Stand by for Action

Standby For Action finds the two co-stars of Billy the Kid, Robert Taylor and Brian Donlevy thrown together due to wartime circumstances as executive officer and captain of the recommissioned U.S.S. Warren. Apparently the Warren was one of the old vintage World War I destroyers that didn't get traded to the United Kingdom in the Destroyers for Naval Bases Deal that we did with them.

She's a worn out old tub as her caretaker, retired Chief Yeoman Walter Brennan will tell you, but she has plenty of heart and a lot of fight left in her. It's a lesson Taylor has to learn.

Had Standby For Action been filmed at 20th Century Fox, Tyrone Power would have had the role, in fact he did have a similar part in Crash Dive. Taylor's a rich kid whose family connections got him a commission and a job with Admiral Charles Laughton. Donlevy's a career Navy man who rose through the ranks to become a captain, also similar to the role Dana Andrews had in Crash Dive.

The crusty, but wise Admiral Laughton decides that his junior aide could use a bit of real sea duty and assigns him to the Warren to serve under Donlevy. It turns out to be a learning experience for both men.

Taylor and Donlevy give strong and capable performances. Taylor looks the part and in fact the following year he was wearing the uniform of Uncle Sam's Navy and seeing action in the real Pacific Theater. But both these guys had to fight against a pair of veteran scene stealers in Charles Laughton and Walter Brennan.

Laughton dominates every scene he's in and uses every trick in his considerable command to capture and hold the audience's attention. This is not Captain Bligh by any means, yet Bligh was as much a seaman as he was a sadist. This admiral is no such thing, but he knows and loves the Navy he serves with.

No more so than Walter Brennan and the high point of the film is Brennan telling Taylor and Donlevy how much the Navy means to him and how much he wants to serve his country in her hour of peril. At least it's my favorite scene.

The Warren runs into all kinds of problems from rescuing a lifeboat filled with infants to action against a Japanese battleship. Taylor and Donlevy and the crew meet all challenges.

Standby For Action is a good wartime action adventure. Robert Taylor would soon enough be dealing with the real thing.

WW II Propaganda film, good entertainment

This is the story of a young officer (Taylor) dismayed to be deployed on an old ship, a WW I destroyer with convoy escort duty. Even worse, he has to contend with a Skipper (Donlevey) who runs the ship by the book but with unseen compassion and talent. Laughton plays the fleet commander, a crotchety admiral who soon realizes the true caliber of Donlevey tho he is frustrated by the tactics Donlevey takes.

If you like WW II movies this is definitely "OK+"... not great, but entertaining throughout.

Chill Wills and Walter Brennan add to the story with both comic and tradgic portrayals.

Some very good action scenes as well.

I'd Check it out if you enjoy WW II sea stories.

Robert Taylor, Brian Donlevy, Charles Laughton, and Walter Brennan "Stand by for Action" in this 1942 WW II drama.

Laughton appoints Ivy League Navy man Taylor as executive officer of a World War I warhorse, The Warren, commanded by Donlevy. It's an old ship and needs a lot of repair work, but there are people who believe in it, most notably, Yeoman Henry Johnson (Brennan), who was with the ship in WWI.

En route to meet the convoy led by Laughton, the ship picks up survivors from a Hawaiian hospital - twenty babies and two pregnant women.

I'm pretty sure "Stand by for Action" was supposed to be a stirring propaganda drama, but once the babies come on board, it sort of becomes a comedy. Two different movies and one confused script. Some of the action was good, though.

I tend to watch Robert Taylor films as an homage to my late mother, who loved him. He always reminds me of her - after all, I knew his real name when I was still in grade school. It always cracks me up that he does roles like the Harvard grad in this, or the title role in A Yank at Oxford. He was a Nebraska farm boy who loved the outdoors and horses, something he shared with his first wife, Barbara Stanwyck. But he sure looked debonair. He did make some very fine films, my favorite being Escape, one of his best performances. After the war, he played villainous roles - go figure.

Charles Laughton is great as usual as a commander with a desk job dying to get back to active duty; Brian Donlevy is good as captain of The Warren, and Walter Brennan gives a sympathetic performance as Yeoman Johnson.

This movie needed to stick to one thing - resuscitating this barge and putting it into battle, or taking care of babies and pregnant women.

What at first blush appears to be a throw-away Navy propaganda film, released in Dec 1942, turns out to be a very easy-to-watch tale of war at sea with some moments of excellence, particularly the scenes with Charles Laughton as the crotchety Admiral Thomas.

The commissioning of the destroyer Warren includes a rousing speech by Laughton in which he inspires the new crew with a dramatic re-telling of the story of John Paul Jones giving his "I have not yet begun to fight" speech aboard the Bon Homme Richard. Off-beat plot twist includes the Warren finding a life raft filled with babies and pregnant women. The final act of the movie is an exciting depiction of the bravery of the Warren in single-handedly sinking a Japanese Battle Ship to save an entire convoy (naval convoys and battle are somewhat dated but still interesting and earned an Academy Award Nomination for special effects). Robert Taylor turns in a passable job as our hero, the spoiled LT. from Harvard. Brian Donlevy is also good as the seasoned CPT from whom Taylor learns much and later becomes his friend. Appearances by stalwart actors Chill Wills and Walter Brennan. Second half of the movie has lots of sea-battle action.

Clearly, a war time film, as the U. S. had just been pulled into the war, after the bombing of pearl harbor. So the various military branches are revving up for action. Charles Laughton is the admiral who assigns Roberts and Masterman (Brian Donlevy and Robert Taylor) to an old creaky ship from the LAST war. They are not happy about this, but will do as told. Walter Brennan, who was in everything from westerns to Have and Have Not, is in here as the Yoeman. Similar to Universal's Operation Petticoat from 1959. It's pretty good. The usual shenanigans of trying to carry on while keeping the ship held together, under fighting conditions. Directed by Robert Leonard... he was nominated for Ziegfeld and Divorcee.