The Navy Comes Through (1942)

Boring, long, and too preachy.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Another vision of World War II through the eyes of two old friends, stuck with each not under the best of circumstances, yet forced to work together in spite of old animosities. In one of his darker roles, George Murphy plays a rather self centered lieutenant who once dates pretty nurse Jane Wyatt, the sister of tough Pat O'Brien who had to testify against Murphy for neglect and later has to deal with him aboard a merchant Marine ship. Murphy once again messes up, but when they somehow capture a Nazi ship, Murphy must find his own patriotism and O'Brien must learn how to gracefully forgive. Not so interesting for the story but for the supporting cast, this is another example of potpourri of different types of sailors, including an Austrian musician forced to miss the concert of a lifetime in order to serve his adopted country. Young Jackie Cooper and Desi Arnaz are instantly recognizable, with Arnaz of course singing. It's an o.k. film that documents early war propaganda (set just right after Pearl Harbor) and pretty much free of clichés. But the Hollywood propaganda machine could do much better, and compared to other films of this nature seems unexciting and sort of dull in spots. Scenes with the German U-Boat often seem like outtakes from another movie with the plot line seemingly different than the rest of the film. Curiosity over that cast makes this worth a look. Something tells me that this was rushed together to take advantage of timely topics.

A Bit Below Average as these Propaganda Pictures Go. Pat O'Brien is a Stiff Actor and He Plays a Stiff here with an Ultra-Sombre Display of Deadpan. George Murphy Fairs Better and Manages to Bring Along Some Gravitas as a Former Naval Officer Court Martialed Before the War. After Pearl Harbor He Re-Enlists as an Enlisted Man and has More Trials Convincing O'Brien He is a Worthy Salt and Deserving of His Respect and His Sister. Betty White is the Love Interest and the Sister, and Manages to Show Up at Sea so Things can be Set Straight.It's Rather a Mess of Flag Waving and Stereotypes with Cartoon Characters, like the Brooklyn Boy who "Loves Dem Bums", and Ricky Ricardo, Before Lucy, as a Cuban Come Aboard for the Melting Pot Plot.The Movie's Redeemed in the Final Act with some Rah-Rah Action and is Exciting, but Highly Inaccurate. Accuracy doesn't Mean a Hill of Beans in this Type of Formulaic Patriotism. These Movies were Made to Boost Morale and Get the Boys to Enlist and the Homefront on Board. If this One Succeeded More Power to it. Not Much of a Movie Though.

This is a WWII propaganda film made to bolster the American war effort. It certainly does deserve credit for an unusual cast! In addition to familiar faces like Pat O'Brien and George Murphy, the ship they serve on has the likes of Desi Arnaz, Jackie Cooper and Max Baer (the father of 'Jethro' from "The Beverly Hillbillies" and ex-heavy-weight boxing champ).The film surprised me a bit, as it talked about an aspect of the work of the US Navy that I'd never heard about--though it made sense. The merchant marine ships apparently also had US Navy gun crews stationed aboard them and this movie is about one of these crews. The boss is the Chief (O'Brien)--who plays his usual tough self. Murphy is an odd character--a guy who had been a Naval officer accused of cowardice who has now enlisted as a seaman--and the crew won't let him forget his past. In addition, and I know this is SUPER-contrived, but later in the film O'Brien's sister (Jane Wyatt) is taken aboard the merchant marine vessel! And, she just so happens to be Murphy's ex-girlfriend! Later in the film, a very unbelievable thing occurs. The merchant marine ship is able to easily capture a Nazi resupply ship loaded with torpedoes. And then, using this captured ship, they pass out booby-trapped torpedoes to German ships--and hilarity ensues! Not believable but really, really cool! Along the way, Murphy proves he IS a brave man and regains his good name and 1358 different movie clichés take place as well. But, because the production is so well-made and entertaining, you can't help but like the film from start to finish.By the way, there was one problem with this film that was pretty common in films. When the ship is attacked by airplanes, they are shot down--and really crude stock footage is used. In one case, the film is very blurry and in the other a two-engine fighter-bomber becomes a single-engine plane! Pretty sloppy--and an irritant to aviation buffs like me.

Before the Village People popularized the United States Navy with their song "In The Navy" this aquatic based branch of the armed forces was featured in many a Hollywood film during World War Two. "The Navy Comes Through" is one of those films and it features Pat O'Brien and George Murphy who are at odds with each other as they head out to sea as part of a gunnery crew to sink Nazi vessels. The overall theme to the film is a common one to WW II era war movies. A group of men with disparate backgrounds (in this case an Austrian-American, Ricky Ricardo, the ubiquitous guy from Brooklyn, and the boy who will become a man once he has seen some action) are thrown together to stick it to the Nazis. The idea is that America, the land of the melting- pot, can prevail over totalitarianism as long as everyone is willing to pull together. During the movie O'Brien's acting style is consistently blunt. The interior of the German subs are enormous. The action is well paced, and in the end the Navy really does comes through.