"It's really a wonderful picture." - My grandmother, in a letter dated November 11, 1944, to her brother who was stationed on a destroyer in the Pacific Theater. It was returned to her unopened, because one month later he was killed in action. Consider that her one-line IMDb review for The Story of Dr. Wassell, submitted 79 years later.
You probably have to put yourself in 1944 mode to truly enjoy this film, as at 140 minutes it feels rather bloated, and contains an often corny mix of comedy and romance on top of its harrowing wartime tale.
It was meant to honor a hero, Dr. Corydon Wassell (Gary Cooper), to keep morale on the home front up, and to entertain - certainly not to portray the horror of war in a realistic way. With that said, the sobering elements in the story of brave men and women in harm's way, of not knowing a loved one's fate, and of knowing death could come at any time, must have been profoundly poignant. De Mille may have padded everything out in trying to create an epic, but he knew a good story when he saw it (or heard it, from an FDR radio broadcast), and made sure to verbally update viewers about the fate of one of the soldiers, "Hoppy," after the end of the film, so don't turn it off immediately.
Gary Cooper plays Dr. Wassell reasonably well, and it's an inspiring true story, his staying with and then saving 12 severely wounded seamen from capture by the Japanese on Java in 1942. The flashbacks to flesh out his life story were probably unnecessary, but perhaps in there to lighten up the film. We see him as a young doctor in Arkansas getting paid by patients in pigs, ala Doc Hollywood. We see him in what's close to 'White Savior' mode in China, working to figure out the source of a snail-borne plague amidst the superstitious villagers. This allows a love interest to be brought into the story (Laraine Day), based on his real-life wife, though De Mille adds a little melodrama by not having him marry her in 1926 as the real Dr. Wassell did after his first wife died.
As soldiers and audience members clung to faith in one form another during this terrible time, we see Dr. Wassell pray to God, and in another moment, to an austere statue of Buddha on Java. He tells the wounded seamen to have faith that their friends were picked up out of the sea when they learn that the transport carrying them, the Pecos, was sunk. Of course it's not questioned why one would have faith in an Almighty intervening in that case, and yet allowing the war and hundreds of millions of other people to die. In real life, the Pecos was indeed sunk by Japanese carrier aircraft, and there was heavy loss of life, which obviously isn't disclosed. This detail comes from Mike Stankovich's article from February 2021 for Naval History Magazine.
Not surprisingly, the film depicts American soldiers glowingly. We see heroic actions aboard their damaged ship, the Marblehead, the wounded wanting to stay at sea to continue the fight, and the near-dying displaying a stoic acceptance of death. They display little fear and crack jokes while being moved under beds while under attack, though one, Murdock (Paul Kelly) is an outlier relative to his attitude, needing guidance from the rest. They're generally in high spirits, not suffering, nor in pain. Why would they be? The war was still on, and audience members were already worried enough.
We also see virility and randiness towards the nursing staff, which gets to be a little much by today's standards. To be honest, the men seem surrounded by beautiful nurses, like Three Martini (note not "Tremartini", see James Hilton's book). She's played by Carol Thurston, who was often cast as an "exotic native," and unfortunately affects an accent. She slips the shoulder of her blouse down to give blood in what she (almost like a child) views as an intimate exchange, and takes her blouse off entirely to dance around in a tight sarong for the smiling sailors. There was nothing childlike about that. Meanwhile, two men vie for the same nurse (Signe Hasso) but chivalrously, because as one acknowledges, you never know what will happen in war, and the survivor can "win her." It's quite old-fashioned and you can also guess where that story line is going to go.
I didn't mind all these romantic elements too much early on, but De Mille got carried away, showing, for example, one of the seamen flirting with a woman while her shapely leg was being bandaged late in the film, while an attack was happening. Worse yet was how "Hoppy" (Dennis O'Keefe) treated Three Martini. She will do anything to be with him, but out of frustration over his fate, he says "I'd trade you and a thousand like you for a handful of Arkansas dirt." I mean, just wow, literally telling her (and the audience) that she was worth less than dirt. He apologizes, but this is the feeling the audience is left with, that she's "just a native."
Counterbalancing at least some of that was the character of Ping (Philip Ahn), a Chinese national who worked with Dr. Wassell in China, and is still with him. He's more philosophical than jocular and "manly" by the period's definition, but he does show off his muscular arms in one scene, and is certainly brave. He doesn't speak with a stereotypical accent, but the evenness of his serene wisdom probably betrays a stereotype. All in all, though, it's a positive character, and it was wonderful to see Ahn, a person of color in the hospital room, as there were no others among the seamen. There is another Chinese doctor (Richard Loo) though, who warns "We Chinese understand this enemy. He is more dangerous than the world knows." It's a small moment, but rings true to the Chinese experience of the Japanese invasion.
De Mille gets in some terrific action moments, including a car crashing down an embankment while attempting to flee, a bridge being blown up, and the terrifying moment when the ship is strafed by Japanese Zeros, killing a mother right in front of her child. That last bit was unfortunately undercut by the seamen smiling and playing with the child afterwards, while the attack was still going on. The moment the "Flying Fortress" B-17 bombers arrive, as the music swells, is suitably stirring however.
