This was one of the early wartime films to come out of Hollywood. The battle for Wake Island was still relatively fresh in the minds of the public, and the film uses that to its advantage. Make no mistake, this is propaganda, not history. However, it does a very good job of illustrating the stakes involved for the defenders and a pretty fair assessment of what was in store for the duration.
Brian Donlevy stars as the major who has been placed in command of the Marine detachment on Wake Island. When he arrives, he finds a rather blasé bunch, stuck on an island that seems to have no value, except as a waypoint for the Pan-Am Clippers. William Bendix is a Marine whose enlistment is nearly up and who dreams of going home. Robert Preston is his friend and frequent sparring partner. Albert Dekker is McCloskey, a civilian contractor who has a low opinion of the Marines. It is this group of disparate people who will face the Japanese assault.
The film sets out from the beginning to set you up for heartbreak. We see Donlevy say goodbye to his family, as his daughter gives him a gift of a cigarette case. We also see a young pilot who also says goodbye to his wife. This being Hollywood, we know what will happen. Donlevy takes command and shapes up the base. These scenes are played for both comedy (those involving Bendix and Preston) and to foreshadow the need to work together (Donlevy and Dekker's sparring over authority over the civilians).
The film spends about a third to half of its length establishing the characters, while giving you the overwhelming sense of impending doom, as we see the command welcome the Japanese envoy to Washington. Donlevy has a look of distrust through the entire scene, setting up the coming treachery. Then, the attack comes.
The battle sequences are played for drama and action, but are filled with glaring errors, such as the appearance of biplanes corkscrewing downwards, after we see monoplane "Japanese" aircraft shot out of the sky. The ships are obvious model work, though they are never too glaring. The most ridiculous part is the advance of Japanese soldiers, who walk slowly, without firing their weapons, only to be mowed down by Marine machine gunners. Remember, this is propaganda and we have to show the heroic defenders getting their licks in. Slowly, but surely, the stakes become even more dire.
All in all, this is a fine piece of drama, as long as you keep in mind that this is wartime propaganda, and remember that Hollywood didn't have access to film footage and equipment that later productions would. The actors do a fine job, even when the characters are somewhat clichéd. The story is fairly predictable, but exciting. Meanwhile, if you look closely, you will see many familiar faces in the film, including TV favorites Hugh Beaumont, Alan Hale Jr., and Chuck Connors. The movie is a decent look at the high stakes of the early stages of WW2.
Brian Donlevy stars as the major who has been placed in command of the Marine detachment on Wake Island. When he arrives, he finds a rather blasé bunch, stuck on an island that seems to have no value, except as a waypoint for the Pan-Am Clippers. William Bendix is a Marine whose enlistment is nearly up and who dreams of going home. Robert Preston is his friend and frequent sparring partner. Albert Dekker is McCloskey, a civilian contractor who has a low opinion of the Marines. It is this group of disparate people who will face the Japanese assault.
The film sets out from the beginning to set you up for heartbreak. We see Donlevy say goodbye to his family, as his daughter gives him a gift of a cigarette case. We also see a young pilot who also says goodbye to his wife. This being Hollywood, we know what will happen. Donlevy takes command and shapes up the base. These scenes are played for both comedy (those involving Bendix and Preston) and to foreshadow the need to work together (Donlevy and Dekker's sparring over authority over the civilians).
The film spends about a third to half of its length establishing the characters, while giving you the overwhelming sense of impending doom, as we see the command welcome the Japanese envoy to Washington. Donlevy has a look of distrust through the entire scene, setting up the coming treachery. Then, the attack comes.
The battle sequences are played for drama and action, but are filled with glaring errors, such as the appearance of biplanes corkscrewing downwards, after we see monoplane "Japanese" aircraft shot out of the sky. The ships are obvious model work, though they are never too glaring. The most ridiculous part is the advance of Japanese soldiers, who walk slowly, without firing their weapons, only to be mowed down by Marine machine gunners. Remember, this is propaganda and we have to show the heroic defenders getting their licks in. Slowly, but surely, the stakes become even more dire.
All in all, this is a fine piece of drama, as long as you keep in mind that this is wartime propaganda, and remember that Hollywood didn't have access to film footage and equipment that later productions would. The actors do a fine job, even when the characters are somewhat clichéd. The story is fairly predictable, but exciting. Meanwhile, if you look closely, you will see many familiar faces in the film, including TV favorites Hugh Beaumont, Alan Hale Jr., and Chuck Connors. The movie is a decent look at the high stakes of the early stages of WW2.