I stumbled upon this John Wayne classic looking through the abandoned movies in "the Swamp", our recreation center in the basement of the combat support hospital.

This stirring account of a Captain's campaign in the South Pacific after the bombing of Pearl Harbor delivers the laid back bravado of the Duke astride a different type of horse, a US Navy cruiser. Wayne is later in his career in this movie, and also is suffering from lung cancer during the filming. He shows his age in his face more than usual, and also carries a calm plodding demeanor that is never resigned.

The brief treatment of the attack on Pearl Harbor illustrates well the way that events of war care not for the personal trials of individuals, and quickly become a crucible in which these individuals must choose the values to which they are to cling. Wayne's character, Captain Torrey, follows an up and down course after Pearl Harbor, eventually leading to strategy and climax on the South Pacific seas.

The movie is strongest for me in its characterization of a career navy man, and the different types that circulate around him. Even through the turmoil and passion of love and family strife, Torrey remains a human yet solid character who genuinely earns our loyalty, like all the best leaders.

Themes of war and selfless patriotism do run through the film, but the spotlight always remains centered on personal strength of Captain Torrey.

Rear Admiral Rock Torrey: "All battles are fought by scared men who'd rather be someplace else." You may not always agree with him, but we would all do well to stick to our principles as strongly as Torrey.

A film to show to John Wayne haters, it has stopped even his bitterest critics in full cry. Sensitively filmed in black and white, a superb cast of actors show the functions of human characters against the grinding and terrible necessity of war. The special effects are really quite good for the time, and it surpasses by far such films as 'Tora Tora Tora' and 'Midway,' for all the distance it carefully keeps from complete historical reality.