Favorite scene


My favorite scene is in the showers and Eddington tells Owynn to be on the plane with Adm Broderick. Slap, slap, slap. "I didn't see a thing!"

reply

Not a bad scene but I got you beat. Jill Haworth's (Analee) little impromptu dance routine in the beginning of the movie at the O-club, too hot! Man, she's sexy and amazingly still is today. Too bad she got killed off early in the movie...BBQ'd at the end of a ravine, not a good way to go.

reply

***SPOILER***
You have Annalee (Jill Haworth) confused with Liz Eddington (Barbara Bouchet).
It's Eddington's wife that gets killed in the car wreck. Annalee is the fiance of Ens. Jere Torrey that commits suicide near the end of the movie.

reply

I liked Annalee's cute drunken dance too. That must have been very r-rated for that time!

reply

When Wayne and Neal find themselves at the same cocktail party & he, in a great comic gesture tosses the fruit from his drink into the bushes & then in a very subtle imitation of him, she does the same. Their chemistry is electric and totally believable.

Dale

reply

Where Eddington comes to Torrey and says " Old Rock of Ages; we've got ourselves another war. A gut bustin, mother lovin Navy war."

reply

There are a lot of scenes (the shower scene; the previously mentioned "gut-bustin', mother-lovin' Navy war" scene; Eddington yelling out the window of the aircraft to list the flight as "a joyride for the Chief of Staff" that are great.

I have two favorites. The first is when Rock and Maggie are "considering" spending the night before she ships out, and Rock calls Powell and asks him to bunk out that night. Rock hangs up the phone, turns, and says "Maggie?" She answers with a simple "Yes, Rock", and the camera pans down to show Maggie gently kicking off her white nursing shoes. So understated compared to today's films, but we all know what's going to happen!

The second is when Rock is talking to the reporters and Broderick comes in and starts to tell the press about how long an operation can take and that it's going to be a long, hard fight, at which time the Rock blows him out of the water by being ahead of schedule. Classic!

JOhn Wayne has played many a memorable role in a war flick, but I consider this one to be his best. He's a hard-nosed, by-the-book commander, but he's the kind of leader most men would willfully follow without question.

reply

I think the scene with the greatest dialogue is when Kirk Douglas takes Brandon De Wilde (Rock Torrey's son) aside at the briefing.

Douglas: I don't know what's going on between you and your father but let me tell ya this. Bums like Owynn are with us all the time, like bad weather. But sailors like your old man only come along once in a while.

Jere Torre: I'm afraid I cannot agree with your assessment of Commander Owynn.

Douglas: Well, I'm afraid I cannot agree that Rock Torrey is your old man, I think someone got in there ahead of him.

Great writing!

And another sexy scene is Jill Hayworth emerging from the ocean after a swim wearing only panties and bra. She was a sweety along with Barbara Bouchet

reply


Can't deny any of the aforementioned or many more. My favorite?

Eddington: Is that why the Admiral called me; for my beard?


I'm not saying we won't get our hair mussed!

reply

How about the scene in Admiral Nimitz [Henry Fonda's] house, after he says "OK we have given him the molasses, now let's feed him the Sulphur"
and he proceeds to compare Admiral Broderick with General McClellan form the Civil War, then turns to Rock Torrey and says "You're gonna be mah Grant!"

reply

For those of you on to the chemistry between John Wayne and Patricia Neal , look for "Operation Pacific," a 1951 flick about U. S. submarine warfare in the Pacific during World War Two. He plays a sub skipper and she plays a Navy nurse. Can't say the chemistry smolders as much as "In Harm's Way," but they certainly worked well together. I bet they rather enjoyed the reprise!

"I'm not from here, I just live here. . ."

