal and son Brandon De Wilde's date with Neal's room-mate Jill Haworth in which the characters of all four protagonists are neatly established).

For once an all-star cast adds to, rather than detracts from, the film. With a few exceptions (Henry Fonda and Franchot Tone in blink-and-you'll-miss-them cameos) all the actors are allowed to flesh out their roles with Patricia Neal and Burgess Meredith outstanding. Ultimately. of course, it never rises above melodrama and is the cinematic equivalent of those door-stopper novels favoured on the beach, but then melodrama was always where Peminger really came into his own. While certainly not in the class of "Laura", "Bonjour Tristesse", "Anatomy of a Murder" or "Advise and Consent", it is no disgrace and is a reminder that even second-rate Preminger is head and shoulders above a lot of the junk food cinema that fills our multi-plexes today.

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.

In Harm's Way is a film that is historically important in the career of its star, John Wayne, for two reasons. First, it marked his last appearance in a Black and White film, and second, it was his last film before undergoing surgery for lung cancer. It also marks Wayne's first of three films with Kirk Douglas, and his only film with director Otto Preminger.

As for the film itself, it is a character-driven story with the World War II setting used as a backdrop. Like other Preminger pictures of the time (Exodus, Advise and Consent) it has a big-name cast and an "epic" feel. Watch for Henry Fonda in a small part as Admiral Nimitz (referred to as "CINCPAC II"). Wayne plays Rockwell Torrey, a naval officer blamed for the Pearl Harbor disaster, and demoted. But Nimitz (Fonda) knows that Torrey is a good commander, and when timorous politician-turned-Admiral Broderick (Dana Andrews) botches a key operation, Nimitz turns control over to Torrey, giving him a second chance.

On the personal side, Torrey tries to help his second-in-command, Paul Eddington (Kirk Douglas), who, as they say, is going through some personal problems of his own. Torrey also tries to repair his relationship with his estranged son Jeremiah (Brandon De Wilde), and finds time to conduct a "twilight romance" with nurse Lieutenant Maggie Haynes (Patricia Neal).

Two scenes in particular make this film stand out. The first occurs when Wayne and Neal are alone together in his apartment, the night before she is about to be shipped out. I won't spoil it for anyone, but let me say that it is a classic example of how a scene can ooze with "sex" without actually "showing" a single thing. It's a perfect example of how this kind of scene can be handled tastefully and professionally. It's called class, folks, and it is apparently something that modern Hollywood cannot or will not understand. The second is a discussion on cowardice between Wayne and Burgess Meredith as the fleet is preparing to meet the Japanese in battle. Once again, I won't spoil it, but it a memorable and classic scene, the quote that I have used to head my review is delivered by Wayne during it.

While In Harm's Way may, at first, seem to be simply a film about the politics of Navy hierarchy, it is really a film about the personal lives and struggles of the men and women of World War II.