Hellcats of the Navy (1957)

The daring exploits of a submarine commander whose mission is to chart the minefields in the waters of Japan during World War II.

Director:

Nathan Juran

Writers:

Charles A. Lockwood (book) (as Vice-Admiral Charles A. Lockwood Vice-Admiral USN Ret.), Hans Christian Adamson (book) (as Col. Hans Christian Adamson USAF Ret.)

Stars:

Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Arthur Franz

Cast

Cast overview:
Ronald Reagan	...	Cmdr. Casey Abbott
Nancy Reagan	...	Nurse Lt. Helen Blair (as Nancy Davis)
Arthur Franz	...	Lt. Cmdr. Don Landon
Robert Arthur	...	Freddy Warren
William Leslie	...	Lt. Paul Prentice
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	Carroll (as William Phillips)
Harry Lauter	...	Lt. (j.g.) Wes Barton
Michael Garth	...	Bill aka Lt. Charlie
Joe Turkel	...	Chick (as Joseph Turkel)
Don Keefer	...	Jug

Storyline

The daring exploits of a submarine commander whose mission is to chart the minefields in the waters of Japan during World War II.

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Plot Keywords:

submarine | u boat | nurse | love triangle | birthday cake | 

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Taglines:

Down . . . Down . . . Down . . . into enemy waters with the fightin' hellcats of the U.S. sub pack !

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

May 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hellcats of the Sea

Filming Locations:

San Diego Naval Training Station, San Diego, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Morningside Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As declared by the 'Hollywood Reporter' of 4-6 August 2000, the screen-writing credit of Raymond T. Marcus for this film is actually an alias for blacklisted scriptwriter Bernard Gordon. Gordon once said that he thought that it was ironic that he could not put his name to the script due to a blacklist that the actual movie's star Ronald Reagan denied ever existed (to Joseph Alsop in 1980).

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Goofs

Just before the American submarine "Starfish" is sunk, a Japanese submarine hydrophone operator is shown wearing a Telephonics headphones headset. Telephonics is an American brand made in New York, NY.

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Crazy Credits

The scenes used to show the island they are attacking are from the movie "Crash Dive"

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Connections

Referenced in Shocker (1989)

User Reviews

Better than I'd remembered.

In general, I really like films about submarines. They seem to have a great sense of drama and tension. However, many years ago when I first saw "Hellcats of the Navy", my reaction was not very positive. Fortunately, now that I've re-watched it, I found it was much better and is actually a worthwhile film. Cerebral and understated...but still worthwhile.

The film is about an American sub and its commander, Casey Abbott (Ronald Reagan). His task is to try to discover a way through the Japanese anti-ship defenses (in other words, mines and nets) so that the Americans can cut off the Japanese supply lines to the mainland. However, his job is made tougher because his first officer doesn't particularly like or respect him. He sees Commander Abbott as too emotionless and cold when it comes to his decisions---and this all begins be a problem after the Commander leaves one of his men behind during a mission.

This is the one and only movie that pairs Reagan with his real life wife, Nancy Davis. That alone is reason to watch it. But the loneliness of command and the life and death decisions made by the captain of a vessel also makes this worth seeing. Could this have been better? Sure...it is a bit too cerebral at times. But still, it is a watchable war film and kept my interest.