Capt. Jebediah S. Hawks
Jeff Chandler
Capt. Jebediah S. Hawks
Away All Boats
“The battle cry of the South Pacific”
5.1
1956
1h 54m
WarDrama
Director: Joseph Pevney
Overview
The story of USS 'Belinda', a U.S. naval ship, and its crew during the battle of the Pacific 1943-1945, as it prepares for action and landing troops on enemy beachheads.
Trailer
Away All Boats (1956) Official Trailer | Jeff Chandler, George Nader, Lex Barker Movie
Cast
Lieut. Dave MacDougall
George Nader
Lieut. Dave MacDougall
Commander Quigley
Lex Barker
Commander Quigley
Nadine MacDougall
Julie Adams
Nadine MacDougall
Doctor Bell
Keith Andes
Doctor Bell
Lieut. Fraser
Richard Boone
Lieut. Fraser
Ensign Kruger
William Reynolds
Ensign Kruger
Lieut. Mike O'Bannion
Charles McGraw
Lieut. Mike O'Bannion
Alvick
Jock Mahoney
Alvick
Chief Phillip P. 'Pappy' Moran
Frank Faylen
Chief Phillip P. 'Pappy' Moran
John McIntire
Jock Mahoney
Reviews
r96sk
A bit of a slog, is <em>'Away All Boats'</em>. I never quite felt the intended high stakes of the film, except right at the end when events reach the final destination - which is the only noteworthy part of the film. Aside from that, the whole plot just comes across as one whole training exercise as opposed to a war-torn trip across the Pacific Ocean. Jeff Chandler is fairly good in his role, though those behind him kinda just mesh into one character in my mind to be honest. Clint Eastwood features in the absolute definition of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance - in the penultimate 'uncredited' (exc. cameos) role of his career. This 1956 picture isn't one to rush off and watch, unfortunately. I was hoping for something more along the lines, if not an improvement, of <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/the-battle-of-the-river-plate/">The Battle of the River Plate</a>'</em> - which was, in fact, released roughly two months after this.
Read full reviewCinemaSerf
Jeff Chandler may have had top billing, but most of this film belonged to my peplum hero "Lex Barker" in the supporting role as "Cmdr. Quigley". Chandler, never an actor I rated in anything really, is the captain ("Hawks") of a US naval support ship. He wanted command of a cruiser, but he got this - and boy, is he determined to make sure he gets noticed. He drives his crew to breaking point with faster drills, speedier launches, target practice until, in the best tradition of Captain Bligh, they loathe him - he even maes them make him a sailing dinghy (aptly named "Albatross"). As their exercises in the Pacific start to morph from training to the real thing though, they begin to respect his visionary attitude a bit more and coupled with his experienced sidekick "MacDougall" (George Nader) this ship becomes a pretty cohesive unit. It plods. No other word for it. This film does feature some interesting seaborne photography, but the dialogue - of which there is way too much - is far too earnest and completely lacking in humour or humanity to sustain the interest for all but two hours. It's more of an all-male melodrama (save for a few reminiscences from Julie Adams' "Mrs MacDougall") that features for too little action until a brief lively spell at the end with some good aerial combat scenes that finally inject a degree of peril into this otherwise rather dull piece of cinema.
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