IMDb RATING
6.7/10
2.3K
YOUR RATING
December, 1941. With no hope of relief or re-supply, a small band of United States Marines tries to keep the Japanese Navy from capturing their island base.December, 1941. With no hope of relief or re-supply, a small band of United States Marines tries to keep the Japanese Navy from capturing their island base.December, 1941. With no hope of relief or re-supply, a small band of United States Marines tries to keep the Japanese Navy from capturing their island base.
- Nominated for 4 Oscars
- 2 wins & 6 nominations total
Joyce Arleen
- Cynthia Caton
- (uncredited)
Hugh Beaumont
- Captain
- (uncredited)
Barbara Britton
- Sally Cameron
- (uncredited)
Hillary Brooke
- Girl at the Inn
- (uncredited)
James Brown
- Wounded Marine First Lieutenant
- (uncredited)
Don Castle
- Pvt. Cunkle
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaParamount began work on this movie before the real-life battle for Wake Island was over.
- GoofsDuring the aerial battle at around 38 minutes one of the island defenders is shown shooting down a biplane. Biplanes would have been phased out as tactical weapons long before the war began.
- Quotes
Pvt. Aloysius K. 'Smacksie' Randall: Boys, the honeymoon's over. From now on you're marines.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Paramount Victory Short No. T2-3: The Price of Victory (1942)
- SoundtracksMarine Hymn
(uncredited)
Music by Jacques Offenbach ("Gendarme's Duet") 1867
Heard under opening credirs
Featured review
This film begins with a USMC officer by the name of "Major Geoffrey Caton" (Brian Donlevy) arriving on Wake Island to take command of the garrison just weeks before the Japanese entry in World War 2. With him on the flight is a civilian contractor named "Shad McClosky" (Albert Dekker) who develops an immediate dislike for the major due primarily to McClosky's misconception that Major Caton wants to exercise command and control over him and his men. Regardless of that, the first thing Major Caton does is to begin preparing for war by having his men dig trenches and foxholes all around the island. Unfortunately, just hours after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese bomb the Wake Island airfield and destroy all of the American fighters on the ground with only 4 surviving due to being airborne at the time. From here on out the Marines dig in and wait for the inevitable Japanese invasion. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that even though this film took certain liberties with the facts, the overall details of the battle remained relatively accurate and played out exceptionally well on the screen which resulted in an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Likewise, William Bendix was also nominated for an Academy Award for his performance as "Private Aloysius K. 'Smacksie' Randall". In short, although this film certainly contained its share of creative licensing, it manages to entertain fairly well in its own right and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Above average.
- How long is Wake Island?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Volveremos a la isla Wake
- Filming locations
- Salt Lake City, Utah, USA(air scenes of Japanese attack planes)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $826,061 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 28 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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