Here Comes the Navy

Cagney was great as a stubborn smart aleck, and that is what the James Cagney had a great manner of getting the girl, whether it be Bette Davis in THE BRIDE CAME C.O.D. (1941) or Gloria Stuart in HERE COMES THE NAVY (1934).

In HERE COMES THE NAVY, Chesty O'Conner (Cagney) joins the navy simply to have a shot at a rematch brawl with naval officer Biff Martin (Pat O'Brien). On board, he wants to take O'Brien's girl who turns out to be his sister (Stuart). He befriends Droopy Mullins, a sidekick type splendidly played by Frank McHugh.

This was a delightful film, a must for fans of Cagney's humor. And for navy buffs who like to note the service between the world wars, as the Department of the Navy is cited as cooperating in this film.

Oh, and my wife reminds me to point out that there is a blimp in this picture. It is dated to that extent, but its themes and comedy are always applicable. (The blackface scene being the notable exception, but as such attitudes were very present in yesterday's Hollywood, we must bit our lips and let them pass. In this film, the actual African American characters look at Cagney in blackface as if he were goofy. They, too, let it pass.)

I'd heard about this since I was a kid!

The scenes aboard Arizona, the US Pacific battle Fleet at sea!

The plot is lousy but entertaining enough to hold you between those amazing scenes!

About half way through the movie you see the U S Pacific fleet (San Diego based at the time in 1934)on Sea Maneuvers out by Santa Catalina Island, California. This is the only motion picture footage of the "Arizona" firing her 14 inch live rounds (She is the first of several Battleships firing from left to right). Footage was taken by the U S S "Macon", Navy Airship at the time. The airship was caught in a storm about a year later very close to where they were filming and fell from the sky. About 250 of the sailors who were aboard the "Arizona" at the time of the film were also on deck December 7, 1941 when the Empire of Japan attacked the ship inside Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Notice the sleeping quarters (hammocks) for the sailors at that time.

With the birth of the production code, the fun pre-code frolics of Cagney and Joan Blondell were at an end. Thus Warner Brothers came up with a new dynamic screen team - James Cagney and Pat O'Brien. This is the first of the films they did together. Prior to the production code, O'Brien often played the same kind of roles that Cagney played - the fast-talking smart guy with big ideas and a big dose of attitude. Since you can't have two of these in the same picture, O'Brien was generally promoted to being the more traditionally respectable of the two in their films together, and such is the case here.

The film starts with construction worker Chesty O'Conner (James Cagney) and naval officer Biff Martin (Pat O'Brien) trading at first verbal barbs and then punches. Chesty gets fired from his job because of the time he takes off recovering from the fight, and decides to go another round with Biff. Unfortunately, Biff's ship has put out to sea, so Chesty thinks the solution is to join the navy and get assigned to Biff's ship. He actually does wind up on Biff's ship, but soon learns he can't take to punching out officers whenever the mood strikes him. To complicate matters, Chesty takes a shine to Biff's sister, Dorothy (Gloria Stuart), and this just inflames matters more as Biff wants his sister to have nothing to do with Chesty. Warner contract player Frank McHugh provides the comic relief as Droopy Mullins, Chesty's stalwart friend and shipmate.

The film works better than most made right after the production code, primarily because the teaming of Cagney and O'Brien worked so well. By turning down the volume a bit on O'Brien's screen sauciness and turning up the volume on Cagney's, the two play off of each other's dynamism perfectly. This film is also interesting for historical reasons - it was filmed on and around the U.S.S. Arizona, one of the ships that sank at Pearl Harbor seven years after this film was made.

Metal worker James Cagney is humiliated by naval officer Pat O'Brien. So he joins the Navy to get even with him. Naturally. Then he falls in love with Pat's sister, only he doesn't know it's Pat's sister. Their romance may be short-lived, however, because Jimmy and Pat can't stand one another.

Cagney and O'Brien made a lot of these types of movies. This was the first and one of the best. Usually Jimmy's the cocky jerk and Pat's the nice guy. That's sort of the case here, too, but I actually found myself liking Cagney more than O'Brien. He's fun and likable, even if he's not always right. Pat, on the other hand, is a sour puss throughout the movie. Gloria Stuart plays O'Brien's sister who Cagney falls in love with. She's very pretty and does a fine job in a part that requires very little. Historically important for being partially filmed on board the USS Arizona, which was destroyed at Pearl Harbor seven years later. Also some footage of the dirigible USS Macon, which crashed the year after this film was released. It's a fun movie that fans of the stars will certainly enjoy. The climax is implausible but exciting. There is a blackface gag that will set some today back on their heels, so be prepared for that.