In Harm's Way
US (1965): War/Drama
One of the better and more realistic World War II epics, and probably the best movie ever made about the surface war in the Pacific, this film has enough plot for three movies, yet it never feels overloaded. Opening on the night before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the story focuses on three officers: Captain Rockwell "Rock" Torrey (John Wayne), a veteran cruiser commander; his disillusioned, alcoholic exec, Commander Paul Eddington (Kirk Douglas); and Lieutenant William McConnel (Tom Tryon), whose ships all survive the Japanese air raid. Torrey is stripped of his command and transferred ashore when his bold tactics in seeking out the enemy result in his ship's being torpedoed. Torrey, who has a failed marriage in his past, meets a nurse (Patricia Neal) to whom he is attracted, and also tries to reconcile with his estranged naval officer son, Jeremiah (Brandon de Wilde), from the earlier marriage. Torrey gets a chance to redeem his career when he is promoted to rear admiral and given the job of securing a pair of Central Pacific islands from the Japanese, who have been stubbornly resisting the half-hearted attempt to take them under Admiral Broderick (Dana Andrews). He chooses Eddington as his chief of staff, and they succeed in pushing Broderick aside, and drive the Japanese off their first objective. Unbeknownst to everyone (perhaps even himself), Eddington is a loose cannon in Torrey's command, prone to violence and also harboring a seething rage at women, over the wife who betrayed him and died during the Pearl Harbor attack. At a party for the officers on the beach on their base island, Eddington -- partly drunk, and frustrated in his sexual advances to young nurse Annalee Dorne (Jill Haworth) -- rapes her, not knowing that she is engaged to Torrey's son. She subsequently commits suicide, and Eddington, on learning who Annalee was, sacrifices himself for the good of Torrey's mission on a suicidal reconnaissance flight. Meanwhile, McConnel, having survived the sinking of his destroyer, is reassigned to Torrey's command in time for the vital U.S. Marine landing and the face-off with the much larger, better-armed Japanese fleet. Jeremiah is reconciled with his father but dies valiantly in the early part of the battle aboard his PT boat, and Torrey loses most of his command and is maimed in the fighting, but the Japanese end up pulling back and losing this all-important campaign. Otto Preminger directs for Paramount. (Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide)
1 nomination
· Cinematography (Black and White) 1965: Loyal Griggs