WAKE ISLAND Movie Review

1942 John Farrow

Perhaps the most astonishing thing about this early masterpiece of propaganda is not that it is so good, but that it was made so quickly. The truth-based feature premiered less than nine months after the actual events took place. It is an economically told story made on a few wellchosen locations by the Salton Sea. The facts dictate a quick pace, but the film never feels hurried or slapdash. The overall quality is so high that it received several Academy Award nominations and might have won a few had it not been up against more polished competition, including William Wyler's Mrs. Miniver, which pretty much swept the field in 1942.

A brief prologue set in November, 1941, introduces Maj. Caton (Brian Donlevy), the commanding officer who's arriving to take over the newly established base on a tiny, desolate island hundreds of miles west of Hawaii. “My outfit's supposed to be a defense battalion,” he says, “I don't see much to defend here—matter of fact, not much to defend it with.” Already on the scene are Pvt. Aloysius “Smacksie” Randall (William Bendix) and Pvt. Joe Doyle (Robert Preston), a couple of battling friends whose rough-and-tumble is genuinely funny comic relief.

Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese air and naval task force threatens the island. Though the Marines are vastly outnumbered and outgunned, they dig in and hold on. The shelling and aerial attacks are shown in all their destructiveness. Though director John Farrow aims most of his explosives and pyrotechnics at inanimate objects and the surrounding landscape, the ferocity of the assault is impressive and frightening.

The performances equal the effects. Though Donlevy was usually cast as a heavy—and won an Oscar for his villainous sergeant in Beau Geste—his gruff urgency is perfect for this part. He's believable in both the emotional moments and the action scenes. Co-star William Bendix received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role, one which he would repeat often in the following years. He and Preston really do steal the film with lines like, “On your way, bubblepuss, or I'll pat you with me shovel.”

Veteran screenwriters W.R. Burnett (Little Caesar, Asphalt Jungle) and Frank Butler (Going My Way, several Hope and Crosby Road pictures) understand their job. In other hands, the material could have been revisionist saber-rattling. They use it to turn a recent defeat into motivation for an audience that needs hope. They do that by sticking close to the known facts and understating the onscreen heroics. (Only in the voice-over postscript do they cut loose.) The result is one of the least dated and most entertaining films of the era.

Cast: Robert Preston (Joe Doyle), Brian Donlevy (Maj. Geoffrey Caton), William Bendix (Pvt. Aloysius “Smacksie” Randall), MacDonald Carey (Lt. Bruce Cameron), Albert Dekker (Shad McClosky), Walter Abel (Cmdr. Roberts), Rod Cameron (Capt. Lewis), Barbara Britton (Sally Cameron), Mikhail Rasumny (Probenzky), Bill Goodwin (Sgt. Higbee), Damian O'Flynn (Capt. Patrick), Frank Albertson (Johnny Rudd), Hugh Beaumont (Captain), Hillary Brooke (Girl at inn), James Brown (Wounded 1st Lieutenant), Don Castle (Pvt. Cunkle), Frank Faylen (Wounded marine), Mary Field (Miss Pringle), William Forrest (Maj. Johnson), Alan Hale Jr. (Sight setter), Charles Trowbridge (George Nielson), Philip Van Zandt (Cpl. Goebbels), Phillip Terry (Pvt. Warren); Written by: W.R. Burnett, Frank Butler; Cinematography by: William Mellor, Theodor Sparkuhl; Music by: David Buttolph. Producer: Joseph Sistrom, Paramount Pictures. Awards: New York Film Critics Awards '42: Best Director (Farrow); Nominations: Academy Awards '42: Best Director (Farrow), Best Original Screenplay, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Bendix). Running Time: 88 minutes. Format: VHS, Beta.