L'Odyssée du docteur Wassell

As WWII becomes part of 20th Century History, we now look back upon the Hollywood films depicting WWII as over-sentimental and patriotic. But this film is different, it was not about a great Allied victory but an Allied defeat and how one man, an American doctor single-handedly risked his life to save American sailors too injured to be moved during the pending invasion of Java by the advancing Japanese fleet. It is these real-life stories that are absent of any propaganda that will make this film survive. Although a bit glamourized for WWII moviegoing audiences, this film holds up well and it covers a part of WWII with respect to the Dutch involvement rarely discussed. Finally, Cecille B. DeMille, Gary Cooper and Technicolor still make this film an engaging experience.

With a title of The Story of Dr. Wassell, and a leading man of Gary Cooper, it's no wonder I blew this movie off as a silly comedy not worth watching. But, as it was Gary Cooper's time as Star of the Week, I decided to give it a chance. After five minutes, I knew it was good quality. This is a fantastic war movie about a real Navy doctor, not some random Hollywood creation with a funny name. Had the leading man been James Stewart or Spencer Tracy, it would have been a real A-tier picture. Gary just doesn't have the acting chops, but he tries his best. He's given great lines to deliver, and I can imagine either of the other two Hollywood greats doing more with them. As he prepares his wounded men for an air raid, he tells them there's nothing to worry about. Then, in an aside to one of his nurses, he asks, "Are you as scared as I am?"

Back to the story: Stuck in Java with a charge of a dozen severely wounded sailors, he finds out there's a boat sailing that can take them to safety in Allied territory. He's anxious to get his men out of danger of a Japanese invasion, but the orders say only men who can walk can come aboard. Gary doesn't have the heart to tell the dozen men on stretchers that they can't go, so he decides to disobey the orders and smuggle them aboard. Will it work? Or will the self-sacrificing doctor give even more to his patients?

In the supporting cast are Laraine Day as Gary's former love interest and Philip Ahn, his assistant during his research days before the war. The dozen soldiers and handful of nurses are also given unique characters and reasons to keep them going. One nurse (Carol Thurston) gives a sailor (Dennis O'Keefe) a blood transfusion, and she believes that they are connected forever because of their bond. One man (Elliott Reid) falls in love with his nurse (Signe Hasso), only to find out she's already in love with a Dutch soldier (Carl Esmond). The screenplay is full of great lines, interesting characters, and compelling plot points. I humbly apologize to this movie for thinking it wouldn't be any good. It's very good!

If I hadn't paid attention to the opening credits, I never would have guessed that this was directed by Cecil B. DeMille. For years, I have disliked his films (particularly those made in the sound era)--mostly because his epics all seem to have cool special effects but also lag way behind the average film when it comes to characterizations. In other words, the films look good but often the dialog is silly and the characters very under-developed. However, unlike films such as THE TEN COMMANDMENTS or REAP THE WILD WIND, this one had a lot of heart and was an excellent picture in all respects. Sure, the special effects and cinematography were great (really great), but it didn't surprise me that the sets looked like Java--after all, it's DeMille. But for once, the supporting characters were rather three-dimensional and the only complaint I have about any of them is Loraine Day. Her character and how it was integrated into the plot didn't seem to work very well--but this is a very, very minor quibble.

Gary Cooper plays the title character. He also starred in two other DeMille films, THE UNCONQUERED and NORTHWEST MOUNTED POLICE, though I think he was best in this film because his part was a little more subdued--creating a quiet strength instead of the usual macho hero (probably because Dr. Wassell was a real person). This doctor was one of the last to try to vacate Java when the Japanese invaded in 1942 and the film was intended as a propaganda piece to encourage Americans at home and abroad due to the heroism in the story. Along with Cooper is a fine ensemble cast of supporting characters. And, thankfully, these supporting characters generally were not just cardboard stereotypes--a definite plus over some other similar films from the period.

All in all, it's an interesting film that's worth your time and an excellent example of the type of films DeMille could do had he chosen to focus more on people than special effects and spectacle.

Although the movie is slow-moving at times and crying out for tighter editing, Gary Cooper's Dr. Wassell is appealing and the story line compelling enough to make watching this film time well spent. The story of a Doctor, who after being second to discover the source of a major epidemic in China, joins the Navy and ends up caring for a group of injured American sailors stranded on JAVA during WWII. I learned a lot from this film that I didn't know about the war in the Pacific and the Dutch involvement. This and the quiet heroics of Wassell and other characters makes for a fascinating watch. "The Story of Dr. Wassell" is a solid period film with a number of surprisingly good actors.

Gary Cooper did four films with Cecil B. DeMille and this is easily the best of them. Although World War II is now history at the time this film was made, the incidents described were two years old. The attack sequences were brilliantly staged in the best DeMille manner, a kind of preview of 3-D.

DeMille in his autobiography admitted that the romantic flashbacks concerning Dr. Wassell were completely made up. The real Corydon Wassell and his wife were married all the time the action of the film took place. He described as a white lie, I think one's marital status is a bit more than that. Having said that the teaming of Cooper and Laraine Day was worked well and the romance fits in nicely.

Dr. Corydon Wassell was an early hero of World War II who was a doctor in the US Navy having been previously a medical missionary in China. He was ordered to abandon his stretcher cases as the Allies were evacuating Java in 1942 before the Japanese advance. He stayed and got themsafely evacuated with a few adventures along the way. He was decorated by President Roosevelt and FDR's radio message concerning Wassell's courage inspired DeMille to make this film.

DeMille said he could only envision Gary Cooper for the part. I'm sure that was the case because of DeMille's past success with Coop, but also because the Arkansas born and bred Wassell was similar to Cooper's own Oscar winning character of Tennessee native Sergeant York.

The rest of the cast performs admirably. The most poignant scene in the film involves a woman being shot during the Japanese aerial attack on the Dutch freighter Janssen in front of her little boy. As she urges the kid to go on and not look back, if a tear doesn't come to your eye you are made of stone. DeMille's films, especially his costume pictures sometimes have some stilted Victorian dialog, but in this one there is none.

Also I'd like to single out from the supporting cast Paul Kelly who plays one of the stretcher cases. He's a griper and a complainer all the way through, but when that kid's mother is shot as I previously described, he takes charge of the little boy in a scene that is the best in the film. Also Philip Ahn who plays Cooper's oriental confidante does it with strength and dignity which were his hallmarks as an actor when so many Asian players were stereotyped.

Even if you don't like DeMille, you'll like this film.