Wake Island (1942)

Director:

John Farrow

Writers:

W.R. Burnett (screenplay)
Frank Butler (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 August 1942 (USA)

Genre:

War | Drama

Tagline:

Tougher than Leather . . . Harder to Kill! Daring Americans Fighting Against All Odds!

Plot:

December, 1941. With no hope of relief or re-supply, a small band of United States Marines try to keep the Japanese Navy from capturing their island base.

Plot Keywords:

Siege | Marine Hymn | Marine Corps US | WWII

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Brian Donlevy	...	Maj. Geoffrey Caton
Macdonald Carey	...	Lt. Bruce Cameron
Robert Preston	...	Pvt. Joe Doyle
William Bendix	...	Pvt. Aloysius K. 'Smacksie' Randall
Albert Dekker	...	Shad McClosky
Walter Abel	...	Cmdr. Roberts
Mikhail Rasumny	...	Ivan Probenzky
Rod Cameron	...	Capt. Pete Lewis
Bill Goodwin	...	Sgt. Higbee
Damian O'Flynn	...	Capt. Bill Patrick
Frank Albertson	...	Johnny Rudd
Barbara Britton	...	Sally Cameron
Phillip Terry	...	Pvt. 'Cookie' Warren
Don Castle	...	Pvt. Cunkle

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Norway:16 | Australia:PG | Finland:(Banned) (1943-1944) | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Salton Sea, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

In a "History Channel" special called "Wake Island: The Alamo of the Pacific", the survivors of the conflict called this movie one of the greatest works of fiction ever produced by Hollywood, especially because the movie portrays that there were no survivors.

Goofs:

Continuity: During one of the scenes showing the bombardment of the island, the Marine CO has ordered the observation tower evacuated. Later scenes show two men still in the tower when it is destroyed.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pulp Fiction (1994)

History Channel debunks this script

This week the History Channel presented a fine documentary on this action. No question that the Wake Island defenders were heroic in every way, but they did not fight to the last man, as the film implied. The commanding officer surrendered the island to the Japanese after an American admiral decided the Marines weren't worth it and recalled a task force steaming to Wake's rescue. The Japanese decided not to follow their instincts and murder their captives outright, knowing the atrocity would be obvious. Later, when defeat was imminent, the Japanese commander in a rage murdered all the civilians; he was hanged for it. The few surviving Marines endured terrible captivity until the war's end. Six of them were featured in the documentary. Their stories were heart-wrenching.