Filming “In Harm’s Way” aboard USS SAINT PAUL in 1964.
“Hey I know, let’s get the Navy and make a movie! It’ll be great!”
Well, sometimes.
Hollywood and the U.S. Navy have had a long and often fruitful relationship and, just as in warfare, there are hits and misses. 1986’s Top Gun remains a classic on numerous levels, while the 2001 klunker Pearl Harbor was quickly (and rightly) consigned to the bargain bin, despite its tremendous publicity buildup and strong Navy support.
Blockbuster busts are nothing new. Back in the mid-1960s another megaproduction involving the Navy, a passle of major stars, and a famous director was getting the major-buildup treatment. With a cast topped by John Wayne, Kirk Douglas and Patricia Neal, director Otto Preminger’s In Harm’s Way was expected to set a new standard for naval action flicks.
Well, it did. Despite spending an enormous amount of money and effort to build a model fleet of U.S. and Japanese warships replicating (under a fictional name) the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Preminger managed to give the world some of the worst movie miniatures ever produced. They looked like just what they were – rowboat-sized craft driving around on a huge lake shooting toy guns with toy splashes.
Wayne is welcomed aboard by Vice Adm. Lawson Ramage, commander of the U.S. First Fleet and a Medal of Honor recipient for his World War II submarine service. Standing in the background at left with his arms folded is actor Tom Tryon.
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