Stand By For Action

I saw a very interesting, very funny picture on TCM yesterday. "Stand by For Action", was interesting because in the world of old Hollywood it was neither fish nor fowl. The story involves a now cliched standard issue war movie plot of the spoiled rich kid who goes to war and is forced to serve under the grizzled old vet who mistreats the crew and issues commands that prize Naval discipline and the good of the whole over any individual life. And the spoiled rich kid is forced to grow up and see the world through new eyes. There is a cute sub-plot involving a rescued boat of new-born babies which of course adds hilarious complications to the story. We've seen it all before so we know what will happen. Except, none of the things we expect to have happen ever do.

Although it was very funny it wasn't really a "service comedy". And though it had some great action sequences it wasn't really an "action" picture. It contained one very powerful patriotic speech (more about that later) and was made in the very first days of WW II but it was in no way a "propaganda" film.

The cast was also kind of oddball. Robert Taylor (who I've never understood - he always seemed like a second rate William Powell to me) was the lead and played the Harvard grad "40 day wonder" type assigned to work under the mean bastard captain played by Brian Donlevy. Charles Laughton appears as the Admiral who puts the two of them together. Supporting roles are taken by Douglas Dumbrille, Henry O'Neill, Walter Brennan, and Chill Wills. And I think the casting is the main reason I got such a kick out of this movie.

In the days of the studio system actors had to be able to do a little bit of everything. Type casting was common, but you were expected to be able to sing, dance , do comedy, do drama, do whatever the part called for on any given day. So in this picture we are given four of the screens "villian" specialists Donlevy, Laughton, Dumbrille, and O'Neill, but none of them plays a villian.

Laughton and Donlevy were wonderful together. As near as I can tell, and my research is incomplete, this is the only movie they made together and it's a shame. They play off each other, and our expectations of them, very well. Made seven years after "Mutiny on The Bounty" I kept waiting for Laughton to do something evil or nasty or Bligh-like. Instead, he delivers one of the best "Let's go Navy" speeches I've ever heard, yet manages to prevent it from turning into overt propaganda. He does broad comedy while refusing to go over the top, and delivers a very human, hilarious performance.

Likewise Donlevy is able to use the expectation of another Sgt. Markoff from "Beau Geste" type to deliver a performance that's funny, touching, and a tough but human character.

I should also mention that while there is a great deal of humor in this picture there is also a very nice battle sequence played out between Donlevy's destroyer and a Japanese battleship that's one of the best I've ever seen.

While the plot is a bit hackneyed. the performances and characters make this well worth seeing.