America's first few months of the war saw them experience little other than defeat – Clarke Bay, Manila, Bataan, Corregidor, Guam, etc. One of their few bright spots was the defence of Wake Island, where the Marines manage d to fend off a Japanese attack – only to fall following the next onslaught. It’s great true story – one that should have inspired more movies, but then Hollywood tends to shy away from unhappy endings.
I’m not a historical expert on this period but it feels Paramount did try to get things right – as right as was feasible from a Hollywood film during this period, anyway. In particular, the recreation of the base feels authentic – there are long tracking shots of the tents and harbour to show off the set. (I guess they didn’t have to worry about exposing military secrets). Some have whinged that it shows the marines fighting to the last man and the commanding officer dying – but we don’t see Brian Donlevy die, and it doesn’t say that the Marines didn’t surrender, we just don’t see it.
There are various subplots leading up to the attack: the arrival of a new commander (Donlevy) and a civilian contractor who has a chip on his shoulder about Marines, two squabbling Marines out of What Price Glory? (Robert Preston without a moustache and William Bendix), a pilot (MacDonald Carey) whose fiancee is in Pearl Harbour (want to guess who dies first?). I found this section of the film - the build up to the attack - more effective than the stuff at the end. The Japanese characters (including a peace envoy who visits shortly before the attack) are buck teethed and sinister and/or cowardly.
It's extremely well directed by John Farrow, who made this on return from war service in the Canadian navy (he'd been invalided out). Before the war, he'd done mostly B's, although of increasing budgets and quality; after this he was doing A pictures.
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