Murder in the Fleet

Robert Taylor is an officer aboard a US Navy ship getting ready to test some new equipment. It's all rather hectic, with strangers aboard, his girlfriend Jean Parker trying to convince him to quit the Navy and come work for her father, a competitor of the firm manufacturing the equipment offering him $25,000 to ensure it fails, and oh yeah, a murder.

It's directed by Eddie Sedgwick from an idea of his, and there's plenty of comedy, with Nat Pendleton and Ted Healy competing for the love of Una Merkel, ambassador Mischa Auer onboard, and so forth. Taylor is stiff in the role, which is a reasonable acting choice, but not terribly interesting. Spig Wead is one of the people credited for the script; this was undoubtedly intended to make sure it has the appropriate navy air, butsome one should have told the art department, because the details on the uniforms are not right. Neither is the mystery aspect particularly good. For Metro it's definitely not an A production despite the large cast, but it was inexpensive enough to show a profit, which is always a plus for the powers-that-be.

Between the 1921 Washington Naval Conference (which effectively limited the international arms race for over a decade) and the start of the crank up before World War II, the U.S. Navy co-operated with Hollywood studios on a regular basis providing locations and facilities for dozens of major and minor films showing off the country's ships (both sea and air) and service men to keep them in the minds of the general population as the admirals fought for ever constricting budgets with an isolationist minded Congress. Also well worth checking out are THE FLYING FLEET and HERE COMES THE NAVY (in which feuding Jimmy Cagney and Pat O'Brien serve everywhere from the Arizona to the airship Macon - both to meet famous ends in later years).

MURDER IN THE FLEET may be among the least of these info-tainment efforts, but from the golden age of the classic murder mystery, it offers an enjoyable, more or less workable plot, an "about to be 'A List'" cast and some fascinating shots of actual elements of the U.S. fleet (the entire film is set on the USS Carolina aside from a few studio interiors and includes a number of exteriors of the ship under way including the actual crew).

Of special interest may be Key Luke's fleeting appearance as an aide to an ambassador/suspect from a (renamed to avoid "offence," but made-up to leave no doubt) fictionalized Japanese Empire. Someone might do a fun afternoon's mini-film festival of "Key Luke Afloat" with this, the 1936 ANYTHING GOES (Luke played one of a pair of gambling "Chinamen" on a civilian Atlantic crossing with Ethel Merman and Bing Crosby - a role somewhat reduced from the Broadway original) and (a year later) in his most famous role as Charlie Chan's "Number One Son" in CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OLYMPICS where Luke travels to Europe (these were the Berlin Olympics where Jesse Owens won Gold to Hitler's great displeasure and film clips of that race are included in the movie) by ship with the U.S. Olympic Team (he's competing as a relay swimmer)while his "Pop" rushes over on The Hindenberg.

The biggest "special effect" in MURDER IN THE FLEET is probably the flooding of a powder magazine with the film's hero in it - tame stuff by modern standards, but pretty exciting as played nonetheless. The film's McGuffin, the scientific equipment being installed on the Carolina, is pretty much science fiction (though finally, 70 years later, becoming less so), and as shown in action in the film it looks a bit silly, but it was good enough for its day, and in the spirit of the style of the film it doesn't distract.

Minor, but fun. Worth a look.

Someone aboard the USS Carolina is attempting to sabotage an important, secret gunnery system's field test... by murdering those installing it. Plenty of suspects abound as there are many visitors aboard the ship while it is in port. Overall an entertaining mystery set aboard a US naval cruiser. Robert Taylor stars as Lt. Randolph, in command of the gunnery test, with Jean Parker as his rich, spoiled love interest. Nat Pendleton plays Randolph's CPO, who, with the aid of Una Merkel and Ted Healy (of stooges fame), provides the comic relief. Look for an uncredited Ward Bond as a sailor-murder victim and Keye Luke as aid to the visiting Manchukan Consul.

I thought it was just me. I wasn't going to review 1935's Murder in the Fleet, directed by Edward Sedgwick, but then I found out others had the same reaction, so I wasn't just having an off day.

This film is awful. And as much as my dear departed mother worshipped Robert Taylor, it's a miracle MGM kept him on after this. Up and coming stars were trained on B films, but he has very little to do here. I mean, come on, a columnist sat through Girl's Dormitory twice to get Tyrone Power's name - and he had a little cameo. This was a supporting role and he barely registered.

The navy ship as to meet a government assignment deadline for some procedure. However, it seems that someone wants to keep it from happening. After a crew member is stabbed, the ship becomes a floating Holiday Inn. Anyone who boarded cannot leave. And it's a lot of people.

Una Merkel plays Nat Pendleton's girlfriend. Hers, Pendleton's, and Ted Healy's high-pitched, yelling voices and fighting throughout nearly broke my eardrums. They NEVER shut up.

Jean Hersholt, Mischa Auer, Walter Byron, and Jean Parker are also on board for various reasons. Too many people. Robert Taylor stands around and is not very interesting.

I stopped caring. It's rare for me to want to turn off something. I didn't. I wanted to.

This film, made in 1935, is a true reflection of the time. There was something for everyone in this picture: patriotism, a bit if romance and romantic comedy (Una Merkel) and some slap stick. All of the actors performered well and you do find yourself wondering "who done it". OK, I could have done without so much slapstick but I recently saw a film with Crawford and Gable that had The Three Stooges! Robert Taylor, only, 24 years old at the time, was very fine, as always. He made many pictures in 1935, at the time when the studios could roll them out like hot cakes. Some, like Camille, are very famous. He was not in these films only bc he looked good. A number of other commenters here heavily panned RT. For those folks, please remember that what you see on the screen is not the persona of RT but the character he is portraying. This was not an Oscar worthy PART but he does it with such great ease you have no idea he is acting. Part of what made him so exciting on the screen was his extraordinary good looks BUT it is his acting that is the most important. Had he been a total dud in Camille, he would not have continued to have an acting career of more than 30 years....maturing as an actor as he aged, prematurely dying at age 57.