"In Harm's Way" is not an action-packed war film. But it is a very good movie about the American Navy at the start of World War II. And, it has a modest amount of sea battle scenes. The cast has some big names – John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Burgess Meredith, Tom Tryon, Paula Prentiss, George Kennedy, Carroll O'Connor, Slim Pickens and Henry Fonda. All of the cast give good performances. The movie is based on a 1962 novel by James Bassett. Although it's fiction, and the characters and many places in the South Pacific are fictitious, the film has some historical value. It is a very good picture of Navy life and the culture just before the start of World War II. The scenes of the bombing of Pearl Harbor are so weak that I think the film would have been better to skip that event. Nowhere is there a single Japanese plane seen in the sky. Only a couple of ships are seen at all when the bombing begins. There is very little carnage or confusion in the attack. We see a few individual explosions in open water.But, after that poor rendition of the opening salvo of the war for America, the movie gets into the details of conduct of the naval war. It shows much of the routine, the paper work and red tape that was part of life. It shows the problems of command and weak leadership in places. It shows the confusion and uncertainty. All of that was real, as other films develop more. And it has romance, which is real where naval units have ports and land bases from which they operate.This is just one of two movies made that show the U.S. para-marines. At the same time the Army was training men to form the parachute units that would fight in Europe and then the Pacific, the Marine Corps was training men to form para-marine battalions. RKO's 1944 film, "Marine Raiders" was about para-marine and marine raider training. And, it had a fictional portrayal of them fighting on Guadalcanal. "In Harm's Way" shows a fictional combat jump by the para-marines. The jump procedures shown in the film are identical to those used by the Army in 1965, when this movie came out. The distant shots show jumping from what looks like Douglas R4D aircraft. Those probably were clips from training films shot during the war. When Col. Gregory (George Kennedy) leads his men in the parachute jump, it sounds as though he says, "Let's go Rangers." It could be "raiders," but why wouldn't it be "Marines?" The para-marines were a special unit of the Marines. Only 40 percent of the regular marines who trained for the units made it through. During the war, they saw only ground combat along with the regular Marines. Four operations had been planned for their use but never were carried out. The para-marines were disbanded in 1943 -- before the middle of WW II. Parachute training, for members of all branches of the service and some foreign military personnel, is now done at the Army Parachute Training School at Ft. Benning, Georgia. It has been the main and only remaining American parachute training school since the start of WW II. I went through jump school there in April 1962, after which I served 2½ years in the 504th and then 509th Airborne units in West Germany. Some may find this film tedious, but that's where it is more realistic in its portrayal of procedures and processes during a war. Of course, ships engaged in battle and GIs fighting on front lines aren't bogged down with those things. This just shows that there is as much behind the scenes to a war as there is on the lines and on the ships squared off against the enemy. One sea battle that Wayne's Admiral Torrey is in, has some realistic looking explosions and sinking of ships. But there's not that much more by way of action.Here are some of my favorite lines in the film. For more lines of dialog, see the Quotes section under this IMDb Web page of the movie. Commander Egan Powell, "Rockwell, my boy, I tell you – never, I repeat, never marry a movie actress." Rock, "You married thee of them." Powell, "It's like eating peanuts. Once I started I couldn't stop." Rock, "Are you sure you were invited?" Egan Powell, "Maybe not, but one sailor looks like another. "Maggie, "How do admirals feel about nurses?" Rock, "The same way captains did." Bev, "Leave me with a baby this time, please, Mac."Egan Powell, "I'm so scared, my bones are clicking like dice on a Reno craps table. I should be back in Hollywood sitting in front of a typewriter making all this up for a move, not living it." Rock, "All battles are fought by scared men who'd rather be someplace else." Egan Powell, "Does that include admirals?" Rock, "Yep."CINCPAC II (Henry Fonda),"And indecision is a virus that can run through an army and destroy its will to win… or even to survive." Rock, "Just how far can I go in dealing with Admiral Broderick, sir?" "CINCPAC II, "Well, you can't kill him."Maggie, "The smiling young lady from Niger, She rode on the back of a tiger, And after the ride, she wound up inside, with her smile on the face of the tiger." This is a good film for any war film library.

