In Harm's Way

Rating:
Summary: This movie is enjoyable on many levels.
Review: Right off you know it is a John Wayne movie. It is bound to have some John Wayne formula and actors that he works with in other movies. Add to this a cast not just of names, but actors that have a following in their won right. Now you have some great material to work with.

Throw in Director Otto Preminger, who directed Laura (1944) ASIN: 630266232X(see my review) and many other fine films.

Add an intriguing story. It almost seems like two films. The first film being before the war with the relationships surrounding navy life and the Eddingtons (Kirk Douglas, and Barbara Bouchet). The second is after the war gets going with too many subplots to name. However I appreciated the relationship as Captain Rockwell Torrey (John Wayne) rediscovers and builds a relationship with his son, Ensign Jeremiah 'Jere' Torrey (Brandon De Wilde).

You get all the DVD goodie that make them work while. This includes (Original making-of In Harm's Way)

I do not want to leave you with some idea that this is some sort of artsy movie. It really is a war movie with fast ships going in harm's way.

Rating:
Summary: In Harm's Way a Winner!
Review: So many movies have been made about the land war in WWII. What about the US Navy? The only ones of any merit were made during the war or in its aftermath and most were unbalanced, showing the Japanese as the "yellow peril," etc. I was raised on these movies and some of our best directors cranked them out (John Ford and many others) and few stand up well the test of time. Quite by accident I caught up to this fine film on TV and then on this fine double video. The performances by the actors are excellent. John Wayne shows facets of his character that I never saw before, a vulnerabilty rarely seen other than the classic western "The Searchers," probably his best career performance. Kirk Douglas delivers a great performance of a naval officer with an underlining violence of character, which proves fatal to him. A fine supporting cast headed up by Patricia O'Neil, Burgess Meredith, Tom Tryon and others fills out the story, spread on a broad canvas by Otto Preminger. I was flat out surprised by this excellent work, full of details, character developement, and action. This really is'nt an action picture, with high heroics and flag waving. By subduing these elements, a temptation for any director to boost box office, Preminger achieves effects not seen in most big-budget productions. The story is somewhat slow but rarely boring. The B&W photography posed no problem for me,for most of the war movies I saw as a child were filmed in B&W and it somewhat adds to the documentary look of the movie. Almost all war movies use "stock" footage of ships and battles and this movie is no different. The use of models in the climactic battle is not very convincing; I read that Kirk Douglas said that he liked the movie but seeing all those models with no crewmen standing on deck bothered him, detracked from the power of the film. Jerry Goldsmith's score is rousing without being bombastic, similar to his great "Patton" score, another movie with some action but has great emphasis on character. I would recommend this to all of John Wayne's fans. Watch carefully; the Duke is showing some real acting talent here, restrained for an officer named "Rockwell." With so many epics going for the blood and guts approach, "In Harm's Way" comes sailing past with a more balanced picture, that the war was harsh, fought by men, lower to upper ranks, but just men of flesh and blood, caught up in the defining event of the twentieth century.

Rating:
Summary: War in the Pacific
Review:

Director Otto Preminger made a good war movie, here. John Wayne plays the part of a captain who initially loses his ship, but comes back eventually as a commodore (1 star admiral). Kirk Douglas is his Exec, Cdr. Ettinger (eventually a captain), who has a bottled up violence in his character (well played). Patricia O'Neal plays a navy nurse (Lt.), Dana Andrews plays an egotisitcal admiral, and Henry Fonda plays CincPac.

The picture is well cast. Even a young Carroll O'Conner has a part, and Burgess Meredith plays an intelligence officer very well. Brandon De Wilde (a new name to me) plays Wayne's son, a spoiled college brat brought up by his mother, also well-played.

I was impressed by the details in the movie, including the plane's designations (except for a reference to an AT6 "Texan," which they should have called by its navy designation, an SNJ, instead of the air corps desgnation), and the Japanese ship designations. The battleship Yamato, for example, was identified as having 18-inch guns, as indeed it did have--larger than the 16-inch rifles on America's battle-wagons.

