Preminger's In Harm's Way, The Duke, My Dad and Me

The great Saul Bass' poster, one of several he did for Preminger's films.

John Wayne, born Marion Robert {later Mitchell} Morrison on May 26, 1907 in Winterset, Iowa, was my Dad's favorite actor. Dad { or Pops or Pops-So, really, Pops-So }, also from Iowa, loved many of The Duke's films: The Searchers, Rio Bravo,The Quiet Man, True Grit, to name just a handful. Another of Dad's favorite's, maybe his all-time fave, was Otto Preminger's 1965 WWII epic In Harm's Way. The film's title comes from John Paul Jones' quote "I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm's way", and deals with several naval personnel at the outbreak of America's involvement in the war in the Pacific. In fact, the movie opens in Hawaii on the night of Dec 6, 1941 with a naval dance {featuring a hot pole dance by Barbara Bouchet} and get's off to a rousing start with the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese on morning of Dec 7th. In the film, Wayne plays U.S. Navy Captain Rockwell 'Rock' Torrey {Kirk Douglas' Paul Eddington refers to Wayne as "Ol' Rock of ages"}, a divorced second generation career man. Long ago Rock left his wife with whom he had an son, played by Brandon deWilde {of Shane fame, ten years prior},  that he never got to know and is now a Lieutenant, junior grade, assigned on the very same island in Hawaii as his father. Along the way, Wayne's Rock Torrey falls in love with nurse Maggie Haines {Patricia Neal}, attempts to help his friend and executive officer Paul Eddington { a vicious Kirk Douglas } who is having personal issues, and tries like hell to win WWII, all the while trying to make a connection with the son he hasn't seen for 18 years and barely knows.

Wayne and Douglas have a heart to heart after Douglas' wife was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

     Despite what critics at the time said, the role of Rock Torrey was a challenge to Duke Wayne. Although not an actor to shy away from a part that would show his persona in a different light, Wayne also was very much a career conscious performer. He knew what an audience would and wouldn't go for and generally didn't deviate too far from what had proven successful in the past. Interestingly, some of Duke's most memorable movies were the one's in which he did stretch his talent to it's fullest. I'm thinking of his bad-ass cattle baron in Howard Hawks' Red River, a character part in which Wayne showed he could be as obsessive and crazed as, say, Charles Laughton in Mutiny on the Bounty;  his gentle, good hearted American boxer Sean Thornton in John Ford's valentine to his Irish roots in 1952's The Quiet Man; another obsessive in the form of the tough, bigoted, ex-confederate and possible-fugitive-from-justice Ethan Edwards in Ford's very great The Searchers, a film in which many feel Wayne gave his all-time-best performance. One Ford western which has a passing resemblance to In Harm's Way, is 1950's Rio Grande, which has Wayne playing  Lt.Col. Kirby Yorke of the U.S. Cavalry in 1879, who years ago {much like Torrey of In Harm's Way } left his family for a life in this man's army, and is re-connected with a son he had long ago abandoned and now hardly knows, etc. Consequently, all those feelings of guilt Wayne's character had been suppressing for years takes place, front and center.

Rock Torrey {John Wayne} pays a call on Beverly McConnell {Paula Prentiss} to inform her that her husband is M.I.A.

For In Harm's Way, Wayne, looking all of his 57 years and then some, plays Torrey with a quiet grace and dignity. He knows he made past mistakes and would like to atone for them. There are some scenes from this film in which Wayne shows a remorse and loneliness like I have never seen in him before, not even in The Searchers, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon or Rio Grande. The scene where Rock Torrey goes to visit his son, whom he hasn't seen for years, is extremely touching in it's vulnerability and things left unsaid. Likewise the scene with Paula Prentiss, when Rock personally visits to tell her that her husband is M.I.A. while on assignment. Of course there are also scenes of Wayne being tough too, but scenes of tenderness and compassion are not qualities that immediately come to mind when one speaks of the cinematic image of John Wayne.

Edwards' { Wayne } compassion for his niece Debbie { Natalie Wood }, wins out over his hatred of her being captured, and spares her life in The Searchers, 1956

" Let's go home, Debbie "

But it's there in pictures like 3 Godfathers, The High and The Mighty, The Searchers {when, after years of looking, Wayne finds his niece, played by Natalie Wood, and picks her up and takes her in his arms}, and Stagecoach. New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther certainly didn't get it when he reviewed In Harm's Way on it's initial release. Starting his review, " You can't kill John Wayne. That's the message-the only message-that comes through loud and clear....." and "This is a slick and shallow picture Mr. Preminger puts forth...", giving the film a sound pen-lashing. However, I call into question if Crowther, at that time America's most respected movie scribe, even saw the same film I did. Well no matter, as he was on the way out as the N.Y. Times critic after giving 1967's Bonnie and Clyde not only a thumbs down but a scathing thumbs down, not once, not twice but three times! Being called out of step with the times in general, and with films specifically, he resigned in 1967 after 27 years on the paper.  I urge you to judge for yourself. See In Harm's Way and tell me you're not affected by Wayne's moving portrait.

