User Reviews

This is my movie! I served active duty Navy from 1976 to 1983. My first assignment was aboard USS Mobile (LKA-115). Mobile was built in 1967, a successor of the Belinda. We had cargo holds, landing craft, 120 troop berths for a combat battalion. Our mission was to transport troops and put them on the beach with the means to stay engaged for two weeks, until resupplied. My service was during peace, no one was shooting at us.

But to see the movie, the ship to shore movement, Landing Craft circling prior to loading troops and equipment, discuss them as the main weapon of the ship - brought back many memories.

Many of the scenes felt "true" to me, watch standing, inspecting the water filled hold, towing to safety.

When I am asked what my navy experience was like I tell people to watch this movie but realize I served when we were at peace.

It's the story of the USS Belinda, an attack transport, whose mission is to take Marines and soldiers to the beaches of the Pacific and land them, usually under fire. And it's not badly done.

Jeff Chandler is the necessary tough but fair captain of the Belinda. He remains isolated from the men throughout, as he must, since he's in command, and must whip the new sailors and officers into shape. As in every other war movie you can think of, he must be cruel to be kind.

The exception to this formula is "The Caine Mutiny," in which the crew are seasoned and efficient, while the new commanding officer is petty, incompetent, and half nuts.

Be that as it may, the film has some good things going for it. One is the photography by William Daniels. The shots aboard and around the ship are convincing. When you watch the Belinda from the air, you see a real Navy transport, suffering a real list, emitting real smoke from its damaged deck, and being towed by real LCVPs. The combat scenes are model work but reasonably effective. Especially impressive are the special effects used during the Kamikaze attacks at Okinawa. The tiny suicide airplanes in the distance are gradually enveloped in exact replicas of the small blotches of exploding 40 millimeter shells, as if the far-off sky were erupting in dozens of black freckles. And, as a bonus, they aren't accompanied at first by loud bangs on the sound track because, as in real life, they're too distant for the noise to register. A fine and convincing job that required some thought. Not too much, but some.

Jeff Chandler is reliable without being memorable. George Nader as the only other experienced seaman aboard is the audience proxy and does a professional job, as do most of the supporting cast, especially Charles McGraw as the Beachmaster and Richard Boone, as the manly but unforgiving Lieutenant Fraser. Even Lex Barker, the ex Tarzan, pulls off his role as the ineffective executive officer enacts his role with aplomb, though, according to Boone, who holds him in contempt, he has nothing but good manners and a toothpaste smile. Barker retains both features as he "grows into his stripes" and finally qualifies for his own command, although his maturation is no more than mentioned, rather than illustrated. Some of the minor roles are embarrassingly bad. The chicken grinder should have stuck to grinding chicken guts. And Ensign Twitchell, who has the mind and temper of a spoiled ten-year-old overplays a part that is already over-written.

I rather like it, too, because it's the story of an unglamorous ship, an Attack Transport. There are lots of movies about carriers and destroyers, but none others that I know of that deal with APAs, some of which were manned by U. S. Coast Guard personnel. Finally, the most tense sequences, aside from the Kamikaze attacks, deal with the salvage of the half wrecked Belinda. There are no exciting moments imposed on the narrative by a landing party armed with Tommy guns. There is, though, a rather extended flashback involving Nader's courtship of Julie Adams. It's only saving grace is that, amidst the torpid romance, Julie Adams is on display for a few minutes in an appealing white swim suit. And she is an elegant-looking dish.

Dealing with events in the Pacific prior to and just after Pearl Harbor, this Technicolor war drama shows everybody in such a good light that the ocean seems to be filled with pure cane sugar rather than undrinkable salt water. There's your typical light conflict aboard the ship captained by salt and pepper haired Jeff Chandler, and featuring Lex Barker and George Nader, with the lovely Julie Adams awaiting news from husband Nader at home, frantic when Pearl Harbor occurs.

There's so much going on aboard the ship that the audience is fooled much of the time to think that there's a storyline, but it's mostly just the circumstances leading up to Pearl Harbor and what occurs afterwards. When the boat goes into action, a bit of excitement occurs, but I found it easy to get lost in waiting for things to heat up. Still it's an attractive cast, very patriotic, and somewhat satisfying, trying to fool the viewer to forget how bored they were before it finally took off. The second half is definitely a massive improvement.

In 1943, hard nosed Captain Hawks is placed in command of the Belinda, an attack transport ship responsible for ferrying Marines to Japanese held islands in the Pacific. Austere in character, the rigorous Hawks enforces sharp discipline on the Belinda's lackadaisical crew. He is met at first with resentment, but later wins the men's respect using tact whilst remaining firm. Hawks pushes the men beyond their limits as the Belinda fights it's way through some of the bitterest campaigns in the Pacific theatre.

