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In Harm's Way [DVD] [1965]

John Wayne , Kirk Douglas , Otto Preminger    Parental Guidance   DVD
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Actors: John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Tom Tryon, Paula Prentiss
  • Directors: Otto Preminger
  • Format: Black & White, PAL
  • Language: English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: 7 Jun 2004
  • Run Time: 160 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000WDWIMI
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 177,661 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

Reviews

From Amazon.co.uk

Otto Preminger's sprawling Second World War drama, In Harm's Way, packs a lot in its 165 minutes, beginning with the attack on Pearl Harbor (which Preminger re-creates in amazing detail) and ending a couple of years later with America's return to the South Pacific in force. John Wayne and Kirk Douglas star as a career naval captain and his self-pitying commander in the peacetime navy who are thrust into battle when Pearl Harbour is bombed while they are on manoeuvres. Minutes into World War II, they are already scapegoated and demoted by the embarrassed military brass. Wayne romances a WAVE nurse (Patricia Neal) and attempts a reconciliation with his estranged, spoiled son (Brandon de Wilde) while Douglas sinks into the bottle after the death of his cheating wife until the American fleet rebuilds and calls upon Wayne to lead one of the initial invasion forces. Henry Fonda makes a brief but commanding appearance as the fleet admiral. Burgess Meredith is a former writer turned witty commander, Dana Andrews a showy but indecisive admiral, and Stanley Holloway a genial Australian scout working with the American invasion forces. Tom Tryon and Paula Prentiss play newlyweds torn apart by the war, and also appearing are Franchot Tone, Carroll O'Conner, Slim Pickens, George Kennedy, Bruce Cabot, and Larry Hagman, among many, many more. Loyal Griggs's handsome black-and-white photography is topped only by Saul Bass's impressive closing credits sequence, a rising cascade of crashing waves and rough surf reportedly paced to mirror the dramatic rhythm of the film. --Sean Axmaker

Product Description

After the Japanese launch their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor during WWII, out-of-favour Captain Rockwell Torrey (John Wayne) is instrumental in planning the US navy's retaliation. The top brass slowly warm to him as his strategy begins to pay dividends, whilst a thawing of relations also becomes apparent between him and his estranged son. Meanwhile, Torrey's immediate superior, Commander Paul Eddington (Kirk Douglas), suffers marital problems that bring him to the verge of a complete breakdown. Otto Preminger's epic re-telling of the events that brought America into the war features a host of cameo performances from star names, and won an Oscar for Best Cinematography.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Less than the sum of its parts 30 Nov 2007
By Trevor Willsmer HALL OF FAME TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:DVD
In Harm's Way is something of an oddity. Boasting a top director and an impressive all-star cast yet nearly completely forgotten, this 1965 roadshow would-be epic plays in many ways like a misfired follow-up to From Here To Eternity, following several navy men and their ladies from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the first American victories against the Japanese. But it's more soap opera than action movie, with John Wayne's legendary officer `The Rock' trying to work his way through the social circuit to get a new command after his ship takes a torpedo while pal Kirk Douglas goes off the rails after his unfaithful wife is killed, raping a nurse and eventually doing the decent thing. Throw in father-son reunions, hesitant affairs and the odd bit of infighting in the ranks and it's not too surprising that no-one has much screen time for the Japanese.

The casting is often curious - alongside top liners John Wayne (reunited with his Operation Pacific romantic interest Patricia Neal) and Kirk Douglas it's a mixture of the old guard - Henry Fonda, Burgess Meredith, Stanley Holloway, Dana Andrews, Franchot Tone, Bruce Cabot - and rising stars who never quite made it like Brandon DeWilde, Tom Tryon, Paula Prentiss, Barbara Bouchet and Jill Haworth. You can even glimpse the score's composer Jerry Goldsmith on piano in the opening scene of the movie as the leader of the band at a party.

