In Harm's Way

In Harm's Way is a 1965 American war drama directed by Otto Preminger. Set in the Pacific during the opening months of the Second World War, it follows naval captain Rockwell Torrey, whose career is damaged after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Cleared and promoted to rear admiral, he is given command of a dangerous operation against the Japanese while trying to repair the estranged relationship with his son Jeremiah, a young officer serving in the same theatre. Commander Paul Eddington, a subordinate carrying his own losses from the attack, is another of the figures drawn into the campaign.

The film was written by Wendell Mayes and produced by Preminger for Paramount. It was the fourteenth of the sixteen features Preminger directed, arriving between The Cardinal in 1963 and Bunny Lake Is Missing in 1965. John Wayne leads as Torrey, with Kirk Douglas as Eddington and Patricia Neal as nurse Maggie Hayes. Tom Tryon, Paula Prentiss and Brandon De Wilde appear among the thirty-three credited cast members. Made for about four million dollars, it returned roughly nine million worldwide.

Audience response has been warmer than that of reviewers: on IMDb it holds a rating of 6.6 from 168 votes, while the critics' score stands lower, at 5.1 from 19 reviews.