Here Comes the Navy
 Original film poster | ||
| Starring | James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Gloria Stuart | |
| Directed by | Lloyd Bacon | |
| Produced by | Louis Edelman | |
| Written by | Earl Baldwin, Ben Markson | |
| Editing by | George Amy | |
| Studio | Warner Bros. Pictures | |
| Music by | Charles A. Zimmerman | |
| Cinematography | Arthur Edeson | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corp. | |
| Released | Jul 20, 1934 in United States | |
| Runtime | 87 minutes | |
| Country | United States | |
| language | English | |
| Budget | $263,000 | |
| Gross | $1,758,000 | |
Here Comes the Navy (also known as Hey, Sailor) is a 1934 American romantic comedy film written by Earl Baldwin and Ben Markson and directed by Lloyd Bacon. The film stars James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Gloria Stuart and Frank McHugh. Stuart was Oscar-nominated 63 years later for another nautical epic, Titanic (1997).
Plot
Riveter "Chesty" O'Conner (James Cagney) and his best friend, "Droopy" (Frank McHugh), join the US Navy to annoy O'Connor's nemesis, Chief Petty Officer "Biff" Martin (Pat O'Brien). O'Conner gets himself court-martialled for being AWOL while visiting Martin's sister Dorothy (Gloria Stuart). Disgruntled at his treatment, O'Connor angrily derides the Navy and finds himself ostracized by his fellow sailors.
During gunnery practice, O'Conner helps put out a fire in a gun room and receives the Navy Cross medal, but he is still determined to get out of the Navy. Later. O'Conner transfers to the US Naval Air Service and is assigned to the rigid airship USS Macon[Note 1]. When the Macon tries to dock, Martin is accidentally caught on a guide rope and is hoisted into the air.[Note 2] Despite orders, O'Conner climbs down the rope and saves Martin's life by parachuting both of them to the ground.
Later, at the wedding of O'Conner to Dorothy, Martin finds out that O'Conner has been promoted to boatswain and now outranks him.
Cast
- James Cagney as Chester "Chesty" O'Connor
- Pat O'Brien as Chief Petty Officer William "Biff" Martin
- Gloria Stuart as Dorothy "Dot" Martin
- Frank McHugh as Wilbur "Droopy" Mullins
- Dorothy Tree as Gladys
- Willard Robertson as Lieutenant Commander
- Eddie Acuff as Marine Orderly
- George Irving as Admiral
- Sam McDaniel as Porter
- Fred "Snowflake" Toones as Sailor
- Niles Welch as Officer
- Leo White as Professor
- Howard Hickman as Captain
- Chuck Hamilton as Hood at Dance
- Eddy Chandler as Supply Sergeant
- Joseph Crehan as Recruiting Officer
- Ida Darling as Aunt
- Edward Earle as Navy Chaplain
- Maude Eburne as Droopy's Ma
- Robert Emmett as Tansey
Production
With the full cooperation of the US Navy, principal photography, which ended early May 1934, took place at several naval facilities, including the Bremerton Navy yard, Washington, Naval Training Station, San Diego, California, as well as other locations in San Pedro and Sunnyvale, California. Naval personnel made up many of the extras in the film. Of historical interest is that a portion of the filming of Here Comes the Navy took place aboard the battleship USS Arizona, which was sunk by the Japanese on December 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor. Further, portions of the film also include shots of the dirigible Macon, a year before the accident that destroyed the airship with the loss of two crew.
Notes
- ↑ USS Macon (ZRS-5) was a rigid airship built and operated by the United States Navy for scouting and served as a "flying aircraft carrier", designed to carry biplane parasite aircraft, five single-seat Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk for scouting or two-seat Fleet N2Y-1 for training. In service for less than two years, in 1935 the Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off California's Big Sur coast, though most of the crew were saved. The wreckage is listed as the USS 'Macon Airship Remains' on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Less than 20 ft (6.1 m) shorter than Hindenburg, both Macon and her sister ship Akron were among the largest flying objects in the world in terms of length and volume. Although both of the hydrogen-filled, Zeppelin-built Hindenburg and LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II were longer, the two American-built sister naval airships still hold the world record for helium-filled rigid airships. Hangar One at Moffett Field can be seen from Highway 101 as you drive by Moffett Field, which is now a NASA-operated airbase.
- ↑ This incident mirrored other accidents with ground crew being hoisted up when airships had mooring problems.
A Personal Note from Robin
"Here Comes the Navy" o'clock in this morning on "Turner Classic Movies." I stayed up to watch the whole movie. Cagney joins the Navy and is stationed at Naval training command San Diego. It was interesting to see the base and as it was in 1934. I was stationed there 1961 - a lot of changes. when Cagney completes boot camp he is stationed aboard USS Arizona as it was in 1934. I visited Arizona Memorial on Ford's Island, Pearl Harbor in 1960. for those of you who do not believe in ghosts, I would suggest you visit the Arizona Memorial. 1777 men lost their lives during the attack on Pearl Harbor and every one of their souls are still there.
Cagney requests transfer to Naval Air. As luck would have it, he is stationed aboard the Macon based at Moffat field in Sunnyvale California. seeing making leaving Hanger One and flying over the Bay Area (in 1934 - a year before the Macon went down in Monterey Bay) was a true sight to behold.
As soon as the movie was over, I got up at five in the morning and wrote this article.
The plot was contrived, the acting was "1934-ish" and the photography was early Warner Bros - but that being said, as a Navy vet, seeing the Naval battleships ships in action and the Macon in flight, this movie produced a lot of emotion in me.
See also [ Movies with Impact ]
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