Destroyer

Great look back to the 40's when I was little.

This is a very unusual film widely under-rated because it attempts much and delivers most. Any historian will realize the chore at hand for its wartime appeal: grab them in and teach them something beyond seamanship, camaraderie, link them to history and show them what to do with it. Overlooked is the technical advice from Frank Wead, the screenwriter, a legendary Navy figure that John Wayne later depicted. This film takes you from recruitment, through training into the shakedown cruise in the first hour alone with some romance provided by 24 yr. old Glenn Ford who joined the Naval Reserve after being a marine. Added to this cast from the top: Edgar G. Robinson, Regis Toomey, Eddgar Buchanan, Leo Gorcey and Marguerite Chapman.( Lloyd Bridges in brief cameos as a seaman handles cargo, later on gives the battle stations with his bosun whistle.) The ship fails the shakedown cruise and drifts northward off Alaska where a rousing lecture from the ol man (petty officer Robinson) awakens the crew from indifference into courageous action, a scene that only the remarkable Robinson could. John Paul Jones and the crew gets tested in a fictional engagement (with footage from the Battle of Leyte Gulf) to excitingly fill in the action when she comes under attack by submarine and kamikaze. In romance, Glenn Ford does the honorable thing and so does the crew at the end of the fighting. If there was a film to summarize the daring of the destroyer this film does it admirably.(In one of the matte shots in a shipyard during the destroyer's building I venture that to be Todd Shipyards in the Bay area) This has Wead authenticity in every scene with Navy protocols intact, bulkheads secure.

I'm surprised this movie doesn't get more airtime. Robinson, having served as Chief Petty Officer on a fictional WW1 era destroyer named John Paul Jones, now works in a shipyard, and is building the WW2 destroyer also fictionally named John Paul Jones. He meets the ensign from that previous ship, who is now the newly commissioned ship's captain. He decides to re-enlist, only to get shore duty training sailors that will ship out with her. He convinces the captain to take him on again, though he ends up replacing the younger first choice CPO. During the shakedown cruise, the ship repeatedly suffers mechanical failures, and the crew's morale suffers as the two petty officers butt heads over how the ship should be run. Robinson ends up demoted after an altercation, but manages to stay on. The destroyer winds up with auxiliary duty after her poor showing. The remainder of the film has to do with how Robinson's character is able to hold the ship together and inspire the crew to be proud of her.It's rare to see a film that deals with the gradual work up of a crew. If you like the British film In Which We Serve, you may like this one as well. Footage of DD-610 Hobby is used at launch and dockside.Lloyd Bridges has a small role in a couple of scenes as a seaman.

Of course you can't get any better actors than are in this production from a day when they knew how to make movies with great stories. Lot's of drama, action, and humor! Highly recommended for anyone interested in WWII, quality movies, legends of the past, or the U.S. Navy.

A great movie! Written by the legendary Frank 'Spig' Wead, it's the story of a destroyer and her crew. Centered on a former chief petty officer who becomes a shipfitter after his Navy service. It has a great cast starting with Edward G. Robinson, and includes a very young Glenn Ford! In addition, it was an interesting slice of life for the time of its making, showing various aspects of USN boot camp in San Diego during the war. The most interesting for me, was a formation of recruits being trained in semaphore! They also did a fair amount of filming using the USS Hobby, a repeat Benson class. If you're a real movie buff, you'll enjoy it!

I'm glad Amazon has this film on DVD since I no longer have a VHS player. I'll be buying this DVD right away!Other reviewers have pretty much covered the plot/story line. It's all good, but in my view the very best scene in the movie comes when practically the entire crew are writing up requests for transfers to a "real fighting ship." Robertson's character comes into the crew compartment to try to convince them to stay. He spots a drawing of John Paul Jones hung up on the bulkhead. Turning to the other sailors, he proceeds to describe the battle between Jones' ship the Bonhomme Richard and HMS Serapis. The camera is on Robertson for the whole soliloquy---no flashbacks of sailing ships or other distractions. This is the most powerful performance I have ever seen in any movie I've ever watched! Not only does the crew respond to this speech about not giving up, if you as the audience don't get choked up, you're not human. In my view, Robertson should have been nominated for an Oscar in a leading role on the strength of this scene alone (he does very well in the rest of the movie too <g>).

I served on Fetcher Class Destroyer (USS Eaton, DD-510) and was so pleased to have been able to find this movie, filmed during WWII. It was surprisingly good. Young Glen Ford is hardly recognizable but does a great job with his role. It was a most enjoyable film and it brought back a lot memories.The vendor did a superb job of doing what he is supposed to do - deliver a product that matches its description, on time!

