Review of Operation Pacific

A good-natured, charming and lively patriotic movie, of a chivalrous spirit, with Wayne in uniform, as Duke (lieut. Comdr.), a cardboard character among cardboard characters, either on his submarine 'Thunderfish' or on shore, rescuing nuns, negotiating with dishonest Hawaiians, claiming his love, looking clueless, self-righteous and stubborn, checking torpedoes, in the middle of the Japanese Imperial Navy, or of a salon of babies; in each of these occasions, he looks conveniently dignified, as an ideal navy officer, and is being given the occasion to avenge his mentor. A vehicle for uplifting militarism, smoothly directed by Waggner, who had the subtlety of mentioning 'G. W. slept here' and of peppering the dialogue with lines about movies, so it also has this meta dimension, with warriors on a submarine watching a movie about submarines. The funny scenes also have the chivalrous spirit. The romance plot is blunted by the edifying zeal, of undeniable hypocrisy. So, an assemblage of patriotic and populist clichés about competing, winning, etc., unpretentious fun for the unpretentious audiences eager to see Wayne doing his role; but as it may be unfair to require this movie to be what it wasn't even meant to, another possible take on it would be: watching Wayne playing a navy officer, in one of the mediocre and watchable movies made in the '50s, no sillier than many of the standard comedies and musicals, so good for an evening watching Wayne, gentle and chivalrous fun, meant to be appreciated by a perhaps not very pretentious audience.

One can't reduce Wayne's understanding of the movies to the sheer banality of this, but it certainly is a way he enjoyed being shown on the screen, the icon of his ideal self. It made me yearn for something less phony. But when one sees Wayne's name on a war movie's credits, one also knows what to expect.

Also in the cast: Patricia Neal, Ward Bond.