All together, it was a well-told story which held pretty much to reality, except for the fictional islands' names and the presence of so many females that close to the action.

I enjoyed it, as I do most old Wayne movies. And Otto Preminger knew how to put them together.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre, USN (Ret.)

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

Rating:
Summary: World War II Navy Soap Opera
Review: Lengthy drama about a Navy surface warfare Captain rescued from prosecution related to the Pearl Harbor fiasco and promoted to Admiral with a tough assignment to run the Japanese off a strategic island chain in the South Pacific. Featuring the US Navy Pacific Fleet in the opening years of the war, this movie is really an expensive soap opera with John Wayne as the Navy Captain and Kirk Douglas as his good friend and loyal subordinate whose career is unstable due to alcoholism brought on by a failed marriage.

The cast is all-star with Burgess Meredith, Henry Fonda, Patricia Neal, Patrick O'Neal and Dana Andrews, to name a few, mixed into a human drama of romance, infidelity and obligation. There's a climatic Navy battle with the Pacific Fleet trying to open a road to victory, but all of this resides in the background of John Wayne's character who attempts to reunite with his estranged son, save his friend, and sustain a romance with a local nurse. The movie plays like a sequel to "From Here to Eternity" where the Army story is over and now it's time to see what's happening in the Navy after Pearl Harbor, and it's pretty much the same flavor. Strangely, most of the production was filmed on Oahu with little concern for realism, Oahu's distinctive landscape is prominent in most of the outdoor scenes and it appears the heroes are enjoying paradise while they slug it out with the enemy deep in the Pacific. It's a decent feature for people who enjoy drama, but military historians will not be impressed, particularly the lame depiction of the Pearl Harbor surprise attack that would have been better if left on the cutting room floor.

Overall it's still an entertaining feature with a decent story, but I doubt Director Otto Preminger was completely satisfied with the final product. It's worth watching, but be ready to overlook any pet peeves you may have about war movies. The DVD's imagery is very good and letter-boxed, but a few scenes appear washed, probably due to some faded stock. Extra features include several trailers and a production documentary.

Rating:
Summary: John Wayne and Kirk Douglas
Review: With an all-star cast IN HARM'S WAY delivers on the feel of the war in Pacific in WW II.

John Wayne as Capt./RAdm. Rockwell "Rock" Torrey, Kirk Douglas as Cmdr./Capt. (Duke's two-fisted loyal adjunct) Paul Eddington, Adm. Torrey's Chief of Staff, Patricia Neal as Lt. Maggie Haynes, RN (Duke's love interest), Henry Fonda as Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, Brandon De Wilde as Ens./Lt. (j.g.) Jeremiah "Jere" Torrey (Duke's squirrelly son), Dana Andrews as Adm. "Blackjack" Broderick (Duke's Weasel Senior Officer), Stanley Holloway (Eliza Doolittle's Dad)as Clayton Canfil, Australian Coastwatcher, Burgess Meredith as Cmdr. Egan Powell (Intelligence Officer & Dukes best buddy), Patrick O'Neal as Cmdr. Neal Owynn (Broderick's boot-licking mole), Slim Pickens as Bosun's Mate Chief Culpepper, USS Cassiday (adds realism & one of my favorite's) and many more: George Kennedy ... Col. Gregory, Larry Hagman ... Lt. (j.g.) Cline, Hugh O'Brian ... U.S. Army Air Corps Major, Liz Eddington's Lover

The Duke does an above average job in acting in this particular movie. However, over all, Kirk Douglas really steals the show in this movie. I give the film four out of five stars because the soap-opera elements in an otherwise good Navy yarn. -- K.K. Dunn, Kansas City

