Search - In Harm's Way on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Suitable for Children Movie Release: 1965 DVD Release: 05/22/2001 Format: DVD - Black and White,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 47 mins Studio: Paramount Members Wishing: 2 Genres: War, War Epic, War Romance See Also: In Harm's Way [Circuit City Exclusive] [Checkpoint]

In Harm's Way, based on James Bassett's novel -Harm's Way, has enough plot in it for four movies or a good miniseries (when it was shown on network television in prime time, it was broken into two very full nights). On the morning of December 7, 1941, a heavy cruiser, commanded by Captain Rockwell Torrey (John Wayne), and the destroyer Cassidy, under acting commander Lieutenant (jg) William McConnell (Thomas Tryon), are two of a handful of ships that escape the destruction of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Under Torrey's command, the tiny fleet of a dozen ships carries out its orders to seek out and engage the enemy fleet. But lack of fuel and a daring maneuver (but tragic miscalculation) by Torrey causes his ship to be seriously damaged. He's relieved of command and assigned to a desk job routing convoys in the shakeup following the attack, and his exec and oldest friend, Commander Paul Eddington (Kirk Douglas), is reassigned after a brawl, the result of his anger after identifying the body of his wife (Barbara Bouchet) who was killed during the attack while cavorting with an Marine Corps officer.

Torrey's shore assignment leads him to reestablish contact on a very hostile level with his estranged son, Ensign Jere Torrey (Brandon de Wilde), from his long-ended marriage; he establishes a romantic relationship with Lt. Maggie Haynes (Patricia Neal), a navy nurse; and he also befriends Commander Egan Powell (Burgess Meredith), a special-intelligence officer. Partly as a result of his contact with Powell, Torrey is chosen by the commander of the Pacific Fleet (Henry Fonda) to salvage an essential operation called Sky Hook, which has become bogged down through the indecisiveness of its area commander, Vice Admiral Broderick (Dana Andrews). Promoted to rear admiral, with Eddington -- who'd been rotting away on a shore assignment, drunk most of the time -- assigned as his chief of staff, Torrey gets Sky Hook rolling and finally finds his purpose in this war, gaining the belated admiration of his son in the process. Eddington is similarly motivated but is still haunted by the violent, ultimately self-destructive demons that blighted his marriage and his life -- he is particularly attracted to a young nurse, Annalee Dohrn (Jill Haworth), not knowing that she is already involved romantically with Jere Torrey. Meanwhile, McConnell survives the sinking of his ship and is ordered to join Torrey's staff. Matters all come to a head when the Japanese begin a counter-offensive to Torrey's planned troop landing. And just at the time Torrey needs his men at their best, Eddington's violence and rage boil to the surface in a way that will destroy him and blight both men's lives. In a final attempt at redemption, Eddington provides Torrey with the information he needs to set up a battle that he has at least a chance of winning, pitting his small task group of destroyers and cruisers against the Japanese task force led by the Yamato, the largest battleship ever built. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

John Wayne - Capt. Rockwell Torrey
Kirk Douglas - Cmdr. Paul Eddington
Patricia Neal - Lt. Maggie Haynes
Tom Tryon - Lt. William McConnel
Dana Andrews - Adm. Broderick
Paula Prentiss - Bev McConnel

It's taken a dozen years for Otto Preminger's In Harm's Way to turn up in anything resembling a respectful home video edition -- it was promised in a letterboxed laserdisc at the end of the 1980s that never showed up. Thanks to the release of Pearl Harbor in the spring of 2001, it's finally out on DVD, in a transfer that's so clean, sharp, and carefully shaded that it's a joy to watch for its entire 167-minute length. Watching the movie again this way -- fully letterboxed to capture its Panavision aspect ratio -- it's astonishing to realize how contemporary the movie still seems over 35 years after it was made. One of the last big-budget movies shot in black-and-white, it has a raw look that only enhances its story, which centers on a group of officers and the women around them who survive the attack on Pearl Harbor and go on to help carry the war back to the Japanese. There are no white knights in this story, and stars John Wayne and Kirk Douglas play a pair of notably flawed protagonists. The performances, from Wayne and Douglas on down to the most anonymous extra, are perfect, and seen in the careful framing by Preminger and cinematographer Loyal Griggs, make In Harm's Way a rewarding as well as an urgent film.

A major restoration has been done to the sound on this disc. The dialogue and sound effects punch through like they're happening in the same room with the viewer (there's a tiny drop in volume about 40 minutes in, but that's it for problems). Also, the music, a score by Jerry Goldsmith that has an almost Copland-esque depth at times, sounds lusher than ever. The chaptering is a little skimpy, with 24 chapters to cover a movie running over two-and-a-half hours. The supplement includes three trailers in which Otto Preminger tries to pull a Hitchcock, turning up in the middle of an action scene as himself and walking viewers through a summary of the plot and cast, all the way down to Carroll O'Connor. When he gets to Barbara Bouchet as Douglas' sluttish wife, he announces, "a new face, and a new body." His narration of the trailers is entertaining in its own way (though bizarre in some aspects of the plot summary). These, in turn, are accompanied by a featurette, "In Harm's Way: The Making of a Movie," which has considerable behind-the-scenes footage, including Bouchet's screen test. Much of it focuses not only on the actors, both in and out of character, but also on the Navy and its cooperation. The menu opens automatically on start-up and is very easy to maneuver around, advancing automatically as each item in the special feature selection plays. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide