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In Harm's Way | Actors/Actresses: - Barbara Bouchet - Kirk Douglas In Harm's Way a Winner! 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 War in the Pacific 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.) Great cast!!! Excellent Movie!! This movie is far from being a typical jingoistic, flag-waving propoganda piece. It deals with several substantive issues (i.e. love, loss, rape, death, etc.) that are dveloping in people's lives at the same time as the war. Interestingly, I felt like a voyeur as I was watching the movie due to an intimate/personal filming perspective and excellent acting. Overall this movie for mature audiences that can accept steady character development with action being secondary. Big thumbs up!! Buy In Harm's Way at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on In Harm's Way Search with the Priority Search Engine on In Harm's Way This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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