Problem # 1 has to do with budget. If they didn't tell you the air attack early on in the film was the bombing of Pearl Harbor, you'd hardly know it. Seemed very minor according to this film. But, of course, no special effects of note back then, so the attack on Pearl Harbor seems like a slight unpleasantness.
Problem # 2: Now, I don't know how it was, but about 8 weeks after the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor it seems as if everything in Honolulu was back to normal and the military was partying it up. Is that really the way it was? I doubt it, but again, I don't know. But then, there's not another bomb or even firecracker that goes off for well over an hour. Kinda sparse action for a war movie Problem # 3: Filmed in 1965 and still black and white. Again, must be budget. Filmed in Hawaii and region, it would have been a beautiful film in color.
Problem # 4: It took me a long time to figure out this one. The film takes place in the 1940s, but it feels too much like the 1960s. Oh, they have all the right automobiles and such, but the music seems There are other elements of this movie that balance things out and make it a very good film. Chief among these is the cast: John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Burgess Meredith, Tom Tryon, Dana Andrews, Franchot Tone, Carroll O'Connor, Henry Fonda, and many more, all with varying levels of roles, some rather short, but all key in some way.
Of course, the main character here is John Wayne, who was beginning to look kinda old here. Wayne made one of my favorite films the same year -- "The Sons Of Katie Elder". Wayne here plays John Wayne. Which is fine.
Kirk Douglas plays a personal ne'er do well, but a competent junior officer to John Wayne (who, BTW, is promoted to admiral during the film). I'm not sure you can be both, but Douglas is always Douglas.
Patricia Neal does very nicely as John Wayne's love interest.
Dana Andrews has a strong role as a not-so-effective vice-admiral. He's excellent! Burgess Meredith has a part that is different from his typical. Very good performance.
So now it's time to get down to the nitty gritty, and this is it: I rarely like war movies. My father was in the military, and almost every time he would come home on leave, he would drag me to the theater to watch a war movie. I loved having time with him, but HATED war movies. Even though I love old movies, it is extremely rare for me to watch a war movie. BUT -- I enjoyed this movie despite its shortcomings. It's a long movie, and it fully held my attention.
Recommended.
Problem # 2: Now, I don't know how it was, but about 8 weeks after the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor it seems as if everything in Honolulu was back to normal and the military was partying it up. Is that really the way it was? I doubt it, but again, I don't know. But then, there's not another bomb or even firecracker that goes off for well over an hour. Kinda sparse action for a war movie Problem # 3: Filmed in 1965 and still black and white. Again, must be budget. Filmed in Hawaii and region, it would have been a beautiful film in color.
Problem # 4: It took me a long time to figure out this one. The film takes place in the 1940s, but it feels too much like the 1960s. Oh, they have all the right automobiles and such, but the music seems There are other elements of this movie that balance things out and make it a very good film. Chief among these is the cast: John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Burgess Meredith, Tom Tryon, Dana Andrews, Franchot Tone, Carroll O'Connor, Henry Fonda, and many more, all with varying levels of roles, some rather short, but all key in some way.
Of course, the main character here is John Wayne, who was beginning to look kinda old here. Wayne made one of my favorite films the same year -- "The Sons Of Katie Elder". Wayne here plays John Wayne. Which is fine.
Kirk Douglas plays a personal ne'er do well, but a competent junior officer to John Wayne (who, BTW, is promoted to admiral during the film). I'm not sure you can be both, but Douglas is always Douglas.
Patricia Neal does very nicely as John Wayne's love interest.
Dana Andrews has a strong role as a not-so-effective vice-admiral. He's excellent! Burgess Meredith has a part that is different from his typical. Very good performance.
So now it's time to get down to the nitty gritty, and this is it: I rarely like war movies. My father was in the military, and almost every time he would come home on leave, he would drag me to the theater to watch a war movie. I loved having time with him, but HATED war movies. Even though I love old movies, it is extremely rare for me to watch a war movie. BUT -- I enjoyed this movie despite its shortcomings. It's a long movie, and it fully held my attention.
Recommended.