Although an excellent film, Otto Preminger's "In Harm's Way" (1965) has never been one of my personal favorites; probably because the most interesting character, Commander Eddington (Kirk Douglas), inexplicably turns into sex maniac and must redeem himself with an extremely silly kamikaze gesture. Since you have a lot invested in the character, the sudden manifestation of mega self-destructive tendencies (both figurative and literal) cause the film to self-destruct along with his character.
The only positive about Eddington's downward spiral is that it allowed Preminger to give additional screen time to his ingénue Jill Haworth. Her Ensign Annalee Dorne character ranks near the top of cinema's all-time cuteness scale, a pleasant memory whenever one thinks about the film.
"In Harms's Way" feels more like a film made just after the war than 20 years later. It begins extremely well with probably the best "attack on Pearl Harbor" sequences ever-in part because they are not the main thrust of the story and are not all that elaborate. Captain Rockwell Torrey's (John Wayne) is at sea when the attack begins and for him the biggest battle is political. With the help of politically savvy Commander Egan Powell (Burgess Meredith), and the moral support of a nurse from his generation Lieutenant Maggie Hayes (Patricia Neal), he weathers the accountability storm and eventually assumes a key command under Admiral Nimitz (Henry Fonda).
As noted above, Torrey's aide (Eddington) is never able to adjust to the death of his less than faithful wife (Barbara Bouchet). His main competition for Haworth's character is Captain Torrey's estranged son, nicely played by Brandon De Wilde although the physical differences between the two actors make it very hard to accept the parentage premise. Interestingly, their relationship and physical mismatch is virtually identical to Wayne's earlier one with actor Claude Jarman in John Ford's "Rio Grande" (1950). Both De Wilde ("Shane") and Jarman ("The Yearling") were famous child stars trying to transition to adult roles. De Wilde was killed several years after his "In Harm's Way" appearance.
The villain of the story (at least until Douglas becomes totally unglued) is Commander Neal Owen (Patrick O'Neal), a publicity seeking former congressman who has enlisted to serve as PR officer to incompetent Admiral 'Blackjack' Broderick (Dana Andrews).
Somehow Torrey eventually finds time to actually fight the Japanese.
Because "In Harm's Way" is often melodramatic soap opera rather than action adventure, Wayne gets a chance to really act and makes the most of it. It is arguably his all-time best performance, aided by Preminger's excellent acting for the camera direction and a very strong supporting cast that really challenged Duke to let it all go. His scenes with Neal are his all-time best.
Preminger and his editor get high praise for the film's pacing, inserting quality subplots (like the Tom Tryon and Paula Prentiss romance) to keep things moving along nicely. Not so praiseworthy are the special effects, which may in part account for the 1940's feel of the film. There is poor use of optical-printer effects and the ship models sit so high in the water that they betray all efforts to make them behave realistically.
There's an incredible panoply of recognizable stars including Slim Pickens, George Kennedy, Hugh O'Brien, Carroll O'Connor, Larry Hagman, and Stanley Holloway.
Paramount's DVD is not just widescreen glory (an excellent 16x9 B&W transfer) but has a considerable number of nice special features. A featurette with outtakes and three trailers.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
The only positive about Eddington's downward spiral is that it allowed Preminger to give additional screen time to his ingénue Jill Haworth. Her Ensign Annalee Dorne character ranks near the top of cinema's all-time cuteness scale, a pleasant memory whenever one thinks about the film.
"In Harms's Way" feels more like a film made just after the war than 20 years later. It begins extremely well with probably the best "attack on Pearl Harbor" sequences ever-in part because they are not the main thrust of the story and are not all that elaborate. Captain Rockwell Torrey's (John Wayne) is at sea when the attack begins and for him the biggest battle is political. With the help of politically savvy Commander Egan Powell (Burgess Meredith), and the moral support of a nurse from his generation Lieutenant Maggie Hayes (Patricia Neal), he weathers the accountability storm and eventually assumes a key command under Admiral Nimitz (Henry Fonda).
As noted above, Torrey's aide (Eddington) is never able to adjust to the death of his less than faithful wife (Barbara Bouchet). His main competition for Haworth's character is Captain Torrey's estranged son, nicely played by Brandon De Wilde although the physical differences between the two actors make it very hard to accept the parentage premise. Interestingly, their relationship and physical mismatch is virtually identical to Wayne's earlier one with actor Claude Jarman in John Ford's "Rio Grande" (1950). Both De Wilde ("Shane") and Jarman ("The Yearling") were famous child stars trying to transition to adult roles. De Wilde was killed several years after his "In Harm's Way" appearance.
The villain of the story (at least until Douglas becomes totally unglued) is Commander Neal Owen (Patrick O'Neal), a publicity seeking former congressman who has enlisted to serve as PR officer to incompetent Admiral 'Blackjack' Broderick (Dana Andrews).
Somehow Torrey eventually finds time to actually fight the Japanese.
Because "In Harm's Way" is often melodramatic soap opera rather than action adventure, Wayne gets a chance to really act and makes the most of it. It is arguably his all-time best performance, aided by Preminger's excellent acting for the camera direction and a very strong supporting cast that really challenged Duke to let it all go. His scenes with Neal are his all-time best.
Preminger and his editor get high praise for the film's pacing, inserting quality subplots (like the Tom Tryon and Paula Prentiss romance) to keep things moving along nicely. Not so praiseworthy are the special effects, which may in part account for the 1940's feel of the film. There is poor use of optical-printer effects and the ship models sit so high in the water that they betray all efforts to make them behave realistically.
There's an incredible panoply of recognizable stars including Slim Pickens, George Kennedy, Hugh O'Brien, Carroll O'Connor, Larry Hagman, and Stanley Holloway.
Paramount's DVD is not just widescreen glory (an excellent 16x9 B&W transfer) but has a considerable number of nice special features. A featurette with outtakes and three trailers.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.