''That Navy Spirit'' is a 1937 American
sports film
A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport or a sports-related topic is prominently featured or is a focus of the plot. D ...
directed by
Kurt Neumann and starring
Lew Ayres
Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996) was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film ''All Quiet on the Western Fro ...
,
Mary Carlisle and
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...
.
[Quinlan p.274] It is also known by the
alternative title ''Hold 'Em Navy''. It follows two members of the
American football
American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
team at the
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...
in
Annapolis
Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...
who compete over the same girl before the varsity game against
West Point
The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
.
Plot
As first-year "plebes" at the Naval Academy, newcomers Tommy and Stuffy are subjected to rude treatment by the upperclassmen. After one of them, Chuck Baldwin, gives him a hard time, Tommy decides to invite Chuck's sweetheart Judy to a school ball.
Tommy is also a talented football quarterback, but because Chuck informs on him being out after curfew, Tommy is suspended from the team and Navy loses the game. Judy is upset with Tommy, but a year later, when the situation is reversed and Chuck is caught out after dark, Tommy vouches for him. Chuck plays and helps Navy defeat Army in the big game, then dedicates the victory to Tommy.
Main cast
*
Lew Ayres
Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996) was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film ''All Quiet on the Western Fro ...
as Tommy Graham
*
Mary Carlisle as Judy Holland
*
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...
as Chuck Baldwin
*
Elizabeth Patterson as Grandma Holland
*
Benny Baker as Stuffy Miller
*
Archie Twitchell as Jerry Abbott
*
Tully Marshall
Tully Marshall (born William Phillips; April 10, 1864 – March 10, 1943) was an American character actor. He had nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience before his debut film appearance in 1914 which led to a film career spanning alm ...
as The 'Admiral'
*
Billy Daniel as Midshipman Steve Crenshaw
*
Richard Denning as Midshipman Jepson
*
John Hubbard as Midshipman Hopkins
*
Lee Bennett as Midshipman Blake
Alan Ladd
Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in ...
has a small role.
See also
*
List of American football films
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
References
Bibliography
* Quinlan, David. ''The Film Lover's Companion: An A to Z Guide to 2,000 Stars and the Movies They Made''. Carol Publishing Group, 1997.
External links
*
1937 films
1930s sports films
Films directed by Kurt Neumann
Paramount Pictures films
American football films
Films set in Maryland
American black-and-white films
1930s English-language films
1930s American films
Annapolis, Maryland in fiction
English-language sports films
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