WAKE ISLAND
DIRECTED BY JOHN FARROW
PRODUCED BY JOSEPH SISTROM
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Information from IMDb
Plot Summary
In November 1941, Major Caton takes command
of the small Marine garrison on Wake Island.
His tendency toward spit and polish upsets the men's tropical lassitude,
but Pearl Harbor changes everything.
Soon the island is attacked and the Marines
pull together day by day; but how long can they hold out?
Written by Rod Crawford
Full 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
Holly Bane ... First Lieutenant (uncredited)
Hugh Beaumont ... Captain (uncredited)
Barbara Britton ... Sally Cameron (uncredited)
Hillary Brooke ... Girl at the Inn (uncredited)
James Brown ... Wounded Marine First Lieutenant (uncredited)
Robert Carson ... Marine Spotting Reconnaissance Plane (uncredited)
Don Castle ... Pvt. Cunkle (uncredited)
Luke Chan ... Japanese Admiral (uncredited)
Spencer Chan ... Japanese Captain (uncredited)
Jack Chapin ... Squeaky Simpkins (uncredited)
Dane Clark ... 'Sparks' (radioman #1) (uncredited)
Russ Clark ... Sergeant Major (uncredited)
Max Cole ... Marine Pilot (uncredited)
Angelo Cruz ... Rodrigo (uncredited)
Lester Dorr ... Marine in Trench (uncredited)
Edward Earle ... Commander (uncredited)
Frank Faylen ... Marine Finding Skipper's Litter (uncredited)
Mary Field ... Miss Pringle, Woman with Cynthia (uncredited)
Charles Flynn ... Marine Pilot (uncredited)
William Forrest ... Maj. Johnson (uncredited)
Paul Fung ... Japanese Pilot (uncredited)
Edmund Glover ... Gun Captain (uncredited)
Fred Graham ... First Civilian (uncredited)
Alan Hale Jr. ... Sight Setter (uncredited)
Earle 'Tex' Harris ... Tex Hannigan (uncredited)
Sam Hayes ... Radio Reporter (uncredited)
Mitchell Ingraham ... Admiral (uncredited)
Jerry Jerome ... Private / First Lookout (uncredited)
Marvin Jones ... Tommy (uncredited)
Pete G. Katchenaro ... Japanese Officer (uncredited)
Mike Lally ... Marine Captain (uncredited)
Tommy Lee ... Japanese Pilot (uncredited)
James B. Leong ... Secretary to Japanese Envoy (uncredited)
Richard Loo ... Mr. Saburo Kurusu (uncredited)
George Magrill ... Second Civilian (uncredited)
Patti McCarty ... Girl at the Inn (uncredited)
Malcolm 'Bud' McTaggart ... Talker (uncredited)
Ivan Miller ... Colonel (uncredited)
James Millican ... Radio Operator (uncredited)
Dick Morris ... Mechanic (uncredited)
Jack Mulhall ... Dr. Parkman (uncredited)
Anthony Nace ... Capt. Gordon (uncredited)
Joey Ray ... Marine (uncredited)
Keith Richards ... Sparks Wilcox (uncredited)
Willard Robertson ... Col. Cameron (uncredited)
Rudy Robles ... Triunfo (uncredited)
Jack Shea ... Marine in Chow Line (uncredited)
John Sheehan ... Pete Hogan (uncredited)
Phillip Terry ... Pvt. 'Cookie' Warren (uncredited)
Mary Thomas ... Cynthia Caton (uncredited)
Charles Trowbridge ... George Nielson (uncredited)
Philip Van Zandt ... Cpl. Gus Goebbels (uncredited)
Billy Wilkerson ... Marine Lieutenant (uncredited)
Bruce Wong ... Japanese Captain (uncredited)
Frank Wong ... Japanese Pilot (uncredited)
Victor Wong ... Japanese Commander (uncredited)
Writing Credits
W.R. Burnett (screenplay) and story (uncredited)
Frank Butler (screenplay)
Original Music
David Buttolph
Cinematography
William C. Mellor
Theodor Sparkuhl
Trivia
Paramount began work on this movie before the real life battle for Wake Island was over.
One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.
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.
Robert Sklar in his book 'Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies' states that this movie was the " . . . first of many to dramatize American war heroics for the home front."
The end of the movie shows the soldiers fighting to the bitter end but in real life the soldiers surrendered after surviving the first wave of the Japanese attack.
The film shows the death of the naval commander due to battle wounds with the defense being commanded by marine officers but the factual real life scenario was that Commander Winfield S. Cunningham survived the battle and the war.
"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on October 26, 1942 with Brian Donlevy and Robert Preston reprising their film roles.
Goofs
Continuity: In a shot of the Japanese ships just before the Marines open fire, a patrol boat can be seen already on fire.
Revealing mistakes: The scene showing a Japanese aircraft doing a recon of the island, has sharply tapered wing tips and fixed landing gear. However, the shadow of the aircraft has rounded wing tips.
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.
Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Vintage stock footage of long outdated biplanes creeps into the battle scenes on several occasions. However, military biplanes were still in use by many countries during World War II, including Japan and the United States; biplanes were mainly used for training, scouting and courier purposes, although a number of them did see combat on many occasions.
Filming Locations
Salton Sea, California, USA
San Diego, California, USA
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