Away All Boats is dated flag waving at the best of times crammed with all the war movie clichés of the decade as well a strong share of wooden performances. The movie chunters along at a laboured pace with mostly desiccated dialogue and tight eruptions of action. It does get rather boring in the middle and we are fed spoonful upon spoonful of corniness. The romantic flashbacks involving Lt. MacDougall(the Belinda's second in command)and his wife forced me to cringe. I just found these flashbacks pointless and again clichéd, they're just so familiar and seem to be copied from at least 10 other movies. Then again I suppose every film of the 1940s and 50s had to have at least one character with a love interest. The 1950s morals surrounding husband and wife were just too forced. There are also some poor attempts at comic relief. Two sailors fight over a Coconut like a couple of kids which in turn instigates a brawl. I'm sorry but it made the movie feel all the more hackneyed. The main problem is that the script contained a few great ideas which were hashed together with mawkish plot devices in a rush. The piercing soundtrack, whilst commanding your attention, is nearly played non stop over endless shots of landing craft and Battleships.

Apart from the movie dragging itself to the point of becoming tiresome, Jeff Chandler was excellent as the stern Captain Hawks, although he was trying too hard to channel John Wayne. He played in a lot of Universal's B westerns but his portray of Hawks in this movie is his most robust performance. He really hams it up without coming across as being too pretentious, therefore exploding with charisma in a lot of scenes and showing the viewer he cares about his character. His acting ability peaks during the battle near the end of the movie. At the sight of a burning Kamikaze hurtling toward the Belinda, the near crazed Hawks waves his hand in rage and screams above all the explosions and gunfire as it speeds ever closer "HARD LEFT, HARD LEFT I SAY, GET AWAY FROM MY SHIP, GET YOUR FILTHY PLANE AWAY FROM MY SHIP"!!!!!!. The plane crashes and the Bridge becomes engulfed in flames. Overacted maybe, but these few seconds are the greatest part of the entire film and the brutal aggression displayed by Chandler is an acting tour de force to be reckoned with!. The same cannot be said for much of the other actors, although Richard Boone was pretty good. The few action sequences were spectacular and crammed with all the suspense that director Joseph Penvey could muster. The use of colour wartime footage showing massive destroyer's cannons blasting islands to smithereens takes us on a whistle-stop tour of the battles of Makin, Saipan, Guam and others. The final Kamikaze attack on the Belinda was packed with amazing special effects and tautness and looked extremely professional. A lot of this action footage, including the shot of one of the Japanese planes crashing into the Belinda, various shots of anti aircraft batteries firing at the attacking planes and shots of the Belinda's crew struggling to douse the flames on it's deck were all pinched and inserted into The Battle OF Midway(1976). This is the only part of the movie which etches the realistic chaos of war into your mind.

Away All Boats is given the cheap and corny treatment but is saved by a few dazzling sequences, but it's not up to much other than that. It's still worth watching for some of the sequences mentioned above though.7/10.

I am going to give reasons here why "Away All Boats" is just about the best naval drama ever put onto film. Self-evidently, this unpretentious but absorbing movie has a lot going for it, Among its assets are beautiful color photography, a stellar cast headed by Jeff Chandler as Captain Jeb Hawks, steady direction by Joseph Pevney, a very good cast, dramatic situations and very interesting characters. Standouts in the very unusually-large cast include Richard Boone, Charles Mcgraw, Keith Andes, Arthur Space, Frank Faylen and James Westerfield. All the creators and technicians involved have given this film a very spacious and attractive look. Kenneth Dodson's intelligent novel has been realized here as a very in-depth look at how the US Navy's officers and enlisted men got their job done in WWII. If anything was missing from the final product, it was three minor elements. Jeff Chandler, fresh off his most charismatic work in "Flame of Araby" here acts well but lacks his usual voltage to a degree; George Naderis attractive and adequate as his heir apparent, but Keith Andes should have played this vital role. And there could perhaps have been a bit more character development accorded to some of the other crewmen along the way in Ted Sherdeman's generally excellent film script. But the several battle scenes are very excitingly-mounted and staged; the dialogue is always above average; Hawks' warning the kamikaze planes away from his vessel is an unforgettable moment; and the long climax as the men try to save their ship after the captain has been killed, following his dying advice, is an unforgettable achievement. Julie Adams plays Nader's lovely wife, and there is comedy and incompetence, bravery and extreme ingenuity on exhibit throughout. This is an adult film about the Navy; but it is also about what it takes to be a successful human being, especially in a time of great danger or challenge. One of my favorite never-missed and always-recommended cinematic works.

