Radio review – Lux – “The Story of Dr Wassell” (1944) **1/2

Cecil B de Mille wasn't known for making movies "torn from the headlines" but he made an exception during the war. There weren't many good news stories for the Yanks during the war before Midway - one of the few ones was the story of Dr Wassell, who refused to leave some of his sick patients after the Battle of Java, and managed to transport them across country to another boat and safety. They pad out the running time with some flashbacks to Wassell's work in China, researching some virus, and his romance with a nurse. Gary Cooper reprises his role as Wassell - like so many Cooper parts, Wassell is a bit of a sook; he refuses to tell the nurse he loves her because his rival does well with research. (Cooper characters were always sooking eg Mr Deeds, Will Kane - why does he have this reputation for being tough and stoic?) He's brave and noble and all that, but you're more likely to remember the subplot about an angry injured patient and a half-caste nurse who gives blood to him and loves him. They get cut off from the others and go out in a blaze of glory against the Japs... although it turns out he was captured and is still alive when the film was made. (He made it home, too.) This is a bit hokey but the fact its radio really makes the "gosh this really happened" factor sink in. Alan Hale supports.