You're in the Navy Now (1951)

This comedy isn't quite ship-shape.

That's too bad because look at the talent associated with this 1951 release - director Henry Hathaway (Call Northside 777, True Grit) and actors Gary Cooper (high noon, Meet John Doe), Eddie Albert (The Longest Day) and, in his film debut, Charles Bronson.

You're in the Navy Now is based on a true story from the Second World War. The United States Navy experimented with a steam engine that would boost the speed of a sub chaser by 10 knots. Project XP11204 is pretty neat, a slice of WWII history this history buff didn't know about.

Said engine never seems to work for long, prompting numerous replacements and returns to sea to make it right. Dubbed the Tea Kettle, the boat and its crew becomes the joke of the navy. Morale is poor. Skipper Lt. John Harkness (Gary Cooper) is flustered. He's an engineer who was quickly educated in the ways of the military and pressed into service. Almost all of the crew is also new to the navy too, save George Larrabee (Millard Mitchell), an old salt who wonders what he's done to get his latest assignment. He calls his comrades "a lot of misfits."

There are numerous problems with this film. Let's start with Harkness' wife, Ellie (Jane Greer). She's way too young for him. Cooper would have been about 50 when he made this film. Greer was half her age. I complained about a wide age difference last week with The Pink Panther. The same argument stands here. It's hard to believe these two are a couple. There's no chemistry. I'd suggest not offering this line to your better half, "You smell better than an engine room."

Some of the acting is just plain bad. I'm a big fan of Mitchell, who I first discovered in the excellent war film twelve o'clock high. But there's a scene in this film where he reacts with laughter that makes him look like he's making his debut in a high school drama production. My beef isn't just with Mitchell. There are other scenes in this film that look like they involve a bunch of amateurs, not a major studio effort from 20th Century Fox and a decent talent like Hathaway.

Here's another complaint which isn't really fair since this movie was made in 1951. But I think viewers will definitely notice. The funniest scene in the film involves the Tea Kettle racing along at an unstoppable speech. Numerous collisions appear imminent. But, to a viewer in 2013, it's so obvious scenes of other ships, or structures, are cut in. Sigh. But I do love how the brass react to the bumpy ride along the way.

And, how about the top secret angle associated with the project. Doesn't that make things hush-hush? Yet everyone and his brother on the naval base knows what's going on with the Tea Kettle. New steam engines are loaded on in broad daylight. Loose lips sink ships. Wouldn't the Germans and Japanese figured out what the Americans were up to with all that chit chat?

There are funny moments in the film. Efforts to move the ship from its berth with an impatient port commander (Ed Begley) are quite well-done.

But You're in the Navy Now comes close to being a shipwreck.

RATING: 5/10

Kiss of Death (1947)

I'll make some noise about how effective silence is in this so-so film noir.

Nick Bianco (Victor Mature) is a nice guy and a con. Out of jail for a year, he can't find work. Having a rap sheet is hurting his employment prospects. It's Christmas Eve and Bianco has two daughters hoping for something from Santa under the tree.


Bianco, and a couple of his pals, rob a jeweler in New York City's Chrysler Building.


Cue silent scene No. 1. The thugs have to take the elevator down 20+ floors. It's Dec. 24. That means plenty of stops between the scene of the crime and the exit door. Cut repeatedly between the bound and gagged businessman straining to hit an alarm and Bianco and company keeping a nervous eyes on the descending floor numbers.


FATHER AND SON, THUGS BOTH


They don't make it out in time. Police arrive. Bianco tries to flee and gets shot by police. History repeats itself. His father was shot dead by the coppers 20 years before.


Assistant district attorney Louis D'Angelo offers Bianco a deal. Tell him who else took part in the heist and he'll get reduced jail time. Bianco doesn't bite -- even with the prospect of not seeing his two girls for a long stretch.


CHANGE IN GAME PLAN


Three years into his stint at Sing Sing, Bianco gets a change of heart. His wife, despondent over tight finances, kills herself. His children are put in an orphanage.


Bianco decides to talk. He gets parole and can stay out of jail if he agrees to help D'Angelo with some other cases.

KILLER WORK BY RICHARD WIDMARK


One major file the district attorney needs help with is putting vicious killer Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark, Panic in the Streets (Fox Film Noir)) behind bars. Widmark is impressive in his film debut. He received a best supporting Oscar nomination for his work in this Henry Hathaway film. Udo is the kind of guy who cheers for a boxer to knock his opponent's eye out. Nice.


Udo is a cold-blooded killer with a sinister giggle. Cross him at your own peril. The mother of an associate, thought to have squealed instead of Bianco, meets a horrific end.


Bianco testifies against Udo. Udo is found not guilty. He comes looking for revenge.


This leads to silent scene No. 2. Bianco knows he can't run. He knows his new wife, Nettie (Coleen Gray), and his daughters will be in danger as long as Udo is free.


Bianco tracks Tommy down to an Italian restaurant. There's silence as he sits at a table, smoking a cigarette, waiting for Uto to come out of a back room. Through the sliver of a slightly-opened door, Tommy approaches. This scene heightens the suspence between the two finally squaring off -- for good.


There's not a lot of surprises in Kiss of Death. Viewers can pretty much guess what will come next. But those two silent scenes, a great Widmark and some fine supporting work, including an early role for Karl Malden (Patton) make this 1947 release a mild curiousity.


RATING: 7.5/10


FUN FACTS: Brian Donlevy received a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for Beau Geste.

Kiss of Death was Coleen Gray's first major film role.

Taylor Holmes, who appears as Bianco's corrupt lawyer Earl Howser, was the voice of Stefan in Disney's Sleeping Beauty. He made his film debut in Efficiency Edgar's Courtship (1917).