Rating:
Summary: A bit overlong, but worth the time. . .
Review: It takes an expert hand to mix historical fiction, solid action, maudlin melodrama and stock romantic entanglements and emerge with a coherent story, much less an effective and entertaining film, but Otto Preminger manages the trick with In Harm's Way. John Wayne's acting is John Wayne's acting (just replace the cavalry smock with WWII working khaki), but the true stars of the film are Kirk Douglas, Burgess Meredith and Patricia Neal, all of whom do a wonderful job of augmenting and supporting the Duke without getting in his way. The combat scenes are few and far between and, by today's standards, rather tame. However, this seeming weakness proves a hidden strength in what becomes an excellent character study of divergent people thrown together in the chaotic early days of the Second World War. This film does a very good job of showing the difficulties commanders faced in dealing with equipment shortages, personnel problems and the myriad headaches of a combat commander trying to fight a war on a shoestring. In some respects the plot is a bit predictable but nonetheless holds one's attention. Like most Wayne pictures, this ends up being a flag-waving tribute to the heroism of the American fighting man and woman. What makes this one a bit different is the degree of character development. It doesn't take long before you actually start caring about the people and the combat becomes a secondary issue. As with most of the Duke's movies, there is a good dollop of tongue-in-cheek humor to lighten the mood. The final result is a very effective, surprisingly realistic look at the people side of warfare.

Rating:
Summary: Flatly and indifferently made WWII epic
Review: After the triumph that was THE CARDINAL (available on a highly recommended WB disc) Otto Preminger made a big war film based on a bestseller novel. While many find this film wonderful, I find it to be talky, groundbased, and exceedingly unmemorable film. Nearly everything in the film is at a level of artifice that, coupled with the black and white photography and really inexcusable SFX, makes the film look cheap and indifferent. The plotting is cliched when not unbelievable. For example, Jill Haworth kills herself when she fears Kirk Douglas' rape has left her pregnant. WHY did she not consult her fiancee (also John Wayne's estranged son) or press criminal charges? And why did Douglas not seek a divorce from his nymphomanianc wife (Barbara Bouchet)? It doesn't help that the whole picture takes on a buddy-buddy atmosphere totally inappropriate for 167 minute epic. Rumors, by the way, are around that state the film was once even longer and had an intermission (curious fans of the film should pop in their DVD and go to about th 85 minute mark). If the flick was once longer, I will make every attempt never to see the longer version.

Rating:
Summary: Add this one to your collection!
Review: This is one of my all-time favorite movies. One that I watch over and over. I was also a bit surprised at the negative comments made about this movie. Given the time period in which it was filmed and the lack of technology as we have today, I felt it was excellently done. The storyline which involved the newlyweds (Paula Prentiss playing the wife) was a bit underplayed, but the emotions of a couple torn apart by the effects of war are the same for all couples, then and now. The star studded cast (including such then-newcomers as Larry Hagman, Carroll O'Connor, George Kennedy, etc.) were excellently portrayed even in bit-parts and the dialogue never once lagged or strayed. In my opinion, Kirk Douglas was and is so versatile at his craft that he can make any role believable. His acting was superb particularly in the rape scene. This movie is a classic and one which every household should have in its film library.

Rating:
Summary: WWII Navy Service Stories
Review: I, and members of my family, will watch this movie over and over. It never fails to entertain. That says a lot for the creative forces involved in bringing it to the screen. I've read some negative reviews here, but mine isn't one of them. It is a soap-opera, but who cares? Some of the best movies have been soap-operas, but they always work. There is enough in IN HARMS WAY to satisfy on many levels. I am delighted that it has finally been released in a WideScreen format for the first time for home video. Otto Premminger and Co. knew exactly what they were creating: a good story, with charactres audiences could care about. I agree that the B/W photography was a good choice. I recall reading somewhere that Kirk Douglas was not happy with the final navy battle sequence, and you can easily spot the models, but the energy in the pacing of the editing keeps you engrossed, and you willingly suspend your disbelief in some of the cheap special effects (such as when a door supposidly blows open, but which you can tell is a post-production effect). All the actors are professionals dedicated to bringing life to their characaters, and they score strong performances.

Rating:
Summary: The Duke does the Navy
Review: Great movie for John Wayne fans. Classic war sequences and plenty of action but not as graphic as new millenium movies. There are many other stars in the cast including Patricia Neal,Burgess Meredith, Carrroll O'Connor, Henry Fonda, and Paula Prentiss. Award winning muscial score too. It has long been a favorite of mine