Minesweeper

"Minesweeper" is a somewhat melodramatic but interesting World War II drama that has a pretty good story and that also takes a look at one of the less familiar aspects of the war. There are also some moments of real suspense and tension. The print that aired recently was unfortunately not very good, so viewing it involves accepting some distractions, but it has a number of points of interest to compensate.

Richard Arlen stars as a naval officer who had deserted a few years before the war, but who finds himself drawn back to the Navy when the war breaks out. Helped by a friendly family, he assumes a new identity and re-enlists under his new name. Throughout the action that follows, he is faced with numerous dangerous missions, while also living in constant fear that his true identity will be discovered. He also finds himself involved in romantic complications. It all builds up to a climactic sequence of events that, while rather melodramatic, is action-packed and rather surprising.

Arlen's ship is a minesweeper, and the film incorporates some interesting details on the job that such ships had to do in keeping shipping lanes and harbors free of mines. The hazards involved also lead to some rather tense moments of drama.

The movie is not too long, and moves fairly quickly. It should hold some interest for most fans of old war movies.

One might think a movie entitled "Minesweeper" would be a war film, but instead its billed as an action, adventure and comedy film. It does have those elements, to the extent that it is quite a mixed bag. But, of course it is a war movie, because it's all about Navy men who serve on a minesweeper at one of the California coastal port cities during World War II. It's most likely San Diego or Long Beach from which convoys sailed to the Pacific theater.

One reason it may not have been played up as a war film, right in the middle of war, was because it wasn't the type of war duty most people imagined or associated with war time. And, the film itself, with its milieu, doesn't seem to have the feel of a war film. Reflecting on this, it occurred to me that not many men or women in wartime service were able to stay at and go home to mom's house for home-cooked meals.

Most sailors were either at sea or based at a foreign port sailing on combat missions. Most Army and Marine GIs were either on the ground in combat units or in command and supply posts supporting them. Most Army Air Corps members were assigned at European or Pacific bases and commands that were flying combat or bombing missions. These countless numbers of military people were far from their homes.

Aside from that, this film is a modest look at a small service of the Navy that was important for keeping American ports open and protecting convoys and Navy ships from mines. But, this clearly is a B movie. It was one of just 80 films made by Pine-Thomas Productions between 1940 And 1957. It was filmed at Catalina Island and the Paramount studios. The film quality and production values are second-tier, and the screenplay and story are just so-so.

Richard Arlen stars as Richard Houston, under an alias of Jim Smith. Arlen was about midway in his career. After starting with some promise as a leading man in silent films, when sound came on and a crop of handsome and talented new actors began appearing in the early 1930s, Arlen was increasingly relegated to B films. I've seen a couple in which his is quite good, but in this film he seems flat and dull. Some of the cast are good and others seem wooden. The best performance is by Guinn Williams who plays 'Fixit' Smith. This is one of the meatier roles this long-time supporting player had in the more than 220 films he made.

Look for Robert Mitchum in an uncredited role. He plays Seaman Chuck Ryan who rows a boat out to a mine so that another seaman can cut it loose from being tangled in their minesweepers tow. The mine blows up and Mitchum's scene is a wrap.

Probably the only people who will like this film will be military veterans and those interested in all aspects of war in movies.

Minesweeper is a product of the Paramount B picture unit where producers William Pine and William Thomas did things on an Assembly line basis to provide second features for Paramount's big budget items like the films Cecil B. DeMille did. They got the best training because William Pine served as an associate producer with DeMille for years before branching out on his own.

A cursory list of their credits show that their early films either starred Richard Arlen, Chester Morris or both. Minesweeper stars Arlen as a former Navy officer who deserted because of a gambling problem and who comes back to enlist under an alias as a seaman when World War II breaks out.

Arlen and Russell Hayden have a friendly rivalry for Jean Parker who is the niece of CPO Guinn Williams who lives with Parker and her mother/his sister Emma Dunn. Both Arlen and Hayden get assigned to, what else, duty on a Minesweeper.

Discovering this film was a bit of a revelation since the only well known film dealing with a minesweeper is The Caine Mutiny. But the action in that film takes place years into World War II when the USS Caine was sweeping mines away from landing areas. This minesweeper is dealing with them right outside San Diego harbor.

Arlen enlists in the navy to redeem himself and as this is a B film about a romantic triangle I think you can figure out how this will end.

Robert Mitchum has a tiny bit in this film and Mitchum completists might want to check this out. As it is Minesweeper is a curiosity flag waving film of the times.

Perhaps my score of 4 is a bit generous. All I know is that this isn't the sort of film I'd heartily recommend, as it's pretty dull and pretty cheap.

The film begins with Richard Arlen traveling the rails. He's a hobo with a secret--and a very patriotic hobo at that. It's just after Pearl Harbor and Arlen has a fight with his fellow 'bos about the war and volunteering. Soon, Arlen meets up with Guinn Williams (in one of his better roles) and the two go off to volunteer with the US Navy. Williams was a retired navy man and Arlen seems to have some knowledge of the navy BUT he also has a secret. What it is and why he's posing as someone else is something you'll have to see for yourself---if you care.

The film is only occasionally entertaining, but to me finding out Arlen's secret wasn't worth time I invested in this WWII propaganda film. Aside from Williams' nice part, the rest of the cast just seemed pretty dull and the story was, at best, lackluster--showing the earmarks of a B-movie produced by a third-rate studio.

Unlike most war movies, you'll find no real "battles" being fought in "Minesweeper." For that, I actually give it some credit. It pays tribute to the crew of minesweepers - those who helped take care of Japanese mines laid at the mouths of US harbours. That's not especially glamorous, so I applaud whoever decided to make this movie. It's an important job, and not all the honour should go to those who are face to face in combat with the enemy.

The star of this is Richard Arlen. He plays an officer who deserted from the Navy years before, and then re-enlists under an assumed identity once Pearl Harbour is attacked. So part of the movie is spent wondering whether he's going to get caught. The dangers of this type of service are well documented, and there's a tragic incident as the movie nears its end. The cast is decent enough.

The basic problem with this is that it spends far too much time emphasizing the somewhat unbelievable romance the develops between "Tennessee Smith" (as Arlen's character was known) and Mary (Jean Parker.) Given that Mary was apparently already almost engaged when Tennessee showed up, I found it rather difficult to accept that she'd get caught in this romantic triangle, and I thought it weakened the movie.

This certainly isn't a high profile war picture, nor does it appear to have had much of a budget. It's not bad; it's an appropriate tribute. I just wish it had stayed a bit more focused on those to whom it was paying tribute and to the service they were offering. (4/10)