L'isola della gloria

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.

While nowadays this may seem quite indistinguishable from the many flagwavers rushed into production in its day, at the time WAKE ISLAND was very well received garnering 4 major Academy Award nominations (Best Film, Best Direction, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor - William Bendix); true, the characters and situations are pretty stereotypical but even so, it is certainly well enough made and well-cast (Brian Donlevy, Macdonald Carey, Albert Dekker, Robert Preston, Walter Abel) to be remembered when WWII films are discussed. Once the Pearl Harbor attack gets underway, it becomes an engrossing and poignant depiction of men-in-war facing insurmountable odds; the downbeat ending was quite fresh at the time and seems to have led to a spate of similarly pessimistic WWII movies like BATAAN (1943), SAHARA (1943), THEY WERE EXPENDABLE (1945), etc.

This film begins with a USMC officer by the name of "Major Geoffrey Caton" (Brian Donlevy) arriving on Wake Island to take command of the garrison just weeks before the Japanese entry in World War 2. With him on the flight is a civilian contractor named "Shad McClosky" (Albert Dekker) who develops an immediate dislike for the major due primarily to McClosky's misconception that Major Caton wants to exercise command and control over him and his men. Regardless of that, the first thing Major Caton does is to begin preparing for war by having his men dig trenches and foxholes all around the island. Unfortunately, just hours after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese bomb the Wake Island airfield and destroy all of the American fighters on the ground with only 4 surviving due to being airborne at the time. From here on out the Marines dig in and wait for the inevitable Japanese invasion. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that even though this film took certain liberties with the facts, the overall details of the battle remained relatively accurate and played out exceptionally well on the screen which resulted in an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Likewise, William Bendix was also nominated for an Academy Award for his performance as "Private Aloysius K. 'Smacksie' Randall". In short, although this film certainly contained its share of creative licensing, it manages to entertain fairly well in its own right and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

Three plots are going on simultaneously in this movie. (1) The conflict between the Marines manning the small garrison at Wake Island and the no-nonsense Pan American construction crew preparing a berth for the Pan Am clipper. (2) The horseplay and bonding between Robert Preston (who must have had one of the longest careers as a supporting actor in Hollywood) and William Bendix as the Marine enlisted man who wants to unenlist so he can marry the delectable Myrtle. (3) Then there are all the Americans fighting against overwhelming Japanese naval and air forces.

This was one of the first war movies ground out after Pearl Harbor but it doesn't look especially hastily done. The Salton Sea location gives a good imitation of a flat, sandy Pacific island, which is pretty much what Wake Island was. The garrison was so tiny that only 47 enlisted men were available. The Marines and the Navy pilots fly F4F Wildcats, and this was crucial to the defense of the island. Most of them were destroyed on the ground or in accidents. But the few fighters available and the handful of relatively small caliber coastal defense guns inflicted serious damage on the first Japanese fleet, mostly by lying low until the invasion force was well within range. A second invasion attempt succeeded, after all the Wildcats were destroyed. The commander surrendered, along with the few survivors; they didn't sacrifice themselves to the last man as shown in the film. (What would that have accomplished?) But the movie was a great morale raiser at a time when the country desperately needed some morale raising.

The conflict in goals and styles between the Marines (all discipline and training) and the construction men (shabby, rough-and-ready improvisers) is, I suppose, designed to teach us that we all have to work together now that war is upon us. It's rather clumsily done. Albert Dekker as the construction boss is unnecessarily nasty and contemptuous, and Brian Donlevy as the commander of the Marine forces is the soul of patience and reason. The subplot gets the job done but it's something like having your kindergarten teacher beat the letters of the alphabet into you.

I rather liked the comedy relief provided by Preston and Bendix. Preston keeps trying to talk Bendix into reenlisting in the Corps but Bendix is determined to become a married civilian. Extolling Marine Corps life, Preston urges Bendix to close his eyes and think of what he REALLY wants. "All I see is Moitle," Bendix says. "No, no, no. Forget Myrtle. Close your eyes and put your hand over them and think -- now what do you really SEE?" Replies Bendix, "Nope. It's still Moitle." This is the kind of friendship you see only in the movies. They fall into fist fights at the drop of an insult, but are willing to sacrifice their lives for one another.

It is a bit tedious in parts. But the end, some hyperdramatic touches aside, sticks pretty close to the historical facts. No, we didn't mount a successful defense of Wake Island. How could we, with so few supplies and men? But, like Pearl Harbor, it was the kind of defeat that could almost be depicted as a victory, both honorable and inevitable.

And check out the cast! So many faces that were later to become so familiar, many of them uncredited. Dane Clark, James Brown.

It's worth watching, though there is little about it that's gripping. The photography is notable -- crisp, clear, sunny black and white, with the sun scintillating on the surface of the sea. And the war scenes are unusually well done for such an early example of the genre.

It's 1942 and the war in the Pacific is still in doubt. Japan has taken the Philippines and is moving on the rocky atolls of the central Pacific. Wake is smack in the middle and of no real value except militarily as a stepping-stone to bigger prizes.

This Paramount production adds up to an expertly mounted flag waver. Sure, maybe the Japanese have taken the island, but viewers are treated to heroic resistance from the Marine defenders that's bound to rally a grim American home front. The battle scenes--air, water, and ground--are realistic as heck, location shots blending almost seamlessly with occasional sets. Then too, the set-up footage of what purports to be an island Marine base is convincing as heck. Clearly Paramount understood the significance of its production.

For old time movie buffs, it's a treat catching the likes of Bill Bendix, Preston Foster, and Brian Donlevy, the former two providing the flick's macho humor. But don't look for skirts, it's an all male cast, understandably. And except for the tricky Japanese diplomat in the first part, the enemy is not parodied, rather surprising given the circumstances. All in all, the 80+ minutes amounts to a first-rate tribute to American fighting spirit even under impossible odds. However, if you don't like movie bullets or explosions, steer clear.