Il comandante Johnny

Never intended to be side-splittingly hilarious, 'You're In The Navy Now' is an earnest effort at showing the lighter side of naval service, broadly in the manner of the 'Readers' Digest' feature "Humor In Uniform," and as such it works though modern audiences often think it dated and unamusing. Poor modern audiences, indeed.

Solid cast here, with Gary Cooper shipshape as the green but earnest new skipper of a submarine chaser in which an experimental propulsion plant has been installed for testing; Jack Webb, Eddie Albert, Harry Von Zell, Jane Greer, Harvey Lembeck, Jack Warden, Charles Buchinski - later to become Charles Bronson, and Lee Marvin all working, and sometimes conniving, together to make their oddly-engined ship a proud one.

The actual PC1168 used in the film can be seen here: http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/011168.htm 'You're In The Navy Now' is a pleasant way to voyage through an evening.

This is a typical Gary Cooper vehicle where he gets placed in a sudden leadership role and has to rally the men who serve him. It's worked well in his other films and does so here. What I really enjoyed is all the actors who would later go on to enjoy their own careers like Eddie Arnold, Charles Bronson, Jack Webb, and even Lee Marvin. A great look at some of the less glorious aspects of navy service during WWII. So many films showcase the expertise or the hardened battle-weary sailors, but this movie showed how many sailors found themselves to be "90 day wonders", meaning they were pulled out from being civilians and trained quickly to serve. This movie showed that the average Joe (and Jill) truly did his or her part in winning the war.

Mechanical engineer Lt. John Harkness (Gary Cooper) is given his first sea duty as captain of a small ship with an experimental new steam engine. Nicknamed the "USS Teakettle", the ship is soon the laughing stock of the Navy for its frequent breakdowns and the misadventures of its motley crew.

The comedy is sitcom-level routine, there are no real surprises in the story, and the romantic subplot involving Cooper and Jane Greer is pointless and clearly thrown in to add a woman to the cast. What makes this movie somewhat memorable is the terrific supporting cast of notables both past and future. Ed Begley, Ray Collins, and John McIntire are all good as the old guard C. O.'s, while youthful Eddie Albert, Richard Erdman, and Jack Webb make an impression as the ship's novice officers. Harvey Lembeck, Lee Marvin, Jack Warden, and Charles Bronson all make their movie debuts, and each get a moment or two in the spotlight. Bronson naturally has several shirtless scenes, and one memorable bit has him losing a boxing match to Jack Webb! Lembeck is the ship wiseacre, while Jack Warden is loud and exasperated. Lee Marvin, with dark hair, plays the radioman named Lee. I can't call this movie very good, but those who enjoy Mister Roberts, McHale's Navy will probably enjoy it.

I wish this movie was on tape so I could get a copy to enjoy again. This was the first movie that I saw with one of my favorite actors. Charles Bronson although he was listed by his real name (Charles Buchinski) in the movie. I also just found out that Lee Marvin was also in this movie.

I enjoyed this movie very much, mostly because of the many excellent actors. Now (2006), most, if not all, of the actors have passed away. I greatly enjoyed Jack Webb's role probably the most as he also began his career and also the little that Charles Bronson (Buchinski)was featured was a good start for him. One interesting note: when the ship was on a test run with big brass on board, you can see that Lee Marvin is twins. He relays the message to go faster to the man at the back of the ship, which is also Lee Marvin. I got a big kick out of that. I am not a Gary Cooper fan, but I loved the movie as a whole, just watching the many good actors that are now gone.