The Story of Dr Wassell ** (1944, Gary Cooper, Laraine Day, Signe Hasso, Dennis O’Keefe, Carol Thurston) – Classic Movie Review 11,356

The Story of Dr Wassell (1944): ‘Drama of Loyalty and Love! The Story the Whole World Has Heard About!’

The 1944 wartime action adventure drama Technicolor film The Story of Dr Wassell should have been a success, with producer-director Cecil B DeMille behind the camera and star Gary Cooper in front of it as Dr Corydon M Wassell, the sympathetic doctor hero dedicated to saving the lives of men in Java during World War Two.

But alas it ends up as a clichéd, over-extended (at an epic 140 minutes) American patriotic propaganda flag-waver that sinks under the weight of its own good intentions.

Cooper is stiff-lipped and believeable, though, and the action (a real volcano, and exciting attack sequences) and Technicolor pictures from cinematographers Victor Milner and William E Snyder help.

It is based on the book by James Hilton about the real Dr Wassell, and the story by Commander Corydon M Wassell USN {MC}, and was sparked off by a radio broadcast by President Roosevelt.

Writers: Alan Le May (screenplay), Charles Bennett (screenplay) and James Hilton (contributing writer) (uncredited).

Also in the cast are Laraine Day, Signe Hasso, Dennis O’Keefe, Carol Thurston as Tremartini (Three Martini), Carl Esmond, Paul Kelly, Philip Ahn, Barbara Britton, Stanley Ridges, Elliott Reid, Oliver Thorndike, Renny McEvoy, Melvin Francis, Joel Allen, James Millican, Mike Kilian, Doodles Weaver, Lester Matthews, Ludwig Donath, Richard Loo, and Davison Clark.

It was nominated for one Oscar: Best Special Effects – Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings (photographic) and George Dutton (sound).

It is third of four films Gary Cooper made with legendary director Cecil B DeMille. Those movies are The Plainsman (1936), North West Mounted Police (1940), The Story of Dr Wassell (1944) and Unconquered (1947).

Gary Cooper (1901–1961) won two Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role in Sergeant York (1941) and High Noon (1952).

The enormous cast also includes Richard Nugent, Morton Lowry, George Macready, Victor Varconi, Edward Fielding, Harvey Stephens, Frank Wilcox, Minor Watson, Edmund MacDonald, William Severn, Edith Barrett, Catherine Craig, Frank Puglia, Si Jenks, Irving Bacon, Ottola Nesmith, Sybil Merritt, Hugh Beaumont, Roy Gordon, Charles Trowbridge, Edward Earle, Anthony Caruso, Sven Hugo Borg, Frank Lakteen, Fred Kohler Jr, George Eldredge, Forbes Murray, John Mylong, Ann Doran, Stanley Price, Mike Lally, Sam Flint, Milton Kibbee, Yvonne De Carlo, Jack Norton, Cecil Weston, Russ Clark, Douglas Fowley, Miles Mander, Griff Barnett, Lane Chandler, Julia Faye, Sarah Edwards, and Elmo Lincoln.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,356

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Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952).