In
its attempt to lionize every branch of the military in WWII, Hollywood finally
got around to minesweeping in this 1943 B-film.
It was directed by William Berke and it is his only war movie. It is also the only war film to feature
minesweeping. I doubt we will ever see
another.
The
movie opens, predictably, with “Anchors Aweigh” playing over the credits. Also not surprising is the credit to the
cooperation of the U.S. Navy. It
provided a technical adviser – Commander Louis Gwinn. He helped with the screenplay, although that
was probably not something he told his grandkids about. The story begins with hoboes on a train. It’s the Great Depression after all. One of the bums is a deserter from the
peacetime navy. Lt. Richard Houston
(Richard Arlen) went AWOL because it was the only way to pay off his gambling
debts. News of Pearl Harbor convinces
alias “Tennessee” Smith that the war will not be won by hoboes. He enlists under his new name. He befriends Chief Petty Officer “Fixit”
Smith (that’s right, the two main characters have the same last name!) and
wants to be more than just friends with his niece Mary (Jean Parker). This being a 1940s war movie, Tennessee will
be in a love triangle with Seaman Nash (Russell Hayden). Speaking of clichés, Tennessee goes through
boot camp, but at least it’s different than most cinematic boot camps as it
includes semaphore. They do have rifle
practice and before you ask why, they might have to shoot mines, duh. Specifically, mines in San Diego harbor. Tennessee decides to seal the deal with Mary
by buying her a nice wedding ring. But
where to get the money? How about from
his addictive gambling? He’ll have to go
AWOL again to find a game. Someone will
have to cover for him and take his place on a dangerous minesweeping operation. This will lead to drama and eventually to
redemption. And a solution to the love
triangle by subtraction.
Sorry
minesweeping fans, but your movie is rather lame. And forgettable. It is a waste of time, but at least its short
– only 66 minutes. Actually, it would be
better if it had been longer. Maybe then
we could have gotten a true tutorial on minesweeping. The boot camp and minesweeping scenes are
truncated. Weirdly, for a movie
supported by the Navy which presumably was hoping for a recruiting bump, the
movie does not appeal to hoboes hoping to serve their country. Unless they had a death wish. Two of the three main characters die. You do have a chance at glory in this
service, however. Ask Tennessee, who
singlehandedly solved the problem of Japanese mines blocking San Diego
harbor. Don’t ask why Tennessee’s
minesweeper is in port the whole movie (he sleeps each night on shore) while
the war wages throughout the Pacific and Atlantic.
“Minesweeper”
might deserve an F, but it is inoffensive and that would be insensitive to the
real minesweepers. It is low budget and
it shows. The acting is average. The love triangle is lacking in
chemistry. The cinematography is the
stand in front of a screen type. And the
underwater scenes are murky, like a bad submarine movie. It reminds me of 1943’s “Destroyer” which had
similar weaknesses, but had Edward G. Robinson and Glenn Ford. That’s a big difference.
GRADE = D
