The Navy Comes Through

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.

It's 1940. Navy Lieutenant Tom Sands (George Murphy) resigns his commission after a gun turret accident. He also breaks up with girlfriend Myra Mallory (Jane Wyatt). Her brother Chief Gunner's Mate Mike Mallory (Pat O'Brien) never liked him anyways. After Pearl Harbor, Myra becomes a nurse and Tom rejoins the Navy as an enlisted man. By chance, he joins an international crew on an old freighter under the command of Mike Mallory.

First, the inciting incident needs to be shown before he's put on trial. It needs to show his goodness being unfairly attacked. The movie needs a better setup. After that, it's a lot of coincidences and melodramatic turns. At least, it's a heroic melodrama which was probably what the audience was looking for during those dark times. Otherwise, the movie isn't that good. It does fit its times.

Wartime film. And the ships at pearl harbor had just been bombed by japan. When equipment failure leads to the deaths of several sailors, chief mallory blames lieutenant sands for not repairing it correctly. And it's even more complicated, since sands is dating mallory's sister. (jane wyatt, probably best known for "lost horizon". ) now sands must prove his worth, not just to chief mallory, but to all the sailors on the ship. Some big names... pat o'brien, george murphy. A 25 year old desi arnaz. He even sings! In between the fights and arguments going onboard, they fight some battles! It's pretty good. The usual bravado, found in a war time film about the military. Nominated for best special effects. Directed by ed sutherland. Had started in the silents. And he really was married to marjorie daw, just like the kid's song. But her birth name was actually margaret house! O'brien and murphy also made "wonderful crime" together a couple years later.

This pretty good propaganda programmer has officer George Murphy fouling up, being busted out and reenlisting as a common sailor, where he runs into Pat O'Brien and Jane Wyatt, Murphy's ex-fiancée and O'Brien's sister.

It's interesting to watch the two stock Irishmen play off of each other, each in their usual registers: Murphy easy-going and O'Brien in his bulldog mode. The story also takes some interesting and unexpected turns that raise it above the usual level of flag waving propaganda. Somehow a Viennese violist and Desi Arnaz wind up in the crew for some comic relief *and* plot purposes.

RKO's technical department, the equal of any in the business, came up with a new machine to simulate the effects of horizon on the sea. Looks pretty good.

Pat O'Brien and George Murphy play a couple of Navy guys with some bad history between them. When Murphy was an officer, O'Brien testified against him and got him busted out of the service. After Pearl Harbor Murphy enlists as an ordinary seaman and as it is in these films, he's assigned to O'Brien's gunnery crew. The two also have Jane Wyatt who is O'Brien's sister and who Murphy was going out with also as part of their history.

Which is assigned to a merchant marine ship to defend it from enemy attack. If you remember in Action In The North Atlantic such a Navy gun crew was assigned to Humphrey Bogart's and Raymond Massey's vessel in that film.

So far it's the normal run of World War II flag wavers, but after they're at sea, the plot goes totally off the charts. Jane Wyatt is a Navy nurse now and she's on the ship tending to the wounded. And a German speaking member of their crew gets a vital piece of information and has captain Ray Collins and O'Brien diverting the merchant vessel from its course on a mission all its own.

Other members of the cast and part of O'Brien's gun crew are eager kid Jackie Cooper, career Navy man Max Baer, Desi Arnaz who came up from Cuba to fight, Carl Esmond who was the German speaking man and a former musician, and Frank Jenks the obligatory guy from Brooklyn whose main concern is getting a radio transmission of the Dodgers game.

I can't go into the incredible ridiculousness of the plot except to say it involves our guys attempting to sabotage Admiral Doenitz's fleet of U=Boats all by themselves. You have to see it to believe it.

The Navy Comes Through with some interesting and colorful performances which is the main reason to see the film as well as some nice special effects from RKO which got an Academy Award nomination has not held up well over the years. Did the American movie-going public really buy this stuff even then?