Eyes of the Navy

A MGM Short Subject.

After relentless, rigorous training, young men from around the USA become the EYES OF THE NAVY as pilots of the air arm of the Navy & Marines.

Produced well before the entry of America into World War Two, this Short serves as both a plea for preparedness by having a strong air defense, as well as a promotional pitch for the flying fleet. It is interesting in that Uncle Sam's potential enemies (Germany, Italy, Japan) are never mentioned by name.

After Pearl Harbor, Hollywood went to war totally against the Axis. Not only did many of the stars join up or do home front service, but the output of the Studios was largely turned to the war effort. The newsreels, of course, brought the latest war news into the neighborhood theater every week. The features showcased battle stories or war related themes. Even the short subjects & cartoons were used as a quick means of spreading Allied propaganda, the boosting of morale or information dissemination. Together, Uncle Sam, the American People & Hollywood proved to be an unbeatable combination.

With America's involvement in World War II looking inevitable by 1940, the country started gearing up for yet another European bloodbath. Hundreds of films were made during this period to show the public what america was doing in order to achieve victory as fast as possible and with as few losses as possible, and this is a good example of it. In this film, we see how those from all across the US register for service in the Navy. While this was the case for all the other military branches as well, the navy is the focus here. Recruits attend courses in which they're taught the strategies of being a pilot on an aircraft carrier. You really see how unprepared america's carrier fleets were for ww2 when you realize the carrier decks are full of biplanes. Later in the war, even advanced monoplanes would be used for training purposes. Pilots also undertake training at Pensacola air station in northwest Florida, which has been a naval base for over a century. Aircraft carriers are not the only type of warship that carry aircraft. Some battleships are fitted with steam catapults to launch biplane scouts towards the sea. The catapult accelerates the plane to 70 miles an hour in about half a second. When the plane's reconnaissance is completed, it lands alongside its parent ship and is hoisted aboard with a crane. At a shooting range, future navy pilots undertake pistol training with Colt 1911s and shoot clay pigeons with shotguns. The latter is especially important since being a gunner in the rear of a dive bomber isn't easy: you're trying to hit something that's moving from something that's moving. We're then shown biplanes shooting at a large fabric target towed by another biplane. After the exercise, the fabric is examined for bullet holes, and the pilots find too many to count, proving they don't just have the wings of eagles, but the eyes of them too. The recruits that do really well are sent to a base in San Diego to undertake more training, this time under actual naval conditions. Later, we're shown a biplane is nosed over on purpose in order to make sure response teams and damage control personnel know what to do in a crash landing scenario. While use of parachutes for airborne landings is typically the Army's concern, the parachute is still essential safety equipment for the navy. Next is one of the most grueling things a navy pilot can train for: actually landing on a carrier. A relatively small stretch of field is laid out to simulate the deck of the ship, and a signal officer coaches each pilot with arm movements as they start their approaches. Carrier landings are extremely difficult, even for seasoned pilots, and depending on exactly how you land, the plane can flip over or slide off the ship completely. Finally, we see biplanes take off from a carrier in order to partake in a dive bombing mission. This short was ok. It's not really anything out of the ordinary when it comes to ww2, but I thought it was interesting to see this since america wasn't involved yet. By this point, it was only a matter of time before we got involved, and most here didn't want it. I liked seeing the PBY Catalina flying boats at the naval base, since that entire class of aircraft is something you never see anymore. Essentially a seaplane, but the entire hull is boat shaped. A far less impressive plane we see in this short is the Douglas TBD Devastator. Its name couldn't be more wrong as during the Battle of Midway, over 40 of these obsolete deathtraps were sent out to hunt for Japanese aircraft carriers, and all but 6 were shot down. This horrendous loss led to the navy replacing it right away with the Grumman Avenger, as this company has a long history of making great naval planes. As this short shows, tactics in war keep evolving, and while things like dive bombing seemed state of the art at this time, it's completely unnecessary today due to things like laser guidance and drones. Those serving in the navy right now stand on the sacrifices of the men in this film.

Eyes of the Navy (1940)

*** (out of 4)

Oscar-nominated short from MGM takes a look at how men are trained once they enter the Navy. The film kicks off with a message from MGM stating that they made this movie because of how important it is to be prepared in case our country ever comes under attack. It goes without saying but Pearl Harbor would be attacked a year later, which gives this film even more meaning. The film is pretty simple as it shows a young man joining the Navy and then we see him go through basic training and so on. The movie does a very good job with its 20-minutes and actually manages to put quite a lot of information in. We also get to hear about our "possible enemies" yet none of them are ever mentioned by name nor are they hinted at. It's also worth noting that there's a familiar line here that would later be used in Kubrick's The Shining, which is the "dull boy" line, which is also referring to a character named Jack here.

By 1940 a lot of Hollywood studios were making preparedness films as anyone with half a brain knew that sooner or later we would be involved in those unpleasant events in Europe and Asia. Wings Of The Navy at Warner Brothers and Flight Command at MGM dealt with naval aviation as did this Oscar nominated short subject Eyes Of The Navy.

There is some acted sequences by Russell Wade, Warren McCollum and Charles Middleton, but the majority of the film is documentary footage some of it clearly from MGM's Flight Command. Even some of the background musical score is from that film.

The pilots then and now are the glamor profession of aviation. This shows what goes into making a Top Gun back in 1940. Looking at it I still marvel at the advances in aviation made during those World War II years. I think today's viewer will agree.

A must for aviation buffs.

It's a rather pompously narrated short touting air training by the armed forces, with some shots of the major proving grounds at Pensacola. There, the audience is informed, fliers had been trained for thirty years.

There's also a paean to the informality of behavior at the school, where, we are told, the trainees are names and not numbers. There are machine guns -- aimed at targets, not the students -- and a look at the terrifying, slingshot-like affair that launches the Navy's biplanes from the aircraft carriers. At least they don't show you how they land, using a hook on a line to catch the planes; if they don't get it right, those planes go over the edge and sink in the water with all hands!

It's clear that, more than a year before the US went to war, people knew it was coming.