L'incrociatore misterioso

Captain John Winslow (Arthur Byron) is obsessed to have his cruiser, USS Carolina, be the best ship in the fleet. Their new secret fire control gear is being installed, but someone stole it and found at the Mexican border. Winslow assigns Lt. Tom Randolph (Robert Taylor) to be in charge of the installation. Sailor Spud Burke (Nat Pendleton) has his girlfriend Toots Timmons (Una Merkel). Tom has Betty Lansing (Jean Parker). There is a reporter snooping around. There are the Japanese and other suspicious characters. Someone gets shot.

This has some of the most lax security in the Navy especially with some secret equipment being installed. It is all chaotic and poor military work. I get the push to up the tension, but it has to be realistic. There are too many poorly behaving military men in this. The Navy is not looking good in this. This is probably one of the worst Navy ships ever put on film.

This film, made in 1935, is a true reflection of the time. There was something for everyone in this picture: patriotism, a bit if romance and romantic comedy (Una Merkel) and some slap stick. All of the actors performered well and you do find yourself wondering "who done it". OK, I could have done without so much slapstick but I recently saw a film with Crawford and Gable that had The Three Stooges! Robert Taylor, only, 24 years old at the time, was very fine, as always. He made many pictures in 1935, at the time when the studios could roll them out like hot cakes. Some, like Camille, are very famous. He was not in these films only bc he looked good. A number of other commenters here heavily panned RT. For those folks, please remember that what you see on the screen is not the persona of RT but the character he is portraying. This was not an Oscar worthy PART but he does it with such great ease you have no idea he is acting. Part of what made him so exciting on the screen was his extraordinary good looks BUT it is his acting that is the most important. Had he been a total dud in Camille, he would not have continued to have an acting career of more than 30 years....maturing as an actor as he aged, prematurely dying at age 57.

Robert Taylor is an officer aboard a US Navy ship getting ready to test some new equipment. It's all rather hectic, with strangers aboard, his girlfriend Jean Parker trying to convince him to quit the Navy and come work for her father, a competitor of the firm manufacturing the equipment offering him $25,000 to ensure it fails, and oh yeah, a murder.

It's directed by Eddie Sedgwick from an idea of his, and there's plenty of comedy, with Nat Pendleton and Ted Healy competing for the love of Una Merkel, ambassador Mischa Auer onboard, and so forth. Taylor is stiff in the role, which is a reasonable acting choice, but not terribly interesting. Spig Wead is one of the people credited for the script; this was undoubtedly intended to make sure it has the appropriate navy air, butsome one should have told the art department, because the details on the uniforms are not right. Neither is the mystery aspect particularly good. For Metro it's definitely not an A production despite the large cast, but it was inexpensive enough to show a profit, which is always a plus for the powers-that-be.

The plot is ordinary, but the movie has snappy dialogue, excellent as opposed to wooden acting, good direction and a great cast, including Robert Taylor, Ward Bond, Una Merkel, Jean Hersholt, and Nat Pendleton. It pulls off the comedy part very well. I always like 30s movies because of the witty dialogue and fast-paced, sly insults. Watch it for that if not for the story. It's the combination of acting and dialogue that shines. Many comedies of this or any other era just don't pull it off. The quality of filming is also very good. Look for other familiar faces among the actors. You can see them while they're relatively young.

Someone aboard the USS Carolina is attempting to sabotage an important, secret gunnery system's field test... by murdering those installing it. Plenty of suspects abound as there are many visitors aboard the ship while it is in port. Overall an entertaining mystery set aboard a US naval cruiser. Robert Taylor stars as Lt. Randolph, in command of the gunnery test, with Jean Parker as his rich, spoiled love interest. Nat Pendleton plays Randolph's CPO, who, with the aid of Una Merkel and Ted Healy (of stooges fame), provides the comic relief. Look for an uncredited Ward Bond as a sailor-murder victim and Keye Luke as aid to the visiting Manchukan Consul.