 

As John T. Chance in the incredibly entertaining Rio Bravo, 1959

My Dad, who would've been 74 this May 29, said John Wayne reminded him of his old man. Now I remember seeing my Grandfather when I was a very young boy, when he was about 85 or so years old, with only one leg and frail, so when Dad would say this it made me scratch my head in disbelief. But Dad said that Grandpa was a big man, about six foot two or three and could be kinda rough on his only son. Coming of age in the 1940's and 50's mid-West, Dad who didn't grow up in a traditional family atmosphere, was, I'm sure, given a hard time by the narrow minded people of the small town he grew up in and as an adult he carried a chip on his shoulder from those formative years. My Grandparents separated when Dad was quite young and some of his memories were of being sent by his Mom to get money out of the old man if he was late with support. Not a real jolly situation for a lad who had no other male role models, having no brothers and being raised by his Mother and two older sisters, formidable women all. So for Dad, The Duke was it; his idea of a man, pure and simple. I remember Dad taking me to see The Longest Day back in 1970, double billed with Patton, I must say I wasn't crazy about it at the time { what I wouldn't give to relive that day }. One night the whole family went to the drive-in to see True Grit, a Wayne film I did like from the first time I saw it. I use to love the drive-in as a kid. Our family had a station wagon and my sister and I would be in our pajamas with blankets and pillows and sit in the back and watch the movie with plenty soda pop and popcorn to stuff ourselves with. I think Mom, my little brother and I would drift off to sleep during the second movie, with my sis and Dad staying awake for the whole thing. First time I saw Rio Bravo was on KNXT's  ' The Late Show ', with Dad, on a long ago and far away Saturday night. I loved it. He had seen it many times before and would cue me when a significant scene or line of dialogue was about to happen. He also liked to imitate the Duke when he called out to the bad guy who was holding Dean Martin hostage, " Burdette! Nathan Burdette! ", with a good " Wah-hah!" to go with it. Also remember watching The Sons of Katie Elder with Dad, another Wayne favorite of ours.

The reason I think In Harm's Way { or In Charm's Way as Pops liked to say at times, for he was forever playing around with words and names for fun } was one Dad could watch over and over again, is that it resonated for him on a personal level. As I stated earlier, one of the main thrusts of the film is the strained relationship Rock Torrey has with his son, who is named Jere. The name is short for Jeremiah, but close enough to my Dad's name, Jerry, to make it all that more meaningful. Couple that with Dad's identification of Wayne as a father figure and the subtext of the film must have been very moving for him. Dad never expressed any of this to me, so my theory may be just that. He enjoyed WWII films in general so maybe the father/son side of it didn't occur to him. But Dad was an intelligent man with an active mind. I think he made the connection, but kept that to himself.

The savage side of Ethan Edwards {John Wayne} in The Searchers, 1956.

     John Wayne's place in American history is as an icon of right-wing, anti-Communist, Republicanism. There was more to the man than that, as several biographies { my favorite one being John Wayne, American by James Olson and Randy Roberts} can attest to. As an actor in the films he appeared in, Wayne was a tremendous presence and much overlooked for his ability to convey the thoughts and feelings of his characters. When I was growing up I liked some of his films too, but I never gave Wayne much credit in the acting department; that he was a one-dimensional actor, who always played himself, the good, white guy who killed Indians and saved the American West. I sold John Wayne short. One of the things maturity has brought me is a certain amount of wisdom and empathy. I see much more going on in the performances John Wayne gave, now that I am old enough to appreciate them. One has to look at the face, the eyes of Wayne to really get what is going on with him; more than just killin' Injuns, that's for sure.

 As Capt. Nathan Brittles, his last day on the job, in She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, 1949

As I am about to be blessed with a Grandson in July, I think often of my Dad and how I wish he were here to see his first Great-Grandchild come into the world he left in 2009. I have grown to appreciate what he taught me about life, John Wayne and movies. I wonder who, if anyone, did that for him or if he discovered them for himself. My Dad was a complex, conflicted man who often seemed to want to be somewhere other than where he was. We had our issues; at times it wasn't easy to be with him, but I loved him and I like to think I made him proud of me. I miss him more all the time. 

In the doorway of the Jorgensen's home after delivering Debbie to them,  The Searchers.

'Ride away. Ride away'. 

Happy Birthday, Pops. Wah-hah!  

                                                                                                                                                        

Sources : Wikipedia

                                                            John Wayne, American by James Olson & Randy Roberts

           New York Times Archives

         The Films of John Wayne

        Internet Movie Database