Wake Island (film)

Wake Island
Directed by	John Farrow
Produced by	Joseph Sistrom
Written by	W. R. Burnett Frank Butler
Starring	Brian Donlevy Robert Preston William Bendix
Music by	David Buttolph
Cinematography	William C. Mellor
Editing by	Frank Bracht LeRoy Stone
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	August 11, 1942 (1942-08-11)
Running time	82 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Wake Island is a 1942 American film written by W. R. Burnett and Frank Butler, and directed by John Farrow. The film tells the story of the United States military garrison on Wake Island and the onslaught by the Japanese following the attack on Pearl Harbor. It stars Brian Donlevy, Robert Preston, Macdonald Carey, Albert Dekker, Barbara Britton and William Bendix.

It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (William Bendix), Best Director, Best Picture and Best Writing, Original Screenplay.

The end of the film implies that the defenders fought to the last man; in reality, they surrendered after repelling the first wave of the Japanese attack. It also shows the garrison's naval commander dying of wounds and the defense of the island being directed by Marine officers; in fact, Commander Winfield S. Cunningham survived the war.

Cast

• Brian Donlevy as Major Geoffrey Caton
• Macdonald Carey as Lieutenant Bruce Cameron
• Robert Preston as Private Joe Doyle
• William Bendix as Private Aloysius K. Randall
• Albert Dekker as Shad McClosky
• Walter Abel as Commander Roberts
• Mikhail Rasumny as Ivan Probenzky
• Rod Cameron as Captain Pete Lewis
• Bill Goodwin as Sergeant Higbee
• Damian O'Flynn as Captain Bill Patrick
• Frank Albertson as Johnny Rudd
• Barbara Britton as Sally Cameron
• James Brown as wounded marine (uncredited)
• Patti McCarty as girl at the Inn (uncredited)

Production

The film was shot in Salton Sea, California.

External links

• Wake Island at the Internet Movie Database