Classic Film Guide

Wake Island (1942)

Directed by John Farrow, who later shared a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Around the World in 80 Days (1956), this war film fictionally depicts the truly heroic efforts by the Marines who were able to repel overwhelming Japanese forces, for a time, after they'd attacked Pearl Harbor in December, 1941. The film, director Farrow, writers W. R. Burnett & Frank Butler, as well as (Supporting) actor William Bendix for his hard-nosed, but soft-hearted "typical" Marine portrayal, were nominated for Oscars. The film did NOT receive one of the ten Academy Award nominations for Best Special Effects given that year. Though it certainly features a lot of impressive explosions, there are a few too many gaffs (e.g. biplanes shown as American fighters) or obviously fake (Japanese ships) effects included.

Brian Donlevy plays the no nonsense man in charge of the base, Major Geoffrey Caton, who relieves the Navy Commander (Walter Abel) that had the responsibility before him; an unrecognizable, young Robert Preston (Victor/Victoria (1982)) and Bendix play two Marines under his command, and part-time trouble makers; Macdonald Carey plays a Marine pilot with a wife that was killed during the Pearl Harbor raid; Albert Dekker plays a civilian in charge of the non-military contractors that were on the island to build a hospital, before finding themselves in the conflict; and so forth. Hugh Beaumont (TV's Leave it to Beaver), Dane Clark, and Alan Hale Jr. (TV's Gilligan's Island) are among those who appear, uncredited, as Marines. Richard Loo appears, uncredited, as a Japanese envoy on his way to Washington D.C. just prior to December 7, 1941.

After establishing the characters, and the fact that Wake Island was just a small speck of sand in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, used primarily as a stopover point in the fragile chain of islands from San Francisco to destinations across it, the story tells of the battle for the island itself. Using clever tactics and unwavering will against the enemies' efforts to capture it, the Marines are shown to defend their small base against the Japanese's superior Naval firepower & would-be invasion force time and time again over two weeks until their own aircraft and supplies were too depleted to continue. The film's ending differs from the historical record, but there is no denying the truly stellar performance of those left to defend it.

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