Minesweeper (1943)

Very Cool!!!

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Any film that tries to make its audience believe that the military could't identify an AWOL soldier through fingerprints and would simply let someone slide through just because there was a war going on must think its audience was pretty dumb. Richard Arlen was one of Hollywood's oldest action heroes when he took on this low-grade war drama, and his age definitely shows. Jean Parker , another long-time ingenue, is the nominal leading lady. I felt that the premise kept me from being totally engrossed in the action, and having seen many war propaganda theme films of the era on every war subject, this one had to rank low on the rating scale. Good intentions don't always make for a good movie, and this one is as close to a bomb as the target of the aging heroes job.

Unlike most war movies, you'll find no real "battles" being fought in "Minesweeper." For that, I actually give it some credit. It pays tribute to the crew of minesweepers - those who helped take care of Japanese mines laid at the mouths of US harbours. That's not especially glamorous, so I applaud whoever decided to make this movie. It's an important job, and not all the honour should go to those who are face to face in combat with the enemy.The star of this is Richard Arlen. He plays an officer who deserted from the Navy years before, and then re-enlists under an assumed identity once Pearl Harbour is attacked. So part of the movie is spent wondering whether he's going to get caught. The dangers of this type of service are well documented, and there's a tragic incident as the movie nears its end. The cast is decent enough.The basic problem with this is that it spends far too much time emphasizing the somewhat unbelievable romance the develops between "Tennessee Smith" (as Arlen's character was known) and Mary (Jean Parker.) Given that Mary was apparently already almost engaged when Tennessee showed up, I found it rather difficult to accept that she'd get caught in this romantic triangle, and I thought it weakened the movie. This certainly isn't a high profile war picture, nor does it appear to have had much of a budget. It's not bad; it's an appropriate tribute. I just wish it had stayed a bit more focused on those to whom it was paying tribute and to the service they were offering. (4/10)

This is the story of a man who tries to make amends for past misdeeds in the service by reenlisting under another name, and whose experience in the service gives him an edge in the disarming of water mines.It is a well written story, with interesting characters all around, including the minor ones. Everything is very believable, not just by film standards, but by normal standards.However, I gave this only a ranking of 6, which is still above average, because for me it was painful viewing. It is not because of a bad story, but because it shows the pain involved with gambling addiction in a true light, which means it will be difficult to watch. This is still quality work, and if you aren't afraid of the pain, this may be the film for you.

This is a Pine-Thomas Production, which should tell you a lot. I described a similar P-T story to my brother who advised me not to expect too much, that there were thousands of these cheap flag-wavers made during the war.This is a cheap flag-waver about two sailors (Richard Arlen and Russel Hayden) who are rivals for the affections of the same girl (Jean Parker) who happens to be the niece of their affable mutual friend (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams). Those are the four principles and none of them can act, though I suppose Jean Parker could be considered a modest talent while the three men can't manage to project a believable line of dialog between them. Russell Hayden at least looks the part but the star, Richard Arlen, is too old for his character. Frank Fenton as Lt. Gilpin probably gives the best performance.The story, when it's not wrapped around that romantic triangle, has the three men together on a small harbor minesweeper that is removing Japanese mines from the channel at San Pedro, California. There never were any such mines but this is fiction all the way. Arlen's character rises from Seaman Recruit (E-1) to Gunner's Mate First Class (E-6) in the blink of an eye or the blast of a mine.Arlen's character has an improbable secret past, and somebody gets blown up by a mine, but none of it is in the least gripping. But there are some nice shots of the minesweeper itself and a PBY swooping down over the ocean. What keeps one's interest in the movie is watching Dub Taylor as a young man and Robert Mitchum as a non-speaking but prominently featured extra.