Hellcats of the Navy ** (1957, Ronald Reagan, Nancy Davis, Arthur Franz, Robert Arthur, Harry Lauter) – Classic Movie Review 3455

Director Nathan Juran’s 1957 war movie is a must-see for its one-off screen appearance together of married political couple Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis (Reagan), in which he plays a submarine commander called Casey Abbott who has broken up with her character. It is Commander Abbott’s mission to chart the minefields in the waters of Japan during World War Two.

Nancy Davis is nurse lieutenant Helen Blair, who has a romance with one of his crew, who is accidentally killed by USS Starfish Commander Casey Abbott (Reagan) when he orders the sub’s hatch closed too soon.

Juran’s World War Two action film is entertaining in an enjoyably mediocre sort of way, with rather feeble acting from the stars who, interestingly, are at their worst in the love scenes. Clichéd and ordinary, it doesn’t really deliver the promised excitement and drama, or act as the fine tribute to bravery that it was meant to be. Nevertheless, it is worth a look for this unique glimpse of the stars on screen together.

Also in the cast are Arthur Franz as Lt. Cmdr. Don Landon, Robert Arthur as Freddy Warren, Harry Lauter as Lt. Wes Barton, Selmer Jackson as Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, William Leslie as Lt. Paul Prentice, William Phillips as Carroll, Michael Garth, Joe Turkel, Don Keefer, Thomas Browne Henry, Maurice Manson, Robert Nichols and Chester W Nimitz.

Co-writer Bernard Gordon was originally credited as Raymond T Marcus, in the screenplay co-authored by David Lang, who also wrote the screen story from the book Hellcats of the Sea by Vice-Admiral Charles A Lockwood Vice-Admiral USN Retired and Colonel Hans Christian Adamson USAF Retired.

It was Ronald Reagan’s last cinema film (with TV’s The Killers still to come in 1964). He married Nancy Davis in 1952.

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan died on 6 March 2016 aged 94. In 1994, the former US President announced he had Alzheimer’s disease. Nancy Reagan, who was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy in 1987, cared for her husband until he died on 5 June 2004.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3455

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