Even though it is 167 minutes long, how can anyone get jaded from watching this movie about the battle at sea only shortly after Pearl Harbor being attacked on 12/07/41? Shortly after the beginning of the movie is when that infamous yet unforgettable moment in history took place, and there is a sea battle toward the end of the movie. The movie is definitely star-studded with one of the most outstanding galaxy of stars ever amassed. John Wayne as Admiral Rockwell "Rocky" Torrey is the best Otto Preminger could have chosen for that role as a man dedicated to fighting passionately at sea. Kirk Douglas was a "perfect" pick for Commander Paul Eddington, a man you wanted to kill because of his mean, hostile spirit and, much more than this, because of some of the harmful things he did to others. The beautiful Paula Prentiss made a great acting accomplishment as Bev McConnell, and Tom Tryon seemed to click well with her as her husband Lieutenant William "Mac" McConnell. Patricia Neal was very appealing as the nurse Lieutenant Maggie Haynes. Brandon DeWilde was consummate as Ensign Jeremiah "Jere" Torrey. Slim Pickins, as CPO Culpepper was his same country-boy self, and the late very pretty English actress Jill Haworth was as adorable as adorable could be as Ensign Annalee Dorne. The movie was not simply a war drama, but there was just focus on the feelings and/or struggles of the characters. Maggie Haynes was so much in love with "Rocky" Torrey, and wondered if theirs would be a lasting relationship. Ensign Jere Torrey was the son of Admiral Torrey, but he was embittered with his father since Rocky had abandoned his family when Jere was only a year old. And too, there was a point when the relationship between Jere and Ensign Dorne was somewhat stormy. Bev McConnell was a maudlin worrier about her husband. Yes, there was introspection on feelings in this dramatic feat. The main thing I didn't like about this movie is that it was in black-and-white. The Pacific Ocean would have been more drawing in color, naturally. But overall, it was one of Preminger's best, a superb enactment of the book by the same name: the book was written by James Bassett. The music score by Jerry Goldsmith was somewhat haunting, but there was something about it I personally liked. Again, this story which focuses on people's individual struggles, as well as on war at sea, is not a bit boring. Paramount should be proud.

Otto Preminger's opus of the Pearl Harbor disaster and its aftermath of the U.S. military's preparation for war with the Japanese is also a story of the lives of enlisted personnel, their families and relationships that parallel the Navy's operations in the western Pacific that kicks off World War II. John Wayne is the central figure in the story as Captain Rockwell Torrey, who is faulted for not pursuing and engaging the Japanese fleet, thereby reassigned to desk duty. Kirk Douglas, always edgy and intense, is embittered as a result of the death of his unfaithful wife, which has tragic consequences later in the film. Patricia Neal is Wayne's romantic interest and they are very appealing as middle-aged folk that have another chance at love after previous marital failures. Brandon De Wilde is Wayne's aloof Harvard-educated son who faults Wayne for abandoning him as a child. The film has many diverse emotional threads as the characters cope with the war and their own tenuous relationships, professional and personal. As with most Preminger films, this one has an excellent cast, although Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews have brief roles. Wayne redeems himself in a taught sea battle with Japanese destroyers, with very nice special effects. The film is a fine mix of military warfare, romance, tragedy, family estrangement and redemption.

A largely forgotten entry from 1965 this has now turned up on DVD and at Thrift-Shop prices had to be good for at least one viewing given the names involved. The 'best-selling' novel on which the screenplay was based has somehow eluded me unlike say, From Here To Eternity, The Young Lions, The Caine Mutiny, The Naked And The Dead, Battle Cry, etc but we mustn't begrudge Hollyood its flacks. It turns out to be fairly enjoyable and entertaining with Duke Wayne well up to heading a starry cast, some of whom - Franchot Tone, Hank Fonda, Burgess Meredith - had established themselves before Duke and others - Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Brandon de Wilde, Paula Prentiss, sometime later, making for a nice melange. Preminger keeps a firm if fairly dull hand on the wheel and a fair time is had by all.