Minesweeper (1943)

A naval officer who had deserted several years earlier is drawn back to the Navy when World War II begins. He re-enlists under an assumed name, and is assigned to a minesweeper, where he ... See full summary »

Director:

William Berke

Writers:

Edward T. Lowe Jr. (original screenplay), Maxwell Shane (original screenplay)

Stars:

Richard Arlen, Jean Parker, Russell Hayden

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Arlen	...	Richard Houston - posing as Jim 'Tennessee' Smith
Jean Parker	...	Mary Smith
Russell Hayden	...	Seaman Elliot Nash
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	CPO Ichabod Ferdinand 'Fixit' Smith (as Guinn Williams)
Emma Dunn	...	Mom Smith
Charles D. Brown	...	Commander Lane
Frank Fenton	...	Lt. Ralph Gilpin
Chick Chandler	...	Seaman 'Corny' Welch
Douglas Fowley	...	Cutter Lieutenant Wells
Ralph Sanford	...	Seaman Cox
Billy Nelson	...	Bos'un 'Freshwater' Heims (as Bill Nelson)
Grant Withers	...	CPO Gregg, in Charge of Diving Crew

Storyline

A naval officer who had deserted several years earlier is drawn back to the Navy when World War II begins. He re-enlists under an assumed name, and is assigned to a minesweeper, where he has to perform hazardous duties while at the same time keeping his real identity a secret.

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Plot Keywords:

navy | minesweeper | harbor | japanese | naval | 

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Taglines:

DANGER AFLOAT! ABOVE, BELOW AND ACROSS THE SEAS...WITH THE HEROIC MEN OF THE COAST GUARD! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 1943 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pine-Thomas Productions, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

67 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.

User Reviews

At best, ordinary....

Perhaps my score of 4 is a bit generous. All I know is that this isn't the sort of film I'd heartily recommend, as it's pretty dull and pretty cheap.

The film begins with Richard Arlen traveling the rails. He's a hobo with a secret--and a very patriotic hobo at that. It's just after Pearl Harbor and Arlen has a fight with his fellow 'bos about the war and volunteering. Soon, Arlen meets up with Guinn Williams (in one of his better roles) and the two go off to volunteer with the US Navy. Williams was a retired navy man and Arlen seems to have some knowledge of the navy BUT he also has a secret. What it is and why he's posing as someone else is something you'll have to see for yourself---if you care.

The film is only occasionally entertaining, but to me finding out Arlen's secret wasn't worth time I invested in this WWII propaganda film. Aside from Williams' nice part, the rest of the cast just seemed pretty dull and the story was, at best, lackluster--showing the earmarks of a B-movie produced by a third-rate studio.