The Fighting Seabees is Republic Pictures' rip-roaring tribute to the US Navy's Construction Batallions (C.B.), without whom no plane would ever have gotten off the ground during WW2. John Wayne stars as Wedge Donovan, head of civilian construction company stationed in a pre-Pearl Harbor South Pacific war area. Despite Donovan's pleas to the Navy brass, he is denied permission to train his men for combat, the better to stave off imminent Japanese attack. Only after incurring heavy losses is Donovan given a commission and his men officially enlisted in the Navy. The self-sacrifical climax, as Donovan destroys a Japanese tank batallion at the cost of his own life, is one of the best-staged action highlights of its kind. As Constance Chesley, Susan Hayward finds herself in the unenviable position of being the apex in a romantic triangle involving herself, Wedge Donovan and Lt. Cmdr. Robert Yarrow (Dennis O'Keefe); her climactic speech, explaining how it's possible to love two men equally, is so well delivered that it transcends its essential corniness. Of the supporting cast, William Frawley stands out as Irish seabee Eddie Powers, who virtually signs his own death warrant when he begins singing happily just before an enemy sneak attack.
Condition:NEW. Brand New Factory Sealed
Product Details
Actors: John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Dennis O'Keefe, William Frawley, Paul Fix
Directors: Edward Ludwig
Format: Black & White, NTSC
Language: English
Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Olive Films
DVD Release Date: April 23, 2013
Run Time: 100 minutes
Special Features
Les extraits de films de la collection Diamant
Cast & Crew
John Wayne Wedge Donovan
Susan Hayward Constance Chesley
Dennis O'Keefe Lt. Cmdr. Robert Yarrow
William Frawley Eddie Powers
Leonid Kinskey Johnny Novasky
J.M. Kerrigan Sawyer Collins
Grant Withers Whanger Spreckles
Paul Fix Ding Jacobs
Ben Welden Yump Lumkin
William Forrest Lt. Kerrick
Addison Richards Captain Joyce
Jay Norris Joe Brick
Duncan Renaldo Juan
Roy Barcroft
Charles D. Brown
William Hall
Tom London Johnson
Chief Thundercloud
Charles Trowbridge
Wally Wales Seabee
Crane Whitley Refueling officer
Technical Credits
Edward Ludwig Director
Howard Lydecker Director
William Bradford Cinematographer
Borden Chase Screenwriter
Albert J. Cohen Associate Producer
Duncan Cramer Art Director
Theodore Lydecker Special Effects
Aeneas MacKenzie Screenwriter
Walter Scharf Score Composer
Richard Van Enger Editor
Roy Webb Score Composer
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