AWAY ALL BOATS – 1956

This is one of the better WW2 films about the unglamourous part played by the US Navy attack transport craft. These were the ships that moved the troops up to the landing beaches, then launched the landing craft that carried troops to said beach.

This one starts in San Diego Navy yard with a new crew reporting to a just fitted out transport. The story is told mostly from the view of the new third in command officer, George Nader. Nader is an ex-Merchant Marine Captain that took a double rank drop to join the Navy. The new Captain is Navy veteran, Jeff Chandler, whose last ship had been sunk under him.

Also in the cast as officers are Lex Barker, Richard Boone, Keith Andes and Charles McGraw. Other than Chandler, Boone, Nader and some of the below decks chiefs, everyone is new to the sea. Chandler takes the new ship out for a shakedown cruise to Pearl Harbour. He pushes the men hard and heavy to see how they take it. Sick bay is soon full with sea-sick types and various bumps and cuts. The heavy work load though does cause the men to learn their jobs.

Once at Pearl Harbour, the ship is loaded with Marines and more training is needed. Once that is done, the ship heads for the war zone. First up is Japanese held Makin, then Kwajalein and so on through the Pacific. Several of the crew distinguish themselves while others are found lacking in ability and courage.

Morale takes a big hit when the mail is constantly sent to the wrong place, and no liberty ports. The men are always at each other and fights become a routine daily event. Chandler steps in and orders the construction of a small 14 foot sailboat. Soon all the men are upset at the Captain instead of each other. But morale goes up as the Captain takes out the small craft out for a spin whenever they are at anchor.

It is now April 1945 and the Invasion of Okinawa. The Japanese Army and Navy Air Forces are hurling hundreds of Kamikaze aircraft at the invasion fleet. The ships on picket line duty and the Combat Air Patrol take care of most of these. However, they are often overwhelmed and the fleet comes under attack.

Everything the fleet can fire throws up as much flak as possible, but some aircraft still get through. The transport is hit several times and badly damaged. As the ship is being repaired, another attack of Kamikaze breaks through the CAP. A bomb laden Zero fighter hits the ship at the waterline, holing her. The Captain, Jeff Chandler is severally wounded and command falls to Nader.

The ship is ordered to withdraw out of the combat area. Things now go from bad to worse, as the ship loses its propeller. The ship is also slowly filling with sea water and is in danger of rolling over and swamping.

Needless to say the remaining crew work like demons to effect repairs to the hole in the side. They then launch the few landing craft to survive the air attacks. These are used to tow the ship from the danger area. Chandler sees that the ship will be saved, then dies.

While there is the odd slow bit, the film as a whole is quite entertaining. It is interesting to see a film showing duty in a rather unheralded area of Naval combat. The action scenes are quite well done considering the era the film was produced.

Look close and you will see an unbilled Clint Eastwood in several scenes. I also saw stunt-men turned actors, Charles Horvath and Bobby Hoy in small roles. .

This movie contains great examples of how to lead people, especially in extreme circumstances. Captain Hawks reports aboard a ship with a terrible record and sets about getting it and its crew ready to fulfill its mission as an amphibious landing ship. At the same time, he starts them on a project of building him a small sailboat. It seems like madness but is really a bit of camouflage. While the sailors are going through the constant drills and the laborious work of repairing their ship, they also have to do work that contributes to the sailboat. The grousing turns from their regular work to the hated sailboat. Soon nobody grouses about anything except the sailboat. However, when they pull into their next liberty port, with their ship squared away and their drill times excellent, they watch proudly as the old man sails his new boat past the other ships lying at anchor there, their captains green with envy at Captain Hawks' new toy.

General Merrill McPeak did much the same thing with us when he was Air Force Chief of Staff. He kept us from grousing as much about the personnel drawdowns of the 90's by giving us a red herring to grouse about, namely a change to our uniforms. While the drawdowns were decimating our ranks, the thing you heard about the most was how people hated the new uniforms, how expensive they were, and how they made us all look like pilots for a commercial airline.

I've always remembered that red herring example. Once it sunk in, I started recognizing it in other places like Patton's infamous order about the wear of neckties. Patton knew his men would hate that order. He also knew it would give them something to grouse about that he could discard if it became enough of a problem and in the meantime, it kept their minds off the heat, the sand and their fear of the next battle.

Actually, for a movie about a boat that was not supposed to be a fighting craft, this is a pretty enjoyable piece of film. Jeff Chandler was magnificent. Richard Boone gives another of the solid performances that made him one of the most underrated actors who ever lived.

I highly recommend that you check this movie out, especially if you are in a leadership role where you work.