Battle Stations

I saw this movie in the 1950s in its theatre run. It stuck with me as a tale of considerable heroism, although the years may have taken their toll on the precision of my memory. If Columbia would release it on video I'd run right out and buy it, Grade B or not. Better yet, the tale within it would lend itself well to a major studio "Saving Private Ryan" blockbuster, so how about it, Hollywood?

I remember seeing this movie when it first came out. I was just a teenager then. Great story,great cast! I have always liked William Bendix. He did a great job acting as a CPO in the movie.(Hollywood must have thought so too! He played in two other movies as a CPO: Submarine Command with William Holden and Deep Six with Alan Ladd.)Liked Battle Stations so much, I sat through it twice! As I grew older and studied WW2 history,I learned this movie had been about the USS Franklin CV13. I have always wondered why the movie was never shown again or put out on VHS or DVD. Of all the movies that have been put out on DVD,This is one that certainly should have made it. I would like to see it on DVD. I would certainly go out and buy it!

The movie is a standard 1950"s war movie, entertaining, and loosely tells the story of the USS bunker Hill, a carrier that was severely damaged but survived due to the bravery of her crew.

The best part though is that it was filmed onboard an Essex class carrier. It has lots of shots of the interior of the carrier. Most movies only show the flight deck, but this one gives an inside look at the ship. Everything from the hanger deck, mess deck, barber shop, living quarters to the after steering compartment! It also gives a good idea of the confusing labyrinth that the inside of a big ship can be.

This movie was a little unique, because it had no women in it. I had a tiny part in one scene with Keefe Brasselle. The scene: prisoners on the ship painting and talking about escaping and going ashore for the last time, before the battle. Much of the movie was shot on the USS Princeton. I was an electronic Tech. aboard the ship from 1954 to 1957.

This movie would interest people who want to know more about the war and how it affected people.

Although I'm dating myself, I saw this in its original release. At the time, I was familiar with the WWII stories of the USS Franklin and the USS Bunker Hill. The dive bomb and kamikaze attacks on those two Essx class carriers provide much of the plot of this film, as well as some of the film footage. The film shows once again that ordinary men, of that time at least, had undreamed of reserves of valor with which to face otherwise overwhelming horror. If you chance to see this title in a flea market, grab it.

"Victory At Sea" devotes some time to the Franklin's saga and Gary Cooper's "Task Force" incorporates part of the story, as well.

Richard Boone, then playing TV's Dr. Conrad Styner on "Medic", William Bendix, of "The Babe Ruth Story" and his own TV series and a young Claude Aikens provided a human thread through the story.