DESTROYER plowed its way into the wave of win-the-war flicks that assaulted screens in 1943, with this enlistment booster pitched in its ad campaign as “Sentimental! Human! Thrilling!”  The range of WW2 movies made during the conflict reflected its breadth by taking a United Nations approach, telling stories set in other countries to show the predicament and resolve of our allies, and by honoring the various branches of our armed services. There were enough available to extol familiar (‘popular’ not quite right) weapons—planes, tanks, aircraft carriers, PT boats, submarines and in this case the Navy’s workhorse vessel, described as “a fast, maneuverable warship.” They were fast thanks to light armor, for which sailors nicknamed them “tin cans”. *

Former sailor ‘Steve Boleslavski’ (Edward G. Robinson, 48) quits his job as a welder in a shipyard after helping put together the new destroyer ‘USS John Paul Jones’ and signs up to go back into action as one of the crew. He gets his old rank back, but as Chief Bosun’s Mate he irks fellas the wrong way—until the chips are down (cuz it’s a movie and there’s an Axis to grind), when he helps rally the crew during an engagement with Japanese aircraft and a sub. That’s after 4/5th of the running time: first he has to butt heads with ‘Mickey Donahue’ (Glenn Ford) who’s made time with Steve’s daughter (Marguerite Chapman) in the requisite romantic blah-blah shoehorned in for an added plot point. And the ship has to get past the idea that it’s jinxed. Plus, what would an old war pic be without a guy named ‘Kansas’? He’s played by Edgar Buchanan, one of 13 times he worked with Ford.

Proficiently (if not excitingly) directed by William A. Seiter (113 feature films), the cornball script concocted by Frank Wead (They Were Expendable), Borden Chase (The Fighting Seabees) and Lewis Meltzer (First Comes Courage) is thin enough that ‘Tin Can’ would’ve been a better title.

99 minutes worth, it ranked 84th in 1943, grossing $3,700,000. The maritime muster was better served that year by (in order of box office clout) Destination Tokyo, Crash Dive, Action In The North Atlantic and Corvette K-225.

“MEET THE SWAGGERING SONS OF GUNS WHO MAN YOUR FIGHTING SHIPS!” In the fray: Leo Gorcey (on leave from The East Side Kids), Regis Toomey, Edward Brophy, Lloyd Bridges, Benson Fong, Richard Loo, Bobby Jordan, Charles McGraw, Larry Parks, Addison Richards, Milburn Stone.

* Robinson had been in the Navy in WW1. Denied enlistment in the second go-round due to his age, he did a great amount of volunteer work, patriotic duty that nonetheless didn’t prevent right-wingers from smearing him during the post-war witch-hunts, doing their standard thing of turning liberalism into treason. Glenn Ford, 26, went into the Marines after making this, putting his budding career in limbo for three years. The fictional ‘John Paul Jones’ was actually the USS Hobby. American shipyards rolled out 377 destroyers during the war. More than 70 didn’t come back.