Corvette K-225

This may be the best of the World War II era submarine warfare movies made during the war. The captain, played by the always wonderful Randolph Scott (see him in "Gung Ho") has just lost an officer on a booby-trapped German sub - and then he comes across the always beautiful and luminous Ella Raines on shore who is the resentful sister of the dead officer. Scott meanwhile has to handle her somewhat irresponsible younger brother who is a new officer on Scott's Corvette. This may not be likely in reality, but it makes for a good dramatic situation.

Some romance simmers with Scott and Raines (not too much!) before the Corvette sails. The convoy it protects and its captains from Allies all over the world is handled very well. Scott is masterful as the captain, and the battle scenes with the German U-boats are realistic and vicious. This is a gritty movie that gives a good depiction of the absolutely vital Battle of the Atlantic and the crucial role convoy escorts played in winning the war against Hitler.

I hadn't seen this movie for many years, and when I watched it again recently I was amazed at the surprising realism for a 1942 era war propaganda movie. Veteran skipper Randolph Scott is forced to put to sea in a new corvette (a very small ship) with almost no other experienced crew members, and virtually no time to train the new crew. The horrid living conditions aboard ship are realistically portrayed: the tiny ship tosses about on the ocean while water cascades over and through every part of the ship. On top of this there are also German U-boats to contend with. Of course all of this was done on sound stages and model sets, but they are amazingly realistic for the period. I am ready to watch it again!

...from Universal Pictures, producer Howard Hawks, and director Richard Rosson. The story follows the adventures of the crew of the title ship, the smallest class of naval battleship, this one operating out of Canada and escorting merchant vessels across the dangerous North Atlantic. Captain MacClain (Randolph Scott) tries to keep his men rallied and ready, although young officer Lt. Cartwright (James Brown) is having confidence issues. Also featuring Ella Raines, Barry Fitzgerald, Noah Beery Jr., Andy Devine, Fuzzy Knight, Richard Lane, Thomas Gomez, David Bruce, Walter Sande, Frank Faylen, Peter Lawford, Charles McGraw, Cliff Robertson, Milburn Stone, Ian Wolfe, and Robert Mitchum.

There's little to distinguish this from most of the other naval-based war pictures of the day. You have the usual assortment of characters among the crew, with the square-jawed captain leading the day. The movie has several notable actors very early in their career, such as Lawford, McGraw, Robertson, and Mitchum, here playing one of the many lower-ranked sailors.

The most memorable scene in this is when a group of officers are learning battle plans back at headquarters. They are all seated around a long dining table which is covered in a map. The man in charge is seated in an elevated chair above the table, and sailors slowly move the chair along the length of the table as the chief is pointing out tactics. The movie earned an Oscar nomination for Best Black and White Cinematography, which is I can't comment on due to the poor quality of the print I watched. As with most movies produced by Hawks, he's rumored to have actually directed much of this himself.

A corvette, I learned from this picture, is a type of small warship. Randolph Scott is captain of such a ship, assigned by the Canadian navy to escort a convoy of ships and war supplies headed across the Atlantic.

The journey is fraught with dangers that include both storms and Nazi submarines. Like other action movies made right during the war, this one is full of patriotism and adventure; Randy Scott and crew demonstrate courage, loyalty, and determination in the face of brutal difficulties.

The first half of the picture features Ella Raines as the sister of two young officers—one just commissioned, one recently killed in action. She and Scott strike up a friendship that begins with her expressing bitterness toward his apparent hard-heartedness but develops into a mutual respect—and possibly something more—for the challenges each of them faces. Raines is appealing in her film debut...she's certainly the sister or girlfriend you'd love to have waiting back home.

James Brown is fine as the brother on his first mission. It's a fairly routine role—he chafes under Scott's demanding leadership but eventually toughens up—but fits unobtrusively into the overall story. The rest of the crew includes familiar character actors like Barry Fitzgerald, Fuzzy Knight, Noah Beery, Jr....solid and good-humored, as you'd expect. A young Robert Mitchum has a small role as a sailor (and gets the film's best line, right at the end).

The exciting battle scenes are quite impressive. It's a top-notch production that does a fine job of fulfilling its mission: it entertains while paying tribute to those fighting a war whose outcome was still very much in doubt.

The unsung contribution of the Royal Canadian Navy in providing escort service for Atlantic convoys gets its tribute in Corvette K-225. The film is very similar to the Humphrey Bogart classic Action In the North Atlantic.

I checked with a military buff friend of mine to be sure, but the Corvette was the Canadian name for a ship that would be classified as a destroyer escort and that's what their function was, escorting American and Canadian supplies to the European theater.

Randolph Scott stars as the stalwart captain who as the film opens has just lost a ship, but is anxious to get back in the fight. And of course those of the crew who survived want to return to action with him.

But Scott has a lot of newbies on board including mostly new officers among them James Brown whose brother was lost on Scott's previous ship. Scott also has taken an interest in Ella Raines who is Brown's sister.

That's the romantic portion which is strictly second fiddle to the war action. Though we get a good amount of flag waving here, the film given its time is surprisingly free of overblown heroics. For that reason it holds up well today.

Such familiar people as Barry Fitzgerald, Andy Devine, and Fuzzy Knight are in the crew filling out their stereotypical roles. Don't blink or you will miss Robert Mitchum in a very small role as one of the crew.

Corvette K-225 is a fine tribute to our Canadian allies whose contributions to Allied victory in World War II is often overlooked.