Destroyer
You'll Always Remember . . . And Never Forget . . . Destroyer
1943 | 99m | English
Popularity: 3 (history)
| Director: | William A. Seiter |
|---|---|
| Writer: | Borden Chase, Lewis Meltzer, Frank Wead |
| Staring: |
| Flagwaving story of a new American destroyer, the JOHN PAUL JONES, from the day her keel is laid, to what was very nearly her last voyage. Among the crew, is Steve Boleslavski, a shipyard welder that helped build her, who reenlists, with his old rank of Chief bosuns mate. After failing her sea trials, she is assigned to the mail run, until caught up in a disparate battle with a Japanese sub. After getting torpedoed, and on the verge of sinking, the Captain, and crew hatch a plan to try and save the ship, and destroy the sub. | |
| Release Date: | Aug 19, 1943 |
|---|---|
| Director: | William A. Seiter |
| Writer: | Borden Chase, Lewis Meltzer, Frank Wead |
| Genres: | Adventure, Drama, War |
| Keywords | ship, destroyer, ship launch, uso |
| Production Companies | Columbia Pictures |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $0
Budget: $0 |
| Updates |
Updated: Aug 03, 2024 Entered: Apr 20, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Edward G. Robinson | Steven 'Boley' Boleslavski |
| Glenn Ford | Mickey Donohue |
| Edgar Buchanan | Kansas Jackson |
| Marguerite Chapman | Mary Boleslavski |
| Regis Toomey | Lt. Cmdr. Clark |
| Warren Ashe | Lt. Bert Marton |
| Leo Gorcey | Seaman Sarecky |
| Edward Brophy | Engineer Casey |
| Eddy Waller | Marty, a riveter |
| Roger Clark | Chief Engineer |
| Curt Bois | Swab with large nose |
| Kenneth MacDonald | Admiral (Clark's CO) |
| Charles D. Brown | Doctor, finding Boley unfit for further sea duty |
| Cliff Clark | Commandant |
| Richard Loo | Japanese Submarine Commander |
| Benson Fong | Japanese Sonar Man |
| Lloyd Bridges | 2nd Fireman (uncredited) |
| Tris Coffin | Doctor #1 (uncredited) |
| Bud Geary | 2nd Ship Fitter (uncredited) |
| Eddie Hall | Austin (uncredited) |
| Charles McGraw | Assistant Chief Engineer (uncredited) |
| Milburn Stone | Radioman (uncredited) |
| Dennis Moore | Communications Officer (uncredited) |
| Larry Parks | Ens. Johnson (uncredited) |
| Shirley Patterson | Bigbee's Girl (uncredited) |
| Gene Rizzi | Survivor (uncredited) |
| Frank Beckford | Yeoman |
| Dean Benton | Moore |
| Lynton Brent | Doctor |
| Roy Brent | Sailor |
| Stanley Brown | Marine / Fireman |
| George Bruggeman | Cook |
| Alma Carroll | Sailor's Girl Friend |
| Eddy Chandler | Chief Gunner's Mate |
| Edmund Cobb | 1st Workman |
| Eddie Coke | Storekeeper |
| Eleanor Counts | Sarecky's Girl |
| Roy Darmour | Pharmacist's Mate |
| Eddie Dew | Survivor |
| Lester Dorr | 1st Ship Fitter |
| John Estes | Helmsman |
| Jerry Franks Jr. | Pharmacist's Mate / Bridge Talker |
| Jack Gardner | Sailor |
| Lloyd Hanson | Collins |
| Al Hill | Knife-Eating Sailor |
| David Holt | Sobbing Sailor |
| Bobby Jordan | Sobbing Sailor |
| David S. Horsley | Thomas |
| Mauritz Hugo | Survivor |
| Stephen Keyes | Seaman Guard |
| George Magrill | Marine |
| Don McGill | Survivor |
| Robert McKenzie | Justice of the Peace |
| David McKim | Signalman |
| Frank Melton | Doctor |
| John Merton | Chief Quartermaster |
| Gertrude Messinger | Girl |
| Bob Milton | J.V. Talker |
| Pat O'Malley | Postman |
| Paul Perry | Doctor |
| Don Peters | Helmsman |
| Neil Reagan | Lt. J.C. Randolph |
| Mickey Rentschler | J.V. Talker |
| Addison Richards | Ship Building Foreman |
| Ronald R. Rondell | Survivor |
| Clark Ross | Pharmacist's Mate |
| Virginia Sale | Kansas' Dance Partner |
| Charles Sherlock | Chief Machinist's Mate |
| George Sherwood | Workman |
| Mel Shubert | James |
| John Tyrrell | Marine |
| Dale Van Sickel | Sailor |
| Dorothy Vernon | Justice of the Peace's Wife |
| Pierre Watkin | Admiral |
| Frank Wayne | Pharmacist's Mate |
| Craig Woods | Bigbee |
| Billy Young | Storekeeper |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| William A. Seiter | Director |
| Borden Chase | Screenplay |
| Lewis Meltzer | Screenplay |
| Morris Stoloff | Music Director |
| Franz Planer | Director of Photography |
| Gene Havlick | Editor |
| Lionel Banks | Art Direction |
| Milton Carter | Assistant Director |
| Cary Odell | Assistant Art Director |
| Frank Tuttle | Interior Designer |
| Anthony Collins | Original Music Composer |
| Frank Wead | Screenplay, Story |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Louis F. Edelman | Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 1 |
| 2024 | 5 | 8 | 18 | 3 |
| 2024 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 2 |
| 2024 | 7 | 5 | 16 | 1 |
| 2024 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 3 |
| 2024 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| 2024 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| 2024 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2024 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| 2025 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 1 |
| 2025 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2025 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Trending Position
It's really just a bit of wartime propaganda this - extolling the sterling efforts of the US Navy destroyer. From the build, through it's launch and maritime trials, this film follows "Boley" (Edward G. Robinson) who served on the last "USS John Paul Jones" and is determined to serve on this one. Th ... at determination causes upset with the younger "Donohue" (Glenn Ford) who is bumped of that gig - and the two men just don't get along. "Donohue" takes up with the older man's daughter "Mary" (Marguerite Chapman) and that just adds to their tensions. At sea - where this film spends nowhere near enough time - the ship has more than a few teething problems and the crew start to think more of "Boley" as a Jonah. Of course, it can't end that way - we know that the first half hour is merely a preamble to some rousing sea action from their beleaguered vessel. Were it to have been more of an adventure film, then I would probably have enjoyed it better, but it's really not much of anything. Ford doesn't impose himself at all, and though Robinson has a pugnacity to his character, the message just sort of gets lost in the weakly directed and written delivery. Fair-to-middling.