Here Comes the Navy – 1934
This was an ultimately silly movie, though I wouldn’t exactly categorize it as a screwball comedy. It was move of a romantic comedy, but it seemed that the romance took a back seat to humor. It was wildly unrealistic in some aspects, consistent with rom-coms. But the movie was remarkable in that it worked with the US Navy and had the use of real naval equipment and crafts, and even had the participation of real naval sailors and officers as extras.
It starred James Cagney, playing “Chesty” O’Connor, a real jerk by modern standards who joins the navy to get revenge on Chief Petty Officer “Biff” Martin, played by Pat O’Brien. As a matter of fact, the entire plot was set into motion because Chesty was being a wanker and showing off in front of his construction worker friends. He picked a fight with Biff, a random guy on the street. The two men almost get into a fist fight then and there.
Later, Biff sees Chesty at a dance with his girl, Gladys, played by Dorothy Tree. To get back at him, Biff picks a fight with him, knocks him out and steals Gladys. Chesty loses his job for getting into fisticuffs with a naval officer. So he joins the navy to get the chance to get back at Biff. So not only is Chesty a jerk, he is also a moron. He signs up at the recruitment office, but as soon as he signs the paper, he is told that he will have to do 90 days-worth of training. He immediately tries to back out, but is told that his signature makes it too late.
While in basic training, he meets Droopy, played by wonderful character actor, Frank McHugh. The two become friends and when training is over, they are assigned to, as luck would have it, the Arizona, the battleship on which Chief Petty Officer Biff Martin is serving. Coincidence?!?! One day, while swabbing the deck, Chesty sees a pretty girl come on board to visit Biff. He goes out of his way to steal Biff’s sweetheart, Dorothy, played by Gloria Stewart. But he gets more than he bargained for. Not only does he actually falls in love with her, quickly learns that she is not Biff’s girlfriend, but his sister.
The rest of the film follows the continuing conflict between Chesty and Biff, Chesty’s efforts to get out of the Navy so that he can continue to go out with Dorothy, and her desire to see him excel in the military. Along the way, Chesty gets court marshalled for going AWOL to see Dorothy. In anger, he rejects the Navy, Biff’s offers of peace, Droopy’s friendship, and Dorothy’s love. During combat training, Chesty puts his own life at risk to put out a fire in a gun room and is awarded Navy Cross Medal, but he rejects that as well. His fellow sailors shun him and he is transferred to the rigid airship of the US Naval Air Service, the USS Macon.
When the Macon, a giant blimp, tries to dock, Biff gets caught on a guide rope and is hoisted up into the air. Disobeying orders, Chesty again puts his own life at risk to save him. He climbs down the guide rope, grabs Biff and parachutes them both to the safety of the ground where Dorothy is waiting to fawn over them both. Chesty is transferred back to the regular Navy, this time with a personal note from the President of the United States, promoting him to Boatswain of the Arizona, suddenly making him outrank Biff. And of course, this makes everything right with the world and Chesty and Dorothy get married, though he and Biff almost come to blows at the wedding.
OK, this ending was so phenomenally ridiculous because a soldier is never rewarded for disobeying orders. Despite the fact that he saved a life, a sailor with a court-marshal on his record who has shown a complete lack of respect for authority and the Navy in general, and who has proven that he cannot follow the rules, would not get a Presidential promotion. He would get dishonorably discharged or severely punished. It’s a good thing this movie was a comedy. That ending was certainly laughable. This movie was a comedy, though it didn’t have any laugh-out-loud moments. I guess it was supposed to be amusing to follow Chesty’s brainless extremism, or Droopy’s comic relief moments as he tried to sing along with the radio, thou his voice was horribly awful. And there was a running gag about trying to come up with $20 to by Droopy’s mother a set of false teeth.
But what I didn’t appreciate was the blatant racism portrayed in the film. In order to get ashore to visit Dorothy, Chesty goes to a black sailor, Cookie, played by Fred “Snowflake” Toones, and buys his shore-leave pass. Cookie is portrayed as a stupid man who is just a stone’s throw away from “Yessa Massa!” As if that wasn’t bad enough, Chesty then puts on black-face and isn’t recognized during a personal, up-close inspection by Biff. I mean, I understand that it was 1934, but I still call it ridiculously racist.
You also might recognize the name of the actress who played Dorothy. Gloria Stewart was only 24 when she starred in Here Comes the Navy. But she was 87 when she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for the Best Picture winning Titanic in 1997.