-James Mc Murtry

reply

I like the scene where Tom Tryon reveals his name is "William." Up until then, I thought his name was J.G. McConnell! Fooled me....

reply

That's because he identifies previously himself as "Lieutenant (j.g.) McConnell." "J.G." in that context is not his initials, but his rank -- i.e., Lieutentant (Junior Grade) McConnell. A lieutenant (j.g.) in the Navy is an officer with pay grade O-2, just above ensign (O-1) and below lieutentant (O-3, the latter sometimes purely unofficially refered to as "full lieutentant" to make clear that one is not talking about a "j.g.", as the lesser rank was (and may still be, for all I know) frequently refered to in the generally unofficial vernacular). A j.g. wears one silver bar on each collar or one full-width and one half-width stripe on his sleeves or shoulder boards, unlike the "full" lieutenant's two bars or two full stripes (ensigns have only one stripe or one gold bar). A j.g. is the same thing as what is known officially as a "first lieutenant" in the army, air force, or Marine Corps.

reply

You forgot how that scene ends --

Wayne: "Just how far can I go in dealing with Admiral Broaderick?"

Fonda: "You can't kill him."

reply

Great line!

reply

I read with interest this thread while watching it in high definition on HDNet Movies that I recorded on DVR. I agreed with everybody's favorite scene. In my mind, I added a few more. But I won't bore anybody with my additional favorite scenes. And the reason why I have more favorite scenes than what I have read here is simple: it's a great movie, chock full of great scenes. I'm no fan of Otto Preminger. I thought he was very much a jerk. But this is one great movie with great performances. And, assuming the actors are all qualified actors, that must mean we have here good writing with good directing. It was one of my early DVD purchases.

reply

mojaveguy wrote:

I think the scene with the greatest dialogue is when Kirk Douglas takes Brandon De Wilde (Rock Torrey's son) aside at the briefing.

Douglas: I don't know what's going on between you and your father but let me tell ya this. Bums like Owynn are with us all the time, like bad weather. But sailors like your old man only come along once in a while.

Jere Torre: I'm afraid I cannot agree with your assessment of Commander Owynn.

Douglas: Well, I'm afraid I cannot agree that Rock Torrey is your old man, I think someone got in there ahead of him.

Great writing!

I agree, I like this scene to and then I like the dialogue here:

Douglas: Well, I'm afraid I cannot agree that Rock Torrey is your old man, I think someone got in there ahead of him.

Jere Torrey: Now wait a minute Eddington.

Douglas: CAPTAIN EDDINGTON....Yes.

I was in the military, a LTJG calling a Captain by his last name with no rank first , that would get you court martialed in a heart beat.

reply

And that scene where LT MARGARETHE POINCIANA SUZANNE "MAGGIE" HAYNES, spends the night, had as much impact as is needed. Too much is shown since the 70's.
The imagination works well. And it keeps the focus on the real story. Gives more time for Battle Scenes. Take a Hint Hollywood.

Can you fly this plane?
Surely u cant be serious
I am serious,and dont call me Shirley

reply

Neal and Wayne Had time to work on their chemistry in Operation Pacific. Another great WWII Movies.

reply

When Wayne and Neal find themselves at the same cocktail party & he, in a great comic gesture tosses the fruit from his drink into the bushes & then in a very subtle imitation of him, she does the same. Their chemistry is electric and totally believable.
===============================
I loved that whole party scene: the way Powell quickly blends into the party, Torrey's obvious discomfort---the old war horse like a fish out of water, to Torrey and Maggie tossing their cocktail fruit over the wall, i.e., "signaling" to each other, "let's skip the preliminaries and get down to the essentials." Great characters, great writing, great directing!

reply

After the slapping, Cdr Owynn says to Jere Torrey "I'll have him court-martialled. You saw it, I didn't hit him back.

Jere - I didn't see anything.
Owynn - What do you mean you didn't see?
Jere - As far as I'm concerned, a coconut hit you on the mouth.

reply

[deleted]

I just re-read the script online (http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/i/in-harms-way-script-transcript.html ...about 3/4th down)
In the scene prior to the shower slapping scene, Adm. Torrey shows up Adm Broderick. Maybe Jere grew up and saw the sham of Broderick, Owynn, et al and didn't want to be associated with them anymore.
Eddington makes the remark, "We've got a job here and no one's gonna screw it up.

reply

Jer changed his mind on the day that Rock overshadowed Adm. Broderick at the press conference. He finally saw that his father truly was a genuine military leader, and not a simple fop like Owynn or Broderick. That's why he blew off Owynn in the shower and re-volunteered back to the PT boats.

