Away All Boats (1956)

The story of a U.S. naval ship and its crew in the Pacific, 1943-1945.

Director:

Joseph Pevney

Writers:

Ted Sherdeman (screenplay), Kenneth M. Dodson (from the novel by)

Stars:

Jeff Chandler, George Nader, Lex Barker

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeff Chandler	...	Capt. Jebediah S. Hawks
George Nader	...	Lt. Dave MacDougall
Lex Barker	...	Cmdr. Quigley
Julie Adams	...	Nadine MacDougall
Keith Andes	...	Dr. Bell
Richard Boone	...	Lt. Fraser
William Reynolds	...	Ens. Kruger
Charles McGraw	...	Lt. Mike O'Bannion
Jock Mahoney	...	Alvick
John McIntire	...	Old Man / Film Intro Voice-over
Frank Faylen	...	Chief Phillip P. 'Pappy' Moran
James Westerfield	...	'Boats' Torgeson
Don Keefer	...	Ens. Twitchell
Kendall Clark	...	Lt. Jackson
George Dunn	...	Hubert

Storyline

The story of USS 'Belinda', Attack Transport PA22, launched late 1943 with regular-navy captain Hawks and ex-merchant captain MacDougall as boat commander. Despite personal friction, the two have plenty to deal with as the only experienced officers on board during the "shakedown." Almost laughable incompetence gradually improves, but the crew remains far from perfect when the ship sees action, landing troops on enemy beachheads. And few anticipate the challenges in store at Okinawa...

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Plot Keywords:

pacific | naval battle | u.s. navy | world war two | beachhead | 

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Taglines:

Exciting, inspiring story of battle action in Pacific Theater

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 August 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Away All Boats

Filming Locations:

San Diego, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$3,500,000, 31 December 1956

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kerama Retto is mentioned as the destination of the Belinda after she is seriously damaged by a kamikaze. This island, about a dozen miles southwest of Okinawa, was taken by the 77th Infantry Division at the start of the invasion, and used as both a staging area and an emergency anchorage, exactly as shown in the movie.

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Goofs

The shot of the Landing Craft, PA-11, is seen twice during the first beach landing scenes. The troops exit in exactly the same manner, including the soldier who runs to the immediate right of the craft.

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Quotes

Capt. Jebediah S. Hawks: The singular duty of this ship is to carry a combat-loaded battallion landing team of some 1400 officers & men and land them together with all necessary equipment right in the laps of the enemy. You are going to learn how to accomplish this. Easily, I hope. Or, if you prefer, as painfully as you wish.

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Connections

Edited into Midway (1976)

User Reviews

Informative To A Degree

AWAY ALL BOATS differs from a lot of war movies at the time . It's shot in colour ( Don't forget that many prestigious war movies from the mid 1950s were still being done in monochrome )and doesn't suffer from the seriously deadpan pseudo intellectualism of many other war films of that period

The setting for the story is on the USS Belinda , a navy transport ( Assualt ? ) ship in the Pacific campaign . It should be pointed out that AWAY ALL BOATS is also a film that doesn't concentrate on action , so don't go into this film expecting massive explosions all the way through because it's a much more thoughtful film than that . We see why discipline is needed , why it's a bad idea to wax a floor on a ship and why aircraft identification is very important , it was very rare in those days for Hollywood to show a friendly fire scene and after seeing this movie you'll feel as though you've just served alongside Captain Hawks

A war film that's possibly more informative than it is exciting but one that has merit