Movie Details
| Title: | The Eternal Sea | |
| Director: | John H. Auer | |
| Year: | 1955 | |
| Genre: | Biopic | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 07.03.06 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (0)
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 07.03.06 | Friend's House | I guess tonight is 16mm night. This was an obscure print that Jarrette got in a pack of four, all we really knew about this movie was that Sterling Hayden was in it and Elmer Bernstein did the music. It turned out to be a biopic about Admiral John Hoskins... a guy who all he wants in life is to command a ship and life seems to keep him from that in the form of many different obstacles, chief among them being an explosion that leads to the loss of his leg. He is so gung-ho patriotic however that he learns to walk with a peg leg, refuses to retire, and ends up not only commanding a ship but introducing jet plane take-offs and landings from aircraft carriers, thus preparing our country's beloved navy for the Korean war. For a run-of-the-mill Republic war picture, I was most surprised with the expert use of stokc photography. There's some naval battle footage in here that's really really awesome... planes exploding, corkscrewing into the ocean, getting ripped apart by gunfire, typhoon waves, and even an aircraft carrier sinking that all fit almost seamlessly into this ultra-cheapy movie. Note that I say almost... there's still those shots of a guy on a set looking through the binoculars, insert stock shot, then him turning 30 degrees and looking again, insert another shot... but the footage was so damn impressive and they matched the sets relatively well to make it genuinely effective in my mind. It got me wondering why movies don't seriously use stock footage anymore... it seems to be completely replaced by CG. Another kick I got out of this movie was the unabashed patriotism of it... There's a character in here named Zuggy that was supposed to grab Hayden's gear when the explosion on the carrier crushed his leg. Zuggy was badly burned in the ensuing fire but managed to grab Hayden's remaining gear (that hadn't blown up) and give it to him as he lay there with a gangrenous leg. Later on in the picture, after Hayden learns to walk on his fake leg (he actually snaps it in one scene... a nice wooden foot laying next to Hayden's crumpled body) and finally assumes command of his ship we see Zuggy again. As it turns out, his injuries caused him to retire but when he heard that Hayden got a ship he RE-ENLISTED just to carry his gear on board. Now if that isn't loving America I don't know what is. Every line of the movie is equally filled to the brim with feverish nationalism. As Hayden's Admiral Hoskins keeps getting more and more assignments due to his success and innovative thinking (they mention that Walt Disney even came up with an insignia for him... it looked like mickey mouse on steroids wearing a sailor's hat and a machine gun barrel spitting bullets for a leg. I'm not kidding), his long-suffering wife and completely absent children accept each delay in ever seeing him again with a smile and firm knowledge that the country is better for it... They end the movie with Hayden visiting an airlift plane where some angry soldier gives his optimistic pep talk some guff. "Easy for you to say," he says, "but look at this!" pulling his blanket back to reveal he's lost a leg. Hayden walks up to him, reveals his wooden appendage, and puts the boy in his place. From there he decides to forgo several top assignments and a long-overdue retirement to spend time with his wife and family in order to work with cripples. awwwwww. So, basically... this movie is Men of Honor but better. |
