This Man's Navy

Of all the movies I have seen, and that's most of them, this is by far the best one made that is primarily about the U.S. Naval Airships (Blimps) during the WW-II era. Yes there are other good LTA related movies, but most use special effects more than any real-time shots. This Man's Navy has considerably more real-time footage of blimps etc. True, lots of corny dialog but that's what makes more interesting Hollywood movies, even today. P.S. I spent 10 years(out of 20) and have over 5,000 hours in Navy Airships of all types, from 1949 through 1959. Proud member of the Naval Airship Association etc. [ATC(LA/AC) USN Retired]

This film was very enjoyable because it deals with Naval Blimps and shows how they are launched and the methods used to secure them to the ground. Wallace Beery, (Ned Trumpet) plays the role of a Chief Petty Officer with plenty of service along with James Gleason who is his co-pilot. There is plenty of action with Japanese Planes attacking the blimp and also comedy and romance. Jan Clayton, (Dorothy Cortland) is introduced to Tom Drake, (Jese Weaver) which was arranged by Ned Trumpet who wanted his adopted son to meet an attractive young gal. Ned Trumpet had a bad habit of telling so many lies that all his friends were doubtful about anything he said. Wallace Berry & James Gleason both gave an outstanding performance and made this into a great film to watch and enjoy. William A Wellman the director was one of the first director's who was able to create classic airplane films dealing with actual stunt-men flying the planes. Enjoy.

Only Wallace Beery could have sold this film even to wartime audiences for MGM. In This Man's Navy Beery plays an old time sailor with the dirigible lighter than air unit of the navy relegated to a lot of minor support duties.

Beery brags about his non-existent family so when put to the test once by his pal James Gleason, Beery comes up with a pretend wife in Selena Royle and son Tom Drake whose farm he visited after bailing out of a balloon. The two of them amazingly enough are flattered by Beery's attention and Drake likes having a father figure almost real.

In the end Beery gets to rescue Drake when both are serving in China although let us say despite his praise of dirigibles the weakness of them in combat is rather graphically exposed.

Beery and Gleason are a fine team and play well off each other. This Man's Navy is also an opportunity to see both Wallace and Noah Beery, Sr. in the same film. Noah who played in a gazillion B westerns usually as a villain, was reputed to be a nice man unlike Wally who may not have had two friends in Tinseltown. His screen image was a total fabrication.

This Man's Navy was an entertaining wartime propaganda film, but except for Wallace Beery fans does not hold up all that well today.

"This Man's Navy" is, as other comments have indicated, a rare and well-filmed look at Navy lighter than air (LTA) activities. The LTA crews were justly proud that the convoys they shadowed never lost a ship to submarine attack. And the filming at the various NAS locations give a valuable glimpse at a type of aviation that is long gone. However, the first half of the movie is all about Beery, his relationship with his service pals, and him meeting the Tom Drake character and his mother, and getting Drake's leg fixed. Only then does the second film start. The second film is mostly LTAs in action, taking on a surfaced sub, guys get killed and much damage is caused. The look is fairly gritty and realistic, I imagine. Then we shift to Southeast Asia. Did the Navy have LTAs there? Never mind, this part is really wild, with a blimp being used to extract some downed aircrew from the jungle. And the Japs are shooting like mad. Shades of Vietnam, except the getaway is oh, so leisurely. This is a blimp we're talking about. In the end, a feel-good WWII drama about a very unusual part of the war.

Chief Petty Officer Wallace Beery is in the Navy Dirigible Corps. He wrangles with fellow CPO James Gleason, virtually adopts crippled Tom Drake, shepherds him through a romance with Jan Clayton, gets his legs fixed and a a Naval commission, then turns around into setting up a base in India and bs-ing his way into a rescue of Drake, who has gone down while flying over the Hump. All while Luftwaffe and Japanese planes punch holes in his dirigibles.

Every branch and sub-branch of the service got at least an Oscar-nominated short subject during the Second World War, and this is the Dirigible Corps' moment in the sun, quick, before the War is over. It looks dorky to the modern audience. Nowadays we think of the Goodyear Blimp, and that's it. But the Navy didn't retire its last dirigible until 1962. Of course, the Navy keeps a small forest in Indiana for wood to replace parts of the U. S. S. Constitution, so take that for what you will. If you're going to enjoy this movie, it will be for Beery's trademark aw-shucks charm, a chance to see his brother, Noah Beery Sr., in the same movie, and surprisingly, a charming performance by Selena Royle as Drake's mother. With Henry O'Neill, Steve Brodie, George Chandler, and Dell Henderson.