Wake Island (1942)

My Review

“Wake Island” tells the story of the onslaught by the Japanese upon the military outpost on Wake Island which followed the attack on Pearl Harbor. The events portrayed in the movie took place only months after the actual battle. So “Wake Island” served as a morale booster, encouraging the general population to hold out for the duration of the war.

Director John Farrow (“A Bill of Divorcement” 1940) kept the film moving along a steady pace from an excellent script by W. R. Burnett and Frank Butler. Farrow kept a good balance between battle scenes and personal stories of the soldiers. The cast includes Brian Donlevy, MacDonald Carey, Robert Preston, Albert Dekker, William Bendix, and Barbara Britton.

“Wake Island” was the seventh highest grossing film of 1942 for Paramount Pictures. It received four Oscar nods for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Bendix) and Best Original Screenplay. It was primarily filmed at the Salton Sea in California.