During the filming he was plagued with a constant cough and it wasn't until the completion of Preminger's film that he learned he had lung cancer, marking the beginning of an eleven year battle with the disease. "That's the message - the only message - that comes through loud and clear in Otto Preminger's big war film." On the screen, the Duke seemed practically immortal (even if he did die in a few films) but at the time of In Harm's Way, his health was in decline. "You can't kill John Wayne," Bosley Crowther wrote in his New York Times review of In Harm's Way (1965). He is assured, however, that he will soon be back in action to command a new task force in the war against Japan. Torrey, badly wounded, returns home to recuperate in Maggie's care. In the great sea battle that ensues, the American force is largely destroyed, but the Japanese retreat in confusion. To redeem himself, Eddington undertakes an unauthorized "certain death" reconnaissance mission, and before he is shot down, he radios the exact size and location of the enemy force which is moving to intercept the U. Annalee commits suicide, and Torrey breaks the news to Jere, thereby cementing the bond between them. Meanwhile, Eddington, tormented by the memory of his wife's infidelity, drunkenly rapes Jere's girl friend, Annalee, at a beach party. He thus wins the respect of Jere, who asks to be transferred back to his PT boat. On Gavabutu Island, springboard for the attack, Torrey launches a successful foray, and boosts morale among his troops. Participating in the operation are Eddington, Maggie, and Jere. Broderick has been unable to accomplish the spearhead mission of capturing several key islands, and Torrey is assigned to the task. As retaliatory naval operations are being set into motion, Torrey's true value is recognized by his superiors, and he is promoted to Rear Admiral. Meanwhile, Torrey's temperamental executive officer, Eddington, has learned that his unfaithful wife was killed in a car crash during the attack. Jere, an opportunistic, callow youth with only contempt for his father, has plans for obtaining an appointment on the staff of the weak and indecisive Admiral Broderick. He becomes attracted to nurse Maggie Haynes, who informs him that his son, Jere, whom he has not seen in the years since he was divorced from his wife, is an ensign on the island. The mission ends in disaster, and upon his return to base, Torrey is assigned to a desk job. Rockwell Torrey is ordered to lead several U. Pearl Harbor, ill-prepared and unknowing, is attacked by the Japanese.
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