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.
Review of Wake Island
