In Harm's Way

In Harm's Way is a 1965 American epic war film produced and directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas and Patricia Neal, with a supporting cast featuring Henry Fonda in a lengthy cameo, Tom Tryon, Paula Prentiss, Stanley Holloway, Burgess Meredith, Brandon deWilde, Jill Haworth, Dana Andrews, and Franchot Tone. Produced with Panavision gear, it was one of the last black-and-white World War II epics, and Wayne's last black-and-white film. The screenplay was written by Wendell Mayes, based on the 1962 novel Harm's Way, by James Bassett.
The film takes place as the U.S. involvement in World War II begins; it recounts the lives of several U.S. naval officers based in Hawaii and their wives or lovers. The title of the film comes from a quote from an American Revolutionary naval commander:
The film presents a relatively unromantic and realistic picture of the American Navy and its officers from the night of December 6, 1941, through the first year of the U.S. involvement in World War II, complete with bureaucratic infighting among the senior officers and sometimes disreputable private acts by individuals. Its sprawling narrative is typical of Preminger's works in which he examined institutions and the people who run them, such as the American Congress and the Presidency in Advise & Consent, the Catholic Church in The Cardinal and the British Intelligence Service in The Human Factor.
Category:Films