Hellcats of the Navy (1957)

Director:

Nathan Juran

Writers (WGA):

Charles A. Lockwood (book) and
Hans Christian Adamson (book) ...
(more)

Release Date:

May 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | War

Tagline:

Down . . . Down . . . Down . . . into enemy waters with the fightin' hellcats of the U.S. sub pack !

Plot Keywords:

Frogman | U Boat | Navy | Nurse | Birthday Cake

Cast

Ronald Reagan	...	Cmdr. Casey Abbott (Captain, USS Starfish)
Nancy Davis	...	Nurse Lt. Helen Blair
Arthur Franz	...	Lt. Cmdr. Don Landon (XO, USS Starfish)
Robert Arthur	...	Freddy Warren
William Leslie	...	Lt. Paul Prentice
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	Carroll (as William Phillips)
Harry Lauter	...	Lt. (j.g.) Wes Barton
Michael Garth	...	Lt. Charlie (USS Starfish)
Joe Turkel	...	Chick (Torpedoman, USS Starfish) (as Joseph Turkel)
Don Keefer	...	Jug
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Max Showalter	...	Crewman / diver
Frank Chase	...	Sailor Holding Knife (uncredited)
Vinnie De Carlo	...	Sailor that dies on deck of sub in Cmdr Abbott's arms (uncredited)
James Dobson	...	Bob Altman (uncredited)
Thomas Browne Henry	...	Board of Inquiry Chief (uncredited)
Selmer Jackson	...	Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz (uncredited)
Maurice Manson	...	Vice-Adm. Charles A. Lockwood (uncredited)
Robert Nichols	...	Ens. Bob Altman (sonar officer) (uncredited)
Chester W. Nimitz	...	Himself (uncredited)

Directed by
Nathan Juran

Writing credits (WGA)
Charles A. Lockwood		(book "Hellcats of the Sea") (as Vice-Admiral Charles A. Lockwood Vice-Admiral USN Ret.) and
Hans Christian Adamson		(book "Hellcats of the Sea") (as Col. Hans Christian Adamson USAF Ret.)
David Lang		(screen story)
David Lang		(screenplay) and
Bernard Gordon		(screenplay) originally as Raymond T. Marcus

Produced by
Charles H. Schneer	....	producer

Original Music by
Mischa Bakaleinikoff

Cinematography by
Irving Lippman

Film Editing by
Jerome Thoms

Art Direction by
Rudi Feld

Set Decoration by
Sidney Clifford

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Abby Singer	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Dean Thomas	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard H. Kline	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
George Antheil	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
George Duning	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
George Greeley	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Louis Gruenberg	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Lucien Moraweck	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
David Raksin	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Max Steiner	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Morningside Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1957) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Hellcats of the Sea (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) | Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

San Diego, California, USA

Company:

Morningside Productions

Trivia:

The name of the Hellcat submarine in this movie that Ronald Reagan commands was the USS Starfish aka The Starfish. This was a fictional name and not the name of a real World War II US Navy Hellcat submarine. However, the type of name was in keeping with the style of fish and marine-like names of the real Hellcat submarines of the Second World War which were named as follows: SS 411 USS Spadefish; SS 401 USS Sea Dog; SS 291 USS Crevalle; SS 302 USS Skate; SS 282 USS Tunny; SS 283 USS Tinosa; SS 229 USS Flying Fish; SS 287 USS Bowfin; and SS 223 USS Bonefish.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Ron Reagan/The Nelsons (#11.9)" (1986)

Admiral Nimitz

Most of the comments about this very ordinary war film concerns the fact that it is the only film that co-starred Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Both of them did better work in Hollywood.

The real story is that Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, CINCPAC Pacific Theatre in World War II chose to make a personal appearance in this film about submarines. That's like having Eisenhower or MacArthur make a personal appearance in an army war film. Unheard of.

Nimitz's background was in submarines and our submarine fleet may very well have been the tipping factor in the Pacific War. We did to Japan what the Nazis tried to do to Great Britain, cut off their raw material and food. Nimitz was no hypocrite however. He admitted as much during the Nuremberg trials and that fact saved the Nazi U-Boat commander Karl Doenitz from the hangman for war crimes.

All the clichés about submarine warfare in the pre-atomic era are present in this film. It's a B Picture made just as B Pictures were being phased out of existence. The cast is competent enough, but it's all been done before.

I think the real story is why did Admiral Nimitz choose this submarine film to make an appearance in.