Had the film been streamlined these moments would have popped even more, and the film would undoubtedly be better received by modern eyes. I try to put myself in that theater in 1944, however, enjoying the rousing story while praying for an end to the war and the safe return of loved ones. It makes me overlook some of the flaws and round my review score up a little bit.
You probably have to put yourself in 1944 mode to truly enjoy this film, as at 140 minutes it feels rather bloated, and contains an often corny mix of comedy and romance on top of its harrowing wartime tale.
It was meant to honor a hero, Dr. Corydon Wassell (Gary Cooper), to keep morale on the home front up, and to entertain - certainly not to portray the horror of war in a realistic way. With that said, the sobering elements in the story of brave men and women in harm's way, of not knowing a loved one's fate, and of knowing death could come at any time, must have been profoundly poignant. De Mille may have padded everything out in trying to create an epic, but he knew a good story when he saw it (or heard it, from an FDR radio broadcast), and made sure to verbally update viewers about the fate of one of the soldiers, "Hoppy," after the end of the film, so don't turn it off immediately.
Gary Cooper plays Dr. Wassell reasonably well, and it's an inspiring true story, his staying with and then saving 12 severely wounded seamen from capture by the Japanese on Java in 1942. The flashbacks to flesh out his life story were probably unnecessary, but perhaps in there to lighten up the film. We see him as a young doctor in Arkansas getting paid by patients in pigs, ala Doc Hollywood. We see him in what's close to 'White Savior' mode in China, working to figure out the source of a snail-borne plague amidst the superstitious villagers. This allows a love interest to be brought into the story (Laraine Day), based on his real-life wife, though De Mille adds a little melodrama by not having him marry her in 1926 as the real Dr. Wassell did after his first wife died.
As soldiers and audience members clung to faith in one form another during this terrible time, we see Dr. Wassell pray to God, and in another moment, to an austere statue of Buddha on Java. He tells the wounded seamen to have faith that their friends were picked up out of the sea when they learn that the transport carrying them, the Pecos, was sunk. Of course it's not questioned why one would have faith in an Almighty intervening in that case, and yet allowing the war and hundreds of millions of other people to die. In real life, the Pecos was indeed sunk by Japanese carrier aircraft, and there was heavy loss of life, which obviously isn't disclosed. This detail comes from Mike Stankovich's article from February 2021 for Naval History Magazine.
Not surprisingly, the film depicts American soldiers glowingly. We see heroic actions aboard their damaged ship, the Marblehead, the wounded wanting to stay at sea to continue the fight, and the near-dying displaying a stoic acceptance of death. They display little fear and crack jokes while being moved under beds while under attack, though one, Murdock (Paul Kelly) is an outlier relative to his attitude, needing guidance from the rest. They're generally in high spirits, not suffering, nor in pain. Why would they be? The war was still on, and audience members were already worried enough.
We also see virility and randiness towards the nursing staff, which gets to be a little much by today's standards. To be honest, the men seem surrounded by beautiful nurses, like Three Martini (note not "Tremartini", see James Hilton's book). She's played by Carol Thurston, who was often cast as an "exotic native," and unfortunately affects an accent. She slips the shoulder of her blouse down to give blood in what she (almost like a child) views as an intimate exchange, and takes her blouse off entirely to dance around in a tight sarong for the smiling sailors. There was nothing childlike about that. Meanwhile, two men vie for the same nurse (Signe Hasso) but chivalrously, because as one acknowledges, you never know what will happen in war, and the survivor can "win her." It's quite old-fashioned and you can also guess where that story line is going to go.
I didn't mind all these romantic elements too much early on, but De Mille got carried away, showing, for example, one of the seamen flirting with a woman while her shapely leg was being bandaged late in the film, while an attack was happening. Worse yet was how "Hoppy" (Dennis O'Keefe) treated Three Martini. She will do anything to be with him, but out of frustration over his fate, he says "I'd trade you and a thousand like you for a handful of Arkansas dirt." I mean, just wow, literally telling her (and the audience) that she was worth less than dirt. He apologizes, but this is the feeling the audience is left with, that she's "just a native."
Counterbalancing at least some of that was the character of Ping (Philip Ahn), a Chinese national who worked with Dr. Wassell in China, and is still with him. He's more philosophical than jocular and "manly" by the period's definition, but he does show off his muscular arms in one scene, and is certainly brave. He doesn't speak with a stereotypical accent, but the evenness of his serene wisdom probably betrays a stereotype. All in all, though, it's a positive character, and it was wonderful to see Ahn, a person of color in the hospital room, as there were no others among the seamen. There is another Chinese doctor (Richard Loo) though, who warns "We Chinese understand this enemy. He is more dangerous than the world knows." It's a small moment, but rings true to the Chinese experience of the Japanese invasion.
De Mille gets in some terrific action moments, including a car crashing down an embankment while attempting to flee, a bridge being blown up, and the terrifying moment when the ship is strafed by Japanese Zeros, killing a mother right in front of her child. That last bit was unfortunately undercut by the seamen smiling and playing with the child afterwards, while the attack was still going on. The moment the "Flying Fortress" B-17 bombers arrive, as the music swells, is suitably stirring however.
Had the film been streamlined these moments would have popped even more, and the film would undoubtedly be better received by modern eyes. I try to put myself in that theater in 1944, however, enjoying the rousing story while praying for an end to the war and the safe return of loved ones. It makes me overlook some of the flaws and round my review score up a little bit.