Moviecut—Wake Island

"Wake Island" never fails to hit the spot. William Bendix and Robert Preston make a great team. The banter between the two of them is terrific. The rest of the cast is also very good, especially Brian Donlevy. Donlevy gives an excellent performance. He is the backbone of the movie and he does a great job. "Wake Island" is a funny, exciting movie that packs a punch.

In December 1941, after bombing Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Navy attacks an American Marine Base in the Wake Island in the Pacific. A small troop fights to defend the island aware that it is impossible to keep the position. "Wake Island" is a dated movie of war propaganda with a corny story of heroism and patriotism. It is easy to understand the need of using the cinema industry to elevate the morale of the population, but presently "Wake Island" is a forgettable war movie. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): "Nossos Mortos Serão Vingados" ("Our Dead Will Be Revenged")

While nowadays this may seem quite indistinguishable from the many flagwavers rushed into production in its day, at the time WAKE ISLAND was very well received garnering 4 major Academy Award nominations (Best Film, Best Direction, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor - William Bendix); true, the characters and situations are pretty stereotypical but even so, it is certainly well enough made and well-cast (Brian Donlevy, Macdonald Carey, Albert Dekker, Robert Preston, Walter Abel) to be remembered when WWII films are discussed. Once the Pearl Harbor attack gets underway, it becomes an engrossing and poignant depiction of men-in-war facing insurmountable odds; the downbeat ending was quite fresh at the time and seems to have led to a spate of similarly pessimistic WWII movies like BATAAN (1943), SAHARA (1943), THEY WERE EXPENDABLE (1945), etc.