THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE (1959)

Set during the American Revolutionary War, THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE tells the story of a quiet preacher (Burt Lancaster) who, despite the war getting closer and closer to his small town, lives a chill life with his annoying wife (Janette Scott).  On the opposite side of the coin you have Kirk Douglas who is the local bad boy...although we never actually never see him being naughty.  Anyway, once the British (lead by Gen. Laurence Olivier) show up, things get a little more exciting...but not by much.

Being a huge fan of the three leads, I really wanted to enjoy THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE, but sadly, since the four main characters were all so badly constructed, I straight up didn't give a shit about any of them.  Even worse is Lancaster's wife screeches and wails nearly the entire movie.  It was Hell.  At one point Lancaster tells her to "Stop howling, woman!", but it didn't slow her down for a second.

Poorly written script, great actors with nothing to work with, zero tension, one really goofy fight scene, Lancaster standing still during an explosion, slow pace.  Not a bad film, but other than wanting to see Douglas, Lancaster and Olivier in action together there's little reason to watch it.

IN HARM'S WAY (1965)

Reminiscent, at least to me, of FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, IN HARM'S WAY also tells the story of various military personnel and their wives, husbands and lovers in Hawaii during 1941/1942.  And at 165 minutes it packs in a lot of story.

U. S. Navy Captain John Wayne is on duty during the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Kirk Douglas is his executive officer.  They manage to get their ship safely away, but other problems arise when Wayne disobeys orders while trying to track down an enemy vessel.  He's stripped of command and sentenced to desk duty.  Kirk has it even worse when he finds out that his wife was off screwing some dude on the beach during the attack and killed!  Other characters include John Wayne's estranged son who is also in the Navy and has thrown in with a seedy officer; the seedy officer himself; a nurse who's wanting to knock boots with The Duke; Burgess Meredith as Wayne's roommate; Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews and Franchot Tone as officers and the ridiculously sexy Jill Haworth as a nurse involved with both Wayne's son and Douglas.  There's also a side story about officer Tom Tyron and his wife Paula Prentiss, but it could have been cut completely.

IN HARM'S WAY is a good watch.  Most of the dramatic scenes were excellent, but unfortunately the action scenes towards the end are terribly dated and kinda boring.  The film had my total attention when Kirk and Jill were on the beach or when Wayne was making googly-eyes at Patricia Neal, but then the model boats come out with water splashing around and I felt my attention fading.  Also, IN HARM'S WAY just lacks the sheer acting power and emotional charge of FROM HERE TO ETERNITY.  That movie was dynamite!  (Yes, I wrote that in Graham Chapman's voice.)

Entertaining watch with a impressive supporting cast, but dated.  Recommended for classic movie fans.