Tonight I watched John Wayne in "The Fighting Seabees" (1944). The setting is World War 2. Wayne plays "Wedge Donovan", a macho name if there ever was one. Wedge is the head of a large construction company that has been subcontracted by the Navy to build infrastructure on U.S. held Pacific Islands. He has an enormous crew of a thousand men, most of whom are engineering specialists. Wedge says his men can build anything, from landing strips to quonset hut barracks to bridges and oil tanks.
But, they've recently suffered casualties when the Japanese stormed one of their beachheads. Wayne is livid about this. He confronts Dennis O'Keefe, the Lieutenant Commander in charge of area operations, to demand that his men be allowed to carry guns, in order to defend themselves. O'Keefe puts the kibosh on this idea, telling Wayne that his employees are civilians, and as such, are forbidden to use weapons of any kind. Wayne storms out of the meeting, telling O'Keefe that he will pull his company out of the war, if necessary. O'Keefe gets in his own parting shot, informing Wayne that he can't pull out. He is contracted to the Navy for the war's duration. To breach the contract could result in prison time.
Wayne reconsiders, and goes above O'Keefe's head to try to negotiate a compromise. The Admiral he meets with is amenable to Wayne's demand that his men be armed, because he has seen their value to the war effort. But Navy regulations are in the way, so the Admiral comes up with an alternative. What if Wayne's construction workers were to become enlisted? Then they'd be part of the armed forces and permitted to carry weapons. Problem solved.
This is the story of how the Seabees came into being. Wedge Donovan is a fictional character, but apparently there were civilian construction crews in harm's way in the Pacific theater, and the solution was the same. They were absorbed by the Navy and called Construction Batallions, or CBs for short, which later was modified into Seabees, as they've been called ever since. The movie is mainly a propaganda vehicle. Wayne made a bunch of these during the war, to drum up public support. Our boys were always depicted as Everyman Heroes fighting an Evil Enemy, in this case grinning, maniacal Japanese with bad teeth. There is imagery and language in this movie that would now be considered stereotyped or racially offensive, but at the time, Pearl Harbor was fresh in the minds of the public, so the filmmakers no doubt wanted to exploit that fact. The actors portraying the Seabees are older, in their 40s mostly, but this was actually the case. They had only the briefest training as soldiers because they were needed for their engineering skills. We see them laying down airstrips, allowing Navy planes to land and refuel. Right away, this changed the course of the Pacific war, because the planes could now hop from island to island to protect the troops without having to return to an aircraft carrier each time.
There is of course a romance which acts as a source of dramatic tension, or at least it was supposed to. Susan Hayward, looking very young here, plays a reporter who deploys with the Seabees. She just so happens to be the girlfriend of Lt. Commander O'Keefe, which helps her get close to the action. She is introduced to Wedge Donovan at this time and finds him manly and exciting. You get to see John Wayne dancing at a party, which is something you wouldn't guess he could do. The romantic conflict doesn't really develop, though, because O'Keefe realises he is losing Hayward to Wayne and doesn't do much to contest it. Hayward tells him she loves him, too. "Is it possible for a woman to love two men"?, he asks her, but the question goes unanswered until the end of the film because there are "Japs" to fight (I use quotes because it's a slur of the time period). Hayward doesn't have much to do but smile and look pretty. Her role is a far cry from the distraught, neurotic characters that would make her famous.
I was kind of ho-hum about "The Fighting Seabees" until the last act, which features some very intense combat footage. Japanese tanks invade the island and the only way for the Seabees to stop them is by using their bulldozers, cranes and tractors. Watching a bulldozer push back a tank is like watching Godzilla vs. Rodan, it's some pretty awesome stuff. Making the final battle extra cool is that it was shot at Garden of The Gods in Chatsworth, and also what looked like Corriganville or Santa Susana. Port Hueneme Naval Base, formerly known as Point Mugu, is the actual home of the Seabees, and was used in the movie also.
The last half hour changed my mind, and so I give "The Fighting Seabees" Two Thumbs Up. Just two "regular thumbs", but if you like these John Wayne WW2 pics, which lack drama but are good in a "study film" kind of way, then you will want to watch this one to learn the story of the Seabees. Over on IMDB, and at Amazon too, many of the reviews are from former Seabees themselves, and they all love it. Some say they were shown this picture the day they reported for duty at Mugu. Recommended for Wayne fans and WW2 movie buffs. I found it at Mid-Valley Libe. /////
That's all for the moment. I am now gonna go to the produce market and then head back to Pearl's. See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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