'Pearl' offers much to appreciate in World War II genre

Wednesday was Dec. 7, the day we annually set aside to remember the devastating events that pulled the United States into World War II (this year was the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor).

Unfortunately I received "Pearl" — a 33-year-old TV miniseries making its DVD debut — a little too late to review in the paper before today.

But unlike Christmas movies, we don't need a special time of year to watch wartime melodramas, including those that depict the Pearl Harbor attack. And watching "Pearl" (1978, two discs, $24.95, available at www.WarnerArchive.com) can't help but bring to mind other movies on the same subject.

World War II movies that weave fictional human stories into events leading up to the attack form something of a sub-genre all their own. Such as the notorious and overly flamboyant 2001 film "Pearl Harbor" or the 1953 Oscar-winner "From Here to Eternity," in that both concentrate on several soap-opera plot threads before getting to the action.

Of course, "Pearl" is certainly no "From Here to Eternity." Heck, it's not even the best TV miniseries that works its way toward the Day of Infamy — that would be "Winds of War."

But "Pearl" is pretty good, and if, like me, you enjoy the players — a bevy of TV stars from the late 1970s, as well as some notable up-and-comers — you'll find much to appreciate.

Angie Dickinson, still riding high from her "Police Woman" success, gets top billing as the unhappy wife of rigid, bigoted army officer Dennis Weaver. She unsuccessfully pursues Weaver's subordinate, Robert Wagner, who in turn chases doctor Lesley Ann Warren, who harbors a secret. Also on hand are Brian Dennehy, Adam Arkin, Max Gail, Mary Crosby, Marion Ross, Audra Lindley, Katherine Helmond and many other familiar faces.

Plots revolve around the usual suspects — adultery, social status, power plays, etc. — set against the gorgeous, nicely photographed backdrop of Hawaii. But the best, most engrossing story line focuses on an interracial romance that shows bigotry as a two-way street, that destructive prejudices can be held on both sides.

The six-hour miniseries (four hours and 39 minutes here, sans commercials) has its high and low points but remains mostly entertaining, leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which is foreshadowed by cutaways to the Japanese Navy plotting the attack, and re-enacted by footage cribbed from "Tora! Tora! Tora!"