''This Man's Navy'' (aka ''Airship Squadron No. 4.'' and ''Lighter Than Air'') is a 1945

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

film about U.S. Navy

blimp A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hy ...

s directed by

William A. Wellman William Augustus Wellman (February 29, 1896 – December 9, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and military pilot. He was known for his work in crime, adventure, and action genre films, often focusing on avi ...

and starring

Wallace Beery Wallace Fitzgerald Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in '' Min and Bill'' (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in '' Grand Hotel'' ( ...

Tom Drake Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

Jan Clayton Jan Clayton (August 26, 1917 – August 28, 1983) was a film, musical theater, and television actress. She starred in the popular 1950s TV series ''Lassie''. Born near Alamogordo, New Mexico, the only child of two schoolteachers, Clayton start ...

and

James Gleason James Austin Gleason (May 23, 1882 – April 12, 1959) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter born in New York City. Gleason often portrayed "tough-talking, world-weary guys with a secret heart-of-gold." Life and career Gleason w ...

. The supporting cast features

Selena Royle Selena Royle (November 6, 1904 – April 23, 1983) was an American actress (of stage, radio, television and film), and later, an author. Early life and career Actress Royle was born in New York City to playwright Edwin Milton Royle and actress ...

and Beery's brother Noah Beery Sr., and presents a rare opportunity to see both Beery brothers work together in their later years. The picture is also one of the very few films, other than training films, to depict U.S. Navy airship operations.Hardwick and Schnepf 1989, p. 62.

Plot

During World War II, Chief Aviation Pilot Ned Trumpet (

) is the commander of a

Lakehurst, New Jersey Lakehurst is a borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 2,654,tall tale A tall tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual. Some tall tales are exaggerations of actual events, for example fish stories ("the fish that got away") such as, "That fish was so big, why I tell ya', it n ...

s, brags about his fictional son to his skeptical friend Jimmy Shannon (

) and, then realizes that he will need to find someone to impersonate his "son". By chance, Trumpet soon meets Jess Weaver (

), a young disabled man, arranging for an operation to fix his legs, injured in a riding accident. Afterward, Weaver agrees to go along with the deception and soon earns his Navy wings and commission as an

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

. While piloting a blimp on a submarine patrol mission, Trumpet launches an unauthorized attack on a German submarine (ignoring orders sent to break off the attack), but Weaver's bomb misses and the submarine fires back, hitting the airship. Trumpet takes over the controls and sinks the submarine. Weaver faces a court-martial for disobeying orders, but Trumpet takes the blame for his actions. After Weaver is awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, he gives the DFC ribbon to his "father." Leaving Lakehurst, Weaver gets pilot training at

NAS Pensacola Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United State ...

. Weaver transfers to Ferry Command. While on assignment in Burma, his airplane crashes in Japanese territory. Trumpet rushes to the rescue in a blimp. Fending off Japanese soldiers, the crew pick up three survivors, the fourth being killed. They are then attacked by three fighter aircraft. With the airship punctured and losing

helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

, the crew jettison as much as they can to gain altitude; when that is not enough to reach clouds to hide in, both Trumpet and Shannon parachute out. Allied P-38 Lightnings fly to their rescue. Afterward, Trumpet and Shannon return to base in triumph. Weaver indicates that he will be returning to the lighter-than-air service at Lakehurst, to reunite with his "father."

Cast

as Ned Trumpet *

as Jess Weaver *

as Jimmy Shannon *

as Cathey Cortland *

as Maude Weaver *

Noah Beery, Sr. Noah Nicholas Beery (January 17, 1882 – April 1, 1946) was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 until his death in 1946. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning actor Wallace Beery as well as the father of prominen ...

as Joe Hodum * Henry O'Neill as Roger Graystone * Steve Brodie as Tim Shannon * George Chandler as Bert Bland *

Donald Curtis Donald Curtis (born Curtis D. Rudolf; February 27, 1915 – May 22, 1997) was an American actor who had roles in dozens of films and television series. Biography Curtis was born in Spokane, Washington, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl W. Rudol ...

as Operations Officer * Arthur Walsh as Cadet Rayshek * Will Fowler as David * Richard Crockett as "Sparks" *

Blake Edwards Blake Edwards (born William Blake Crump; July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Edwards began his career in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon began writing screenplays and radio s ...

(uncredited)

Production

''This Man's Navy'' was an example of Hollywood's relentless wartime efforts to portray all the fighting units of the U.S. military in a film. Wallace Beery served in the U.S. Navy as a blimp commander, and on his discharge, was instrumental in convincing MGM to produce a film in tribute to his former command. Beery asked for and received complete cooperation from the U.S. Navy in making ''This Man's Navy''. Some scenes for the movie were filmed at the Naval Lighter-Than-Air Station, Santa Ana, California.

Reception

One of the typical potboilers Beery made in the 1940s, ''This Man's Navy'' received a typical reaction from critics and public alike. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' dismissed the film as pleasant fare but, "...while nominally a topical adventure, the film is largely devoted to Mr. Beery disporting himself as of yore. As a rough-hewn, golden-hearted chief petty officer in the Navy's blimp service, he is scarcely different from Beery the erstwhile marine, gob, etc." Aviation film historian Michael Paris in ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema'' (1995) noted that ''This Man's Navy'' hearkened back to an earlier era. Paris wrote, the film "is something of a throwback to the melodramatic style of the pre-war years and is strangely at odds with the realistic and sombre mood of ''

Wing and a Prayer ''Wing and a Prayer, The Story of Carrier X'' (also known as ''Queen of the Flat Tops '' and ''Torpedo Squadron Eight'') is a black-and-white 1944 war film about the heroic crew of an American aircraft carrier in the desperate early days of Wor ...

''."Paris 1995, p. 162.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Hardwick, Jack and Ed Schnepf. "A Viewer's Guide to Aviation Movies." ''The Making of the Great Aviation Films'', General Aviation Series, Volume 2, 1989. * Heiser, Wayne H. ''U.S. Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Aviation, V. I, 1916 - 1942 Chronology.'' McHenry, IL: Dihedral Press, 2006. . * Koppes, Clayton R. and Gregory D. Black. ''Hollywood Goes to War: How Politics, Profits and Propaganda Shaped World War II Movies.'' New York, The Free Press, 1987. . * Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema.'' Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. .

External links

* *
MSN: This Man's Navy
{{William A. Wellman 1945 films 1940s war adventure films American aviation films 1940s English-language films Films directed by William A. Wellman Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films about the United States Navy in World War II Films scored by Nathaniel Shilkret American war adventure films 1945 war films 1940s American films