Directed by Otto Preminger | Starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal
They should’ve called this one In Harm’s Way Too Long. Clocking in at nearly three hours, In Harm’s Way is less a World War II epic and more of a slow-moving naval parade where every boat takes a detour through soap opera waters and dramatic dead-ends.
This is the kind of movie that thinks it’s The Longest Day but ends up being The Longest Afternoon, the cinematic equivalent of watching a battleship parallel park—for 165 minutes.
Plot: War Is Hell, But Not Nearly as Hellish as This Script
Set in the Pacific during World War II, the film opens with the attack on Pearl Harbor and follows the slow-burning personal and professional trials of Admiral Rockwell “Rock” Torrey (John Wayne), who commands with all the charisma of a parked Buick. He’s a widower, he’s gruff, and he’s about as emotionally complex as a barstool.
He teams up with Commander Paul Eddington (Kirk Douglas), a man with anger issues and the libido of a frat house keg, to fight the war, redeem themselves, and—because why not—sort out everyone’s romantic entanglements like they’re running a wartime dating app.
There are side plots galore: drunken officers, mysterious pregnancies, accidental deaths, rekindled father-son relationships, even a military sexual assault that’s handled with all the sensitivity of a moose on roller skates.
War, ladies and gentlemen—brought to you by daytime television and martini-fueled writing sessions.
John Wayne: Rock of Gibralt-argh
The Duke delivers his performance as if he’s allergic to emotion. Every line is delivered in his trademark monotone drawl, as though his body is present but his soul stayed home polishing medals. This is John Wayne in “just showing up” mode, and he plays Admiral Torrey like he’s confused why there’s a camera in his face.
He’s supposed to be the rock of the film, but he’s really just a large, flat surface that scenes bounce off of.
Kirk Douglas: Loose Cannon with Daddy Issues
If John Wayne is the boulder, Kirk Douglas is the landslide. His Commander Eddington is a mess of contradictions: brave, tormented, alcoholic, and occasionally just plain creepy. He commits sexual assault in the second act and the film basically shrugs it off with a, “Well, war is stressful.” This is character development by way of a punch to the ethics.
Douglas gives it his all—sweating, seething, snarling—but the script gives him nothing. He’s a man spiraling into oblivion while everyone else is debating naval logistics and sipping brandy.
Patricia Neal: Deserves Better
Neal plays a navy nurse who exists solely to give John Wayne something to soften toward. She’s charming, composed, and completely wasted in a role that could’ve been filled by a cardboard cutout with a clipboard. Watching her flirt with the Duke is like watching someone try to warm up a glacier with a Zippo.
Direction: Otto Preminger, Admiral of Excess
Otto Preminger directs this thing like a man who’s never heard of an editor. The pacing is glacial, the transitions are stilted, and entire subplots feel like they wandered in from a different movie. One minute you’re watching a torpedo attack, the next you’re sitting through a romantic dinner so stilted it might as well be a hostage negotiation.
Preminger wants you to feel the scope of war—grand, messy, personal—but he ends up filming it like a televised wake with bad lighting.
Tone: The Fog of War and Soap
For a movie about World War II, In Harm’s Way is oddly disengaged from combat. Sure, there are a few naval battles, but they arrive so late you half-expect the movie to end with paperwork and retirement speeches.
It spends more time on infidelity, alcoholism, and mid-century parenting than on strategy or survival. It’s a war movie with the heart of a soggy romance novel and the pacing of a funeral procession.
And yes, it tries to be bold—look, a character dies tragically! Gasp, a father and son reconnect over a sandwich! But none of it lands with emotional weight. It’s all like driftwood floating toward a climax you saw coming 90 minutes ago.
The Action: About As Exciting As Naval Accounting
The battle scenes? Shot in what feels like real time—with real tedium. Ships slowly pivot, officers bark cryptic coordinates, and explosions happen offscreen while everyone squints at a radar screen like it owes them money.
You want tension, action, stakes? Rent Das Boot. Here, the action is an afterthought. The real war is being fought between bad dialogue and overlit interiors.
Score and Cinematography: Stirring? Not Quite
Jerry Goldsmith’s score tries to stir the soul, but mostly just stirs up memories of better war films. The black-and-white cinematography is moody, sure, but when you’re filming two guys smoking in a room for ten straight minutes, there’s only so much shadows can do.
Final Thoughts: More Soap Than Steel
In Harm’s Way thinks it’s giving you the grizzled reality of wartime command, but it ends up giving you a soggy casserole of half-baked subplots, half-hearted romance, and half-asleep performances. It’s like watching the Navy’s HR department put on a community theater play about the war.
You come for the ships. You stay for the scene where Kirk Douglas ruins a woman’s life and the movie barely notices. You leave wondering why you didn’t just rewatch The Caine Mutiny instead.
Final Score: 4/10
-
+1 for Patricia Neal’s attempt at dignity
-
+1 for Douglas being entertainingly unhinged
-
+1 for naval ships looking impressive even when doing nothing
-
-2 for the Duke sleepwalking through yet another war film
-
-3 for pacing that could legally be classified as a war crime
-
-1 for handling serious topics with the emotional depth of a plastic cup
In Harm’s Way is where good storytelling goes to die—at sea, in fog, somewhere between melodrama and the Bermuda Triangle of editing decisions.
