Wake Island (1942)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

John Farrow

Writers:

W.R. Burnett (screenplay)
Frank Butler (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 August 1942 (USA)

Genre:

War | Drama

Tagline:

Tougher than Leather . . . Harder to Kill! Daring Americans Fighting Against All Odds!

Plot:

December, 1941. With no hope of relief or re-supply, a small band of United States Marines try to keep the Japanese Navy from capturing their island base.

Plot Keywords:

Siege | Marine Hymn | Marine Corps US | WWII

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Brian Donlevy	...	Maj. Geoffrey Caton
Macdonald Carey	...	Lt. Bruce Cameron
Robert Preston	...	Pvt. Joe Doyle
William Bendix	...	Pvt. Aloysius K. 'Smacksie' Randall
Albert Dekker	...	Shad McClosky
Walter Abel	...	Cmdr. Roberts
Mikhail Rasumny	...	Ivan Probenzky
Rod Cameron	...	Capt. Pete Lewis
Bill Goodwin	...	Sgt. Higbee
Damian O'Flynn	...	Capt. Bill Patrick
Frank Albertson	...	Johnny Rudd
Barbara Britton	...	Sally Cameron
Phillip Terry	...	Pvt. 'Cookie' Warren
Don Castle	...	Pvt. Cunkle

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Norway:16 | Australia:PG | Finland:(Banned) (1943-1944) | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Salton Sea, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Goofs:

Continuity: During one of the scenes showing the bombardment of the island, The Marine CO has ordered the observation tower evacuated. Later scenes show two men still in the tower when it was destroyed.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pulp Fiction (1994)

Morale boosting war film is solid entertainment much needed during WWII...

Whatever its flaws--stereotypes among soldiers, wartime propaganda using the Wake Island battle as symbolic of America's fight for freedom, weak comic relief--WAKE ISLAND is the kind of story Americans needed to hear during the height of WWII. It begins just before the Pearl Harbor attack when the men were losing their morale to fight against the Japs, then changes once American ships and servicemen are attacked in sneaky fashion at Pearl, to become a story of fighting men who want to avenge what F.D.R. called "a day of infamy".

Forcefully directed by John Farrow, it's a gritty, realistic war drama given occasional relief by ROBERT PRESTON and WILLIAM BENDIX as a pair of squabbling soldiers arguing over re-enlistment. BRIAN DONLEVY plays Maj. Caton with steely-eyed determination and a large male cast of upcoming actors and future stars fills the supporting cast: ALBERT DEKKER, MADONALD CAREY, ROD CAMERON, WALTER ABEL, DANE CLARK, PHILIP TERRY and FRANK FAYLEN.

Similar in content to BATAAN, which also told of American losses against overwhelming odds and had a downbeat ending, the true story of Wake Island is even more downbeat than the film hints. Brutal stories of torture at the hands of Japanese military awaited many who survived the assault on the small island in the Pacific. But that's something you can learn about at The History Channel.

Summing up: A reminder of what sort of films Americans were looking at during the height of WWII--you have to view it in that context.