Destroyer (1943 film)

Destroyer
Directed by	William A. Seiter
Produced by	Louis F. Edelman
Written by	Borden Chase Lewis Meltzer Frank Wead (also story)
Starring	Edward G. Robinson Glenn Ford
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	August 19, 1943
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Destroyer is a 1943 war film starring Edward G. Robinson and Glenn Ford as U.S. Navy sailors in World War II.

Plot

Steve "Boley" Boleslavski (Edward G. Robinson) helps build the destroyer John Paul Jones, the namesake of the ship he served on in World War I. When he finds out that an old shipmate, Lieutenant Commander Clark (Regis Toomey), is the ship's new captain, he wrangles a berth as the chief bosun's mate.

However, Boley soon alienates the rest of the crew with his arrogance and strictness, particularly Mickey Donohue (Glenn Ford). Boley does not bother to study up on the machinery, since he mistakenly believes nothing has changed much since the last war. As a result, the crew performs poorly on the ship's sea trials. Boley is demoted for incompetence and Donohue takes over. To further complicate matters, Donohue and Boley's daughter Mary (Marguerite Chapman) fall in love.

Because of its poor showing, the Jones is assigned to carry mail. The disgruntled crewmen apply for transfers to fighting ships, but Boley talks them out of it with a stirring account of John Paul Jones' epic Revolutionary War battle with the HMS Serapis.

When a Japanese fleet is spotted trying to bring reinforcements to their foothold in the American Aleutian Islands, the crew of the Jones eagerly answers the general order to converge on the enemy, but is contemptuously ordered to stay out of the fight and sail to Sitka with the mail. Then, the Jones beats off an attack by six airplanes, downing all of them, but suffering several hits, including a gaping hole in the side. When a hostile submarine is detected, the crippled ship has to flee at its best speed. It manages to evade attack until night falls, but the rising water extinguishes the boilers, stopping the engines. The captain has no choice but to give the order to abandon ship. Boley pleads for a chance to stay aboard with a few volunteers, including Donohue, to try to effect repairs; Clark agrees. Boley succeeds in patching the hole just in time. At dawn, the destroyer drops depth charges, forcing the submarine to the surface, then rams and sinks it.

When the ship docks to much fanfare, Boley learns that Donohue has married his daughter.

Cast

• Edward G. Robinson as Steve Boleslavski
• Glenn Ford as Mickey Donohue
• Marguerite Chapman as Mary Boleslavski
• Edgar Buchanan as Kansas Jackson
• Leo Gorcey as Sarecky
• Regis Toomey as Lieutenant Commander Clark
• Edward Brophy as Casey
• Warren Ashe as Lieutenant Morton
• Benson Fong as Japanese sonar man
• Richard Loo as Japanese submarine captain
• Lloyd Bridges as Second Fireman (uncredited)

External links

• Destroyer at the TCM Movie Database
• Destroyer at the Internet Movie Database
• Destroyer at AllRovi