Here Comes the Navy (1934)

A cocky guy joins the Navy for the wrong reason but finds romance and twice is cited for heroism.

Director:

Lloyd Bacon

Writers:

Earl Baldwin (screenplay), Ben Markson (screenplay),

Stars:

James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Gloria Stuart

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
James Cagney	...	Chesty O'Conner
Pat O'Brien	...	Biff Martin
Gloria Stuart	...	Dorothy Martin
Frank McHugh	...	Droopy Mullins
Dorothy Tree	...	Gladys
Robert Barrat	...	Commander Denny
Willard Robertson	...	Executive Officer
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Dance-Floor Manager (as Guinn Williams)
Howard C. Hickman	...	Captain (as Howard Hickman)
Maude Eburne	...	Droopy's Mother
George Irving	...	Admiral

Storyline

To continue a grudge with naval officer Biff Martin, feisty construction worker Chesty O'Connor joins the navy and manages to get stationed on the same ship as Martin. Further complications arise when O'Connor starts dating Martin's sister, whom he meets while on shore leave.

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Plot Keywords:

u.s.s. arizona | sister | grudge | battleship | chaplain | 

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Taglines:

James CAGNEY - Pat O'BRIEN And The Whole U. S. FLEET! (reissue poster)

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 July 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hey, Sailor!

Filming Locations:

Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The airship in the movie, the USS Macon, holds the world record (along with her twin sister USS Akron) for biggest helium filled airship.

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Goofs

The telegram Chesty receives is dated May 13, but his court martial for going AWOL after getting the telegram gives the date of the offense as April 2.

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Quotes

Wilbur 'Droopy' H. Mullins: [Droopy waves, then blows a kiss to his buddy, Chesty, who's leaving the ship for a new post.]
CPO: [Backs away from Droopy] What are you two guys, a couplea violets?
Wilbur 'Droopy' H. Mullins: Aw, mind your own business.
[Blows Chesty another kiss]

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Connections

Spoofed in Beware of Barnacle Bill (1935)

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Soundtracks

"Out for No Good"
(1933) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Second number played by the band at the Iron Workers' Frolic

User Reviews

The first of eight James Cagney - Pat O'Brien collaborations is a good, often funny drama with impressive Naval equipment used in location shooting.

Besides James Cagney and Pat O'Brien, there's also beautiful Gloria Stuart (63 years before her triumphant return to the screen in Titanic (1997)) as the love interest, and Frank McHugh providing comedy centered around his mother's false teeth. In a fight over a girl with Navy man O'Brien, Cagney is knocked out when his girl distracts him. And when O'Brien later steals his girl, Cagney is so angry he joins the Navy with the hope of getting even. Talk about holding grudges! After 3 months of basic training (shot on location at the Naval Training Station in San Diego, California), Cagney is assigned to the battleship U.S.S. Arizona, the ship O'Brien is on. The Navy allowed location shooting on the actual ship, which is the same one sunk at Pearl Harbor and is now in the harbor as a memorial. It's an impressive ship with unbelievable firepower and we see the big guns being loaded and fired in maneuvers. Meanwhile, Cagney had met and wooed Stuart, but she turned out to be O'Brien's sister! And O'Brien caused a rift, another reason for Cagney to get even with him. Because of a bad attitude problem, Cagney eventually is transferred to the dirigible U.S.S. Macon at Sunnyvale, California. Again, the actual airship is used and it is an awesome sight as it is pulled out of its hangar, dwarfing everything in view. As luck (and the script) would have it, the ship tries to land in windy weather but aborts, with O'Brien hanging on to a mooring line as it gains altitude. Cagney disobeys orders and climbs down the rope with a parachute to try to save the man he doesn't yet know is O'Brien.