The production values are extremely variable too. Preminger makes the most of the surprising amount of access he got from the US Navy to their ships and bases for some spectacular backgrounds, but the cast aside, there's often an air of cheapness to parts of the film; the cinematography often has a rough and ready available light look and the some of the interiors often look as if the filmmakers broke into people's houses while they were at work and stole a few shots without setting up the lights properly before they got back home. Widely ridiculed at the time for its bathtub battleship special effects (certainly not as bad as their reputation), the absence of any planes in the sky during the attack on Pearl is more of a problem, made all the more noticeable by the preponderance of low-angle shots that take in a clear sky in the sequence.

While there's no hiding that the film is in a disappointment considering all the talent involved, it does improve on a second viewing and with lowered expectations. It may never justify all the effort, but it fills a Sunday afternoon well enough.

One of the last widescreen epics shot in black and white, the DVD boasts a good 2.35:1 widescreen transfer with three enjoyably old-fashioned trailers introduced by Otto Preminger from the heart of a burning engine room or the deck of a P.T. boat, while the vintage making of featurette includes a quite charming outtake from one of Wayne and Neal's romantic scenes.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars This movie is enjoyable on many levels. 5 July 2004
By bernie VINE™ VOICE
Format:DVD
Right off you know it is a John Wayne movie. It is bound to have some John Wayne formula and actors that he works with in other movies. Add to this a cast not just of names, but actors that have a following in their won right. Now you have some great material to work with.

Throw in Director Otto Preminger, who directed Laura (1944) ASIN: 630266232X (see my review) and many other fine films.

Add an intriguing story. It almost seems like two films. The first film being before the war with the relationships surrounding navy life and the Eddingtons (Kirk Douglas, and Barbara Bouchet). The second is after the war gets going with too many subplots to name. However I appreciated the relationship as Captain Rockwell Torrey (John Wayne) rediscovers and builds a relationship with his son, Ensign Jeremiah 'Jere' Torrey (Brandon De Wilde).

You get all the DVD goodie that make them work while. This includes (Original making-of In Harm's Way)

I do not want to leave you with some idea that this is some sort of artsy movie. It really is a war movie with fast ships going in harm's way.

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4.0 out of 5 stars John Wayne DVD 28 Mar 2013
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
A very good gift for a nearly housebound lady who really loves her DVDs. Arrived very quickly, well within scheduled date. Excellent all round.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars In Harms Way
A classic film with a great cast tells how unprepared the USA were for war and that they had to learn fast
Published 2 months ago by mhl
5.0 out of 5 stars In Harms Way
Back to the 1941-to 45.
A time in history, giving Hoolywood plenty true stories to tell.
Wayne did his share.
Published 3 months ago by Russell Fisher
5.0 out of 5 stars John Wayne
Excellent value for money. Enjoyed watching every minute. Arrived well before the date supposed to arrive. Good quality. Well impressed.
Published 3 months ago by JR
4.0 out of 5 stars A saga about life, love and death during WW II in Pacific - a very...
"In Harm's Way" is not exactly a war movie, but rather a war time tale, describing the fate of a group of people during a period going from the beginning of War in Pacific (Pearl... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Maciej
2.0 out of 5 stars Has it finished yet.....?
I so wanted to like this. Maybe I've been spoiled by watching the likes of Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, the Pacific etc etc. Read more
Published 11 months ago by tiptopthai
5.0 out of 5 stars The Duke in a difrent roll.
This is a film that is off beat from the usual John Wayne format.
Excellent performances from The Duke and Kirk Douglas in a dark roll. Read more
Published 14 months ago by M. B. Barter
3.0 out of 5 stars Too many stars for its own good!
This film was made in 1965, which was just too long after WWII for the makers to be that bothered about authenticity in terms of action and rather too concerned with getting the... Read more
Published 21 months ago by J. A. Stewart
3.0 out of 5 stars a moral tale
An officer's wife made a scene in the officers' club and died the next morning in a car crash after a night of passion with her lover on the beach. Read more
Published 24 months ago by bull shu
5.0 out of 5 stars A genuine love story
This is a war movie; certainly and a terrific one at that. The action sequences are convincing. The assorted relationships convey something of life in a war-time setting. Read more
Published on 25 Aug 2010 by Ian Hunter
3.0 out of 5 stars Not As Good As MIDWAY
IN HARM'S WAY is a film about World War II naval action in the Pacific beginning with the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese. Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2004 by Peter Kenney
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