Tonight's Movie: Wake Island (1942) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

WAKE ISLAND (1942) is one of a pair of World War II films released on Blu-ray late last summer by Kino Lorber.

WAKE ISLAND was released alongside the very enjoyable RED BALL EXPRESS (1952), which I reviewed here.

WAKE ISLAND kept being pushed further down in my review stack by the ongoing wealth of new Kino Lorber releases in the ensuing weeks, but I'm happy to say I finally caught up with it. I'm not sure "enjoyed" is the appropriate word to describe my response to such a sad story, but I found the film worthwhile and even educational, starting me on a path to reading more about the real battle.

I've always been interested in World War II films and find movies made in the early days of the war, when the outcome was uncertain, to be particularly fascinating. WAKE ISLAND was released by Paramount Pictures only eight months after the beginning of the siege of Wake Island.  It was followed a few weeks later by the equally grim MANILA CALLING (1942) from 20th Century-Fox. 

The Battle of Wake Island began almost simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor; thanks to the international dateline, December 7th in Hawaii was December 8th on Wake Island, so in essence they were attacked on the same day.

The Japanese attacked Wake Island repeatedly for over three weeks, as any hopes for resupply or rescue for the men stationed there dwindled. After great loss of life, the battle concluded with the U.S. surrender on December 23rd.

WAKE ISLAND is a thoughtful and moving film, and though the end is sad, the stirring patriotism served to inspire its original audiences nationwide. It still evokes strong emotions today, not just as a film, but thinking both of what the real heroes of Wake Island endured and what the audiences of this film were experiencing in the early months of the war.

Brian Donlevy stars as Major Caton, who arrives on the island just before the action commences. Donlevy is an actor I've increasingly come to appreciate over the past couple of years; he always brings his "A" game, and that's no exception here. Donlevy has any number of outstanding scenes, with the best possibly being when he approves what he knows is almost certainly a suicide mission for pilot Lt. Cameron (Macdonald Carey).

Other men under Donlevy's command are played by Robert Preston, William Bendix, and Rod Cameron; Cameron plays the only man to leave the island, taking a report of Japanese tactics and conditions to Hawaii. Albert Dekker plays a construction contractor who initially clashes with Donlevy but ultimately passes up an opportunity to leave, remaining to offer his skills in defending the island.

The terrific cast includes many familiar unbilled faces, including Barbara Britton, Dane Clark, Hugh Beaumont, Hillary Brooke, Mary Field, Don Castle, Alan Hale Jr., Phillip Terry, and James Millican.

WAKE ISLAND was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.  Director John Farrow was likewise nominated for the Academy Award, as were William Bendix (Best Supporting Actor) and screenwriters W.R. Burnett and Frank Butler.

WAKE ISLAND was filmed in black and white by William C. Mellor and Theodor Sparkuhl. It runs 88 minutes.

Kino Lorber's Blu-ray is a typically good-looking print which also has excellent sound. Extras on the Blu-ray disc include the trailer and a commentary track by Steve Mitchell and Steven Jay Rubin. The disc includes half a dozen trailers for additional films available from Kino Lorber.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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