In Harm's Way is one of my all-time favorite movies and it has many, many favorite scenes. Besides the ones mentioned, I liked the one where Rock wakes up Powell by shaking the ice cubes in his glass, and Powell's little speech about women "they're smokin' cigarettes and drinkin' whisky and doing the shimmy-shammy" (or something like that)! Or when Richard Dean Anderson's character (a Captain) walks into the office with Battleship Row ablaze in the background and the guy on the phone stops and shouts "You wanted confirmation? THERE'S your confirmation!"

But one of the best has to be when Mac's destroyer steams out of Pearl, leaving the skipper and the exec behind in a launch. Just watching them wave and scream while Mac and the bridge crew ignore them was priceless!

Can DO, sir!

reply

Or when Richard Dean Anderson's character (a Captain) walks into the office with Battleship Row ablaze in the background and the guy on the phone stops and shouts "You wanted confirmation? THERE'S your confirmation!"

This scene was actually from the movie Tora,Tora,Tora.

reply

That is supposed to be a true-life anecdote from the actual attack. The actor who plays "the guy on the phone" was Neville Brand, who himself was a highly decorated WWII Army Veteran.

reply

Yes, Jer saw his father as a leader at that time. Owynn said "That old man of yours crossed us" and Jer's reply of "Yes, he did, didn't he?" with a smile on his lips and a sarcasm in his voice... he had seen the situation for what it truly was.

reply

My favorite scene is the great pre-battle conversation between Powell and the Rock on the bridge. And the final scene on the hospital ship.

And by the way, whether it's IN HARM'S WAY or TORA! TORA! TORA!, Richard Dean Anderson was way too young to be in either of those films. The actor you're talking about is Richard Anderson, a great character actor of the 50s, 60s, and 70s who was in PATHS OF GLORY and who was best known as Oscar Goldman in THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN.

reply

I love that scene when Mac takes the destroyer out of Pearl as well. And it was definitely and obviously the right call. If they hove to in order to bring the captain aboard they would have been a sitting duck. The bridge crew's reaction to Mac saying "Screw the captain!" is priceless.

There is follow up to the JG taking command under emergency conditions when Mac brings the tin can alongside the Ol' Swayback after the Japanese sub torpedoed them. And that's Rock hailing him and then questioning "Did I hear Lietenant Junior Grade?" But Mac had the can do attitude, which was supposed to be the thing with destroyermen anyway. My father served as an officer on destroyers during the war and after, and he always had a high regard for this film.

There are too many moments in this film that could be my favorites, but the scene in the showers is definitely a contender. And just about anything with the Australian planter was a lot of fun too.

"I'm not from here, I just live here. . ."

-James Mc Murtry

reply

Yes. Canfil, played by Stanley Holloway(a Brit) was great.

Can you fly this plane?
Surely u cant be serious
I am serious,and dont call me Shirley

reply

Besides the ones mentioned, I liked the one where Rock wakes up Powell by shaking the ice cubes in his glass,

I laughed my tail off at that. Those must have been plastic ice cubes filling the glass, otherwise they'd never have lasted in Hawaii long enough for him to get to sleep.

reply

Heh, when Burgess Meredith is talking to John Wayne whilst Wayne sips a coke about going to a party where the gals "do the shim sham shimmy".

reply

[deleted]

Fish or Cut Bait! Seems so much like something John Wayne would say!
Fish or Cut Bait!

reply

There are a lot of memorable scenes in this movie. The one that sticks out for me is when John Wayne's character Rockwell Torrey is relieved of command and leaves his ship. As he walks down the gang plank, countless Navy workers are using welding torches as new equipment is being installed on the ship - a metaphor for the U.S. getting ready for war.

reply

I liked the whole setting on ‘’Gavabutu’’. It was early in the war and lots of uncertainty hung in the air. The place was a beehive of activity with everyone on their toes. You could almost feel the nervous tension as they geared up for war. ‘’Canfil’s ’’ colorful personality added some humorous touches.

reply