The Navy Way (1944)

Director:

William Berke

Writer:

Maxwell Shane (original screenplay)

Release Date:

26 February 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

Filmed at Great Lakes Naval Training Station...with 70,000 of Uncle Sam's fighting Bluejackets...and a ship-shapely WAVE who makes the boys behave!

Plot:

The experiences of a disparate group of young men as they make their way through Navy boot camp. |

Plot Keywords:

Navy | Boot Camp | Anchor | Ranch | New Jersey

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Robert Lowery	...	Johnny Zumano aka Johnny Jersey
Jean Parker	...	Ellen Sayre
William Henry	...	Malcolm Randall (as Bill Henry)
Roscoe Karns	...	Frankie Gimble
Sharon Douglas	...	Trudy
Robert Armstrong	...	CPO Harper
Tom Keene	...	Steve Appleby (as Richard Powers)
Larry Nunn	...	Billy Jamison
Mary Treen	...	Agnes
Wallace Pindell	...	Sailor Joslin (as Wally Pindell)
John 'Skins' Miller	...	Recruit Pop Lacy
Joseph Crehan	...	Chaplin Benson
Commander Hjalmar F. Hanson	...	Great Lakes Naval Station Choir Director
Art Lasky	...	Fighter
John J. 'Red' Madigan	...	Sailor

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Illinois, USA

Company:

Pine-Thomas Productions

Trivia:

Premiered at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, and the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan, with star Robert Lowery, Paramount contractees Susan Hayward, Phyllis Brooks and Albert Dekker and director 'William A. Berke'(as William Berke) in attendance.

Neither the Right Way Nor the Wrong Way

This is a flag-waving programmer about the lives of boots at the Great Lakes Training Facilities during World War II. It manages to cover all the bases without doing much wrong. This Pine-Thomas feature -- they were known as "Dollar Bills" because of their ability to squeeze out a decent flick on a tight budget -- manages to have a few interesting bits despite a lack of top-notch talent.

The central story, about turning around an unwilling draftee Robert Lowery, who is more interested in winning a boxing championship than the War, and his romance with gorgeous WAVE Jean Parker is a bit subpar, but a fine supporting cast including a humorous ex-shoe clerk Roscoe Karns, cowboy Tom Keene whose son has already died in the war and and Robert Armstrong as their instructor manages to keep things humming along.