IN HARM'S WAY -- and why you should care

Steven Lloyd · **Posted:** Sat Jun 13, 2009 12:01 am

TerraEpon, you seem to feel that any uninformed opinion deserves to be respected by all. There's no point in answering that.

GoblinScore: My remark about Intrada's ONE LITTLE INDIAN mix is based on decades of familiarity with the film mix. Long before the DVD, I had to settle for connecting an open-reel deck to the projection booth monitor in a theatre which a friend of mine managed in 1973. So while Intrada and Bruce Botnick enhanced some details which had always been buried (such as a tambourine at the close of A FREE MAN), there are places where I don't hear things I used to. Of course, now finally I also can hear it all without dialogue or sound effects!

And I'm hardly jealous of "kids" who are getting to discover IN HARM'S WAY at this date. I hope in turn that they won't resent Doug or me for having been enjoying this (and so much other great Goldsmith music) for the past 40 years or so -- and when it was new!

And Doug -- as a film, IN HARM'S WAY isn't a nostalgia title for me. I saw it at age 11 and enjoyed it but it was never a childhood favorite, and gradually I forgot it (except for isolated moments like Eddington's death and the ending). When I got the LP at 19 I was initially unhappy because there was so much source music I couldn't relate to; happily, that changed after I played it more. But I never saw the movie again until I was almost 39 -- and that's the point from which I've loved it!

Yeah, so there are some models standing in for naval vessels -- as viewers we choose where, how often, or even if we'll suspend our disbelief and meet a movie halfway. On the basis of IN HARM'S WAY I'm more likely to overlook two naval fleets depicted by models in a tank, than I am to accept modern digital excesses that not only couldn't have been filmed with real actors or vehicles -- they couldn't possibly have happened.

Beyond what I wrote elsewhere about this film's technical beauty, there's the human element: Do I accept these characters as convincing and sympathetic? Yes. Do I care about the crises they face? Yes. This is a terrific throwback to an ancient time when films' stories hinged on the emotional and moral trials their characters faced.

And by the way, Doug, your HARM'S WAY liner notes are superb.

bruce marshall · **Joined:** Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:16 pm **Posts:** 775

Azella · **Posted:** Sat Jun 13, 2009 5:49 pm

vinylscrubber · **Posted:** Sun Jun 14, 2009 9:56 am

"take the five dollars you almost wasted on IHW and buy/rent John Ford's THEY WERE EXPENDABLE, THE definitive film on the early days of the Pacific War" --

I know I speak heresy but, evenknowing that THEY WERE EXPENDABLE was meant to be a more elegaic view of the Pacific war, I've always found It a deadly dull film with very little real action or even that many interesting character moments. Meanwhile, IN HARM'S WAY remains a satisfying "stick-to-your-ribs" cinematic meal that passes it's almost three hours pretty painlessly, despite the chaos (intended, I hasten to add) that the final sea
battle falls into. (Then, I can't say I've ever found anything written by the great Wendell Mayes uninteresting--well, maybe MONSIGNOR.)

I had the great good fortune to see IN HARM'S WAY in a Chicago promotional premiere in 70mm six track stereo as an impressionable high school senior, and it was quite the movie-going experience, especially the bottom end on Goldsmith's electronically garnished cue for the Japanese fleet's running of the Pala Passage sequence. The only thing that still disappoints is the use of
old stock footage (probably the big reason the film is in black-and-white) and the fact that in the Pearl Harbor attack sequence Preminger found no way to put attacking planes and bombed ships in the same shot.

It also remains, in my opinion, the last film that Wayne did any real acting in, not just trading on his screen persona, and exhibiting some true chemistry with Patricia Neal who holds the screen admirably in her scenes with Wayne.

Goldsmith's score is the icing on the cake, showing a young up-and-comer
putting forth his best "game on" effort.

vinylscrubber · **Posted:** Sun Jun 14, 2009 9:57 am

Double Post--Sorry

bruce marshall · **Joined:** Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:16 pm **Posts:** 775

Vanmunchen · **Posted:** Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:26 am

I'm surprised there is so much enthusiasm for the film. I've always thought it monumentally tedious - even on the big screen. Too much soap opera, too many irrelevant sub plots, static direction and poor performances from the big name stars.

Steven Lloyd · **Posted:** Mon Jun 15, 2009 7:51 am

Alan · **Posted:** Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:18 am

Steven Lloyd · **Posted:** Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:41 am

bruce marshall · **Joined:** Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:16 pm **Posts:** 775

Steven Lloyd · **Posted:** Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:49 am

bruce marshall · **Joined:** Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:16 pm **Posts:** 775

Ron Pulliam · **Posted:** Sun Jun 21, 2009 7:15 pm

Intrada Soundtrack Forum

IN HARM'S WAY -- and why you should care

Who is online