In Harm’s Way *** (1965, John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Tom Tyron, Paula Prentiss, Henry Fonda, Brandon de Wilde, Jill Haworth, Dana Andrews) – Classic Movie Review 5922

Director Otto Preminger’s bumpy, but ambitious and sometimes exciting big-name 1965 naval drama set against a background of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service’s sudden surprise military attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, on the morning of 7 December 1941.

On the credit side, the main pluses are the iconic star cameos, the costly production and the involved multi-plot, miniseries-style format, especially useful for showings on TV, where it plays well. It tells the stories of three different families.

Starring as the two central US Navy officers, John Wayne and Kirk Douglas do well as Captain Rockwell Torrey and Commander Paul Eddington, while Patricia Neal is appealing as Lieutenant Maggie Haynes. She won the 1965 BAFTA Film Award as Best Foreign Actress.

The other stars are Tom Tyron, Paula Prentiss, Henry Fonda, Brandon de Wilde, Jill Haworth, Dana Andrews as Admiral Broderick, Stanley Holloway as Clayton Canfil, Burgess Meredith as Commander Egan Powell, Franchot Tone, Patrick O’Neal, Carroll O’Connor as Lieutenant Commander Burke, Slim Pickens, James Mitchum, George Kennedy, Bruce Cabot, Barbara Bouchet, Tod Andrews, Larry Hagman, Stewart Moss and Hugh O’Brian.

On the debit side, there are as many war and romance movie clichés as stars, and other minuses are the disappointing black and white photography (though Loyal Griggs was Oscar nominated for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White) and poor trick shots. Wendell Mayes is the man struggling to turn the bestselling novel by James Bassett into a smooth screenplay.

Ironically Preminger and Douglas were prime movers in destroying the Hollywood blacklist, and Wayne was one of its main supporters. Talk about strange bedfellows!

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5922

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