Son of the Navy (1940) User Reviews

The family of his choice

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 9 March 2013]

Some familiar family clichés abound in this Monogram Production that stars James Dunn as a sailor trying to get back to his ship before it sails. He meets up with young Martin Spellman who is running away from an orphanage and the two of them and Martin's terrier dog team up to hitch a ride with Jean Parker to get to the docks at San Pedro.

If Dunn thinks he's seen the last of Parker, Spellman, and the dog he's got another think coming. Spellman has picked these two out as his future parents. That's going to be hard because Parker is a Navy brat who has sworn she'll never marry a sailor. She's got a nice steady responsible businessman boyfriend in Craig Reynolds who's also one big drip.

I don't think I have to say any more. Monogram was never known for its originality. But young Spellman is a winning kid and you do really root for him to get the family of his choice.

Son Of The Navy is a nice family film that for Monogram is the equivalent of something like The Yearling.

Quite enjoyable...despite being low-budget and a bit crappy at times.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 30 October 2010]

Sorry...I just wanted an excuse to use the word 'crappy'. But this is a good way to describe the acting of Jean Parker. She over-emoted and couldn't deliver her lines in this film. I am sure she probably was a very nice person, but at least here she was awful. In addition, the plot had some sizable holes...yet was tough not to like.

The film begins with the Chief Petty Officer (James Dunn) waking up late and realizing he only has one hour to make it back to his naval ship or be considered AWOL. So, he rushes like mad and hops from ride to ride. At one point, he meets up with a cute kid who has a dog--and he pretends the kid is his in order have an easier time getting a ride. The plan works BUT also backfires. He does make it to the ship but the woman who gives him a ride is the Admiral's daughter AND she tells her father about this horrible sailor who just abandoned his kid at the docks! Now everyone thinks that Dunn is a horrible man---because the kid says that Dunn IS his father. Why would he do this? Well, because he's an orphan who escaped from an orphanage and thinks he might be able to avoid going back if he lies. The kid reasons that he can get Dunn and the nice lady (the Admiral's daughter--played by Jean Parker) together--and, not surprisingly, this is what you KNOW will happen by the end of the movie.

It's all a very cute family movie. After all, it has a cute dog (it sure looks like Toto from "The Wizard of Oz" and is a Cairn Terrier), a kind of cute kid and Dunn does a great job as a befuddled sailor whose life is now a huge mess! For a low-budget film, it works pretty well despite the obvious problems with the plot--after all, if they just asked the kid a question or two they'd learn that he knew nothing about Dunn and had zero proof! But, if you can forget about this and just sit back and enjoy, then you're bound to have a nice time.

Orphan Boy Seeks Parents: Finds James Dunn & Eleanor Parker

[boblipton · 5/10 · 24 March 2018]

Martin Spellman -- who is still alive as I write this -- and his dog Terry -- best known for playing Toto in THE WIZARD OF OZ -- have run away from an orphanage to look for some parents. Along with James Dunn, who is looking for a lift back to his navy ship, before he is marked AWOL, they get a lift from Jean Parker, who thinks they are father and son.... and makes it stick for most of this decent little Monogram second feature.

It's an appealing threesome in the lead, even if it is a little too sentimental for my taste and some of the details seem to have been intended to make the movie stretch out to a decent 71 minutes. Mr. Dunn and Miss Paker spend a lot of time shouting at each other, which makes their fate more inevitable, and everyone seems very amiable in their roles, even the grouchy landlord who calls the cops on Mr. Dunn.

The movie was released in May, but given a Christmastime setting. Since one of the ships mentioned frequently is the Arizona, which was sunk at Pearl Harbor, it' was a bit disconcerting, but that's the sort of thing that happens when you watch old movies.

"The nerve of him. Ordering me out of HIS apartment."

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 24 August 2022]

Normally demanding females in the movies like the character that Jean Parker plays annoy me, but I had fun laughing at her because with every order she barks, it comes back to slap her. The film opens with sailor James Dunn trying to hitch a ride so he'll make it to the naval base before his ship leaves. Young Martin Spellman and his terrier (Terry, instantly recognizable as Toto from "The Wizard of Oz') start hitching along with him, and are picked up by Parker while she's on her way to see her admiral father, Selmer Jackson.

Spellman makes Parker believe that Dunn is his father, which sets off a screaming war over how "Daddy Dunn" raises his kid. It's obvious that Parker and Dunn are crazy about each other but both are too stubborn to admit it because they fight so much. It turns out that Parker pretty much screams at everybody she meets, and this too would normally have me disliking her. But for some reason I can't fathom, I enjoyed her screwball comedy like antics, knowing that it was all going to catch up to her at the end when she found out the truth and learned the error of her ways.

I think one of the reasons why I enjoyed this so much was that in spite of all the screaming, the film is very sweet natured and it shows that two people who seem on the surface that shouldn't be in relationships actually belong together. There's a great Christmas sequence that is very sweet while mixed with comic antics, and Terry the dog rivals Asta for cuteness, especially when he jumps into a hamper assuming that it's landlady Sarah Padden coming through the door. This could have been set in any profession as the Navy setting really makes no impact on the story, and seems like a familiar story to me from other screwball comedies.

The kid who got younger

[riccibilotta-167-829847 · 7/10 · 14 December 2020]

Fun family movie about a runaway 12 yr old orphan, who was hitching a ride. He meets a navy man also hitchhiking. The boy pretends to be the sailors son, and gets a ride from a loud woman. Then the fun begins. James Dunn plays the sailor, and Jean Parker plays the female lead who spends most of the time yelling. The radio says he's 12, the loud lady later says he's 11, and near the end the sailor says he's 10. He was really 15 when he made this film. Overall, a fun movie to watch.

heartwarming story of an orphaned boy and his dog

[jcholguin · 10/10 · 11 May 2001]

A sailor needs a ride to San Pedro so he must hitchhike. At the same time a runaway orphaned boy and his dog also are looking for a ride but with the hidden motive of finding a "mom" and "pop." The sailor and boy decide to play father & son but only for hitching a ride. The boy has other plans thereby putting the unwitting sailor in trouble with the navy. The sailor at first denies a son but soon begins to like then love the boy & dog. Finding a "mother" is another thing but the boy manages though his scheming. A true heartwarming and sentimental story of a boy & his dog. Need I say more?