What can you say about a film that Edward G is acting in? He was one amazing actor. The variety of characters he has played is truly legendary. From criminals to scrappy sailors. A voice and look that was immediately recognizable. Truly one of a kind.As for this movie. It tells the story of a man shoe literally helps build a destroyer then signs up, even though he is on the old side, to serve on board her, to make sure she is taken care of. He deals with youngsters who don't understand his love for his ship, including one young Glenn Ford.If you like war flicks this is a good one. Even if you don't, but you love Edward G. check it out.

I knew this movie growing up, but it wasn't until I was in my 50s (the age that Edward G. Robinson's character is in the picture) that I came to fully appreciate it. And I don't know why Sony/Tri-Star UK has given it better treatment on the far side of the Atlantic than it's gotten in the country in which it was made (in the United States, DESTROYER has been relegated to the company's made-on-demand catalog, which is okay, I guess, but I'll always take a real DVD if I can get it -- and I have an all-region player, so that's not a problem).There's a LOT of plot in DESTROYER, although it flows fast and plays briskly. Robinson plays Steve Boleslavski (nicknamed "Boley" by his friends) a former US Navy chief petty officer who, between the two world wars, moved into ship-building as a welder, But when his former WWI vessel the USS John Paul Jones is sunk in combat in 1942, and a new ship of the same name is built at the San Diego shipyard where he works, he becomes part of the crew building her, and eventually decides to rejoin the navy, if he can serve on the Jones, which is to be commanded by Lt. Comdr. Clark (Regis Toomey), who was once a midshipman on the old Jones (and was mentored by Boley). It's an awkward fit, as he understands too little of the new ways of doing things in the modern (circa 1943) navy, and often has little patience with a lot of the green recruits, mostly of whom are draftees suddenly yanked out of school or home or first jobs; he has even less patience with Mickey Donohue (Glenn Ford), the cocky young petty officer whose lead chief slot Boley more-or-less hijacked (and who resents Boley bitterly over this); and he loses whatever professional restraint he might feel in his clash with Donohue when the latter -- through the well-intended intervention of Clark -- is put together with Boley's 20-something daughter Mary (Marguerite Chapman), and the two are attracted to each other. Boley and Donohue snipe at each other across most of the picture, until each comes to understand the other a little better, a moment that doesn't take place until Boley has managed to wreck a lot of his career. The last 20 minutes are as intense a sea-borne drama as there was in a US-made drama of the era, as Boley and Donohue fight for the life of the ship. And about 66 minutes in comes one of the finest dramatic moments in Robinson's whole career, as Boley tells the story of John Paul Jones and the Bonhomme Richard and the September 23, 1779 Battle of Flamborough Head. I've seen the movie dozens of times and this scene always brings tears to my eyes even as it makes me stand to attention. There's a lot of plot and drama in this picture at all levels, but above all it's about patriotism and also the love of ships by certain kinds of men, and Robinson and Ford bring that over perfectly.British Columbia Tri-Star have done reasonably well by DESTROYER, and more so where the picture is concerned. The full-screen image is clean and sharp, if sometimes slightly dark, but the latter is never a real problem, even in the underwater welding scenes. Considering how lively the movie is, there's surprisingly little war-action until the last 30 minutes, but when it comes, it's exciting and suspenseful. The chaptering is reasonably generous, and there aren't any really significant extras connected to the movie, but that's okay -- the price is right. The sound may distort slightly on the high end of the volume, but I can live with that, and I stopped noticing (or noticing if the problem, minor as it was, was even still there) after the first 10 minutes. Oh, and in addition to good performances by Robinson, Ford, and Chapman, there's also fine work turned in by Edgar Buchanan, Regis Toomey, and Leo Gorcey, the latter a ball of pent-up energy in his supporting role as a tough, two-fisted draftee who is one of the harder cases Robinson has to deal with.

Love these old wartime morale boosters. They always have a good story, beginning, middle and end, with a little moral thrown in. It is also great to spot the actors of the time. Both the old established ones and the new ones on their way up.

Quality restoration of a solid mid-war story of tension on a new ship between old chief Edger G Robinson and an up and coming young Glenn Ford vs. a Jap sub. Battle scenes are better than many films of this era. Good region 2 copy that is even subtitled.

Excellent film. The black and white is very clear on this great old film

Wonderful picture, as expected.Happy that I bought this dvd to complete my war movies collection.Unfortunately, package and slim box are badly damaged.