Away All Boats (1956)

Did you people see the same film I saw?

Awesome Movie

A lot of fun.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

AWAY ALL BOATS – 1956This is one of the better WW2 films about the unglamourous part played by the US Navy attack transport craft. These were the ships that moved the troops up to the landing beaches, then launched the landing craft that carried troops to said beach. This one starts in San Diego Navy yard with a new crew reporting to a just fitted out transport. The story is told mostly from the view of the new third in command officer, George Nader. Nader is an ex-Merchant Marine Captain that took a double rank drop to join the Navy. The new Captain is Navy veteran, Jeff Chandler, whose last ship had been sunk under him. Also in the cast as officers are Lex Barker, Richard Boone, Keith Andes and Charles McGraw. Other than Chandler, Boone, Nader and some of the below decks chiefs, everyone is new to the sea. Chandler takes the new ship out for a shakedown cruise to Pearl Harbour. He pushes the men hard and heavy to see how they take it. Sick bay is soon full with sea-sick types and various bumps and cuts. The heavy work load though does cause the men to learn their jobs. Once at Pearl Harbour, the ship is loaded with Marines and more training is needed. Once that is done, the ship heads for the war zone. First up is Japanese held Makin, then Kwajalein and so on through the Pacific. Several of the crew distinguish themselves while others are found lacking in ability and courage. Morale takes a big hit when the mail is constantly sent to the wrong place, and no liberty ports. The men are always at each other and fights become a routine daily event. Chandler steps in and orders the construction of a small 14 foot sailboat. Soon all the men are upset at the Captain instead of each other. But morale goes up as the Captain takes out the small craft out for a spin whenever they are at anchor. It is now April 1945 and the Invasion of Okinawa. The Japanese Army and Navy Air Forces are hurling hundreds of Kamikaze aircraft at the invasion fleet. The ships on picket line duty and the Combat Air Patrol take care of most of these. However, they are often overwhelmed and the fleet comes under attack. Everything the fleet can fire throws up as much flak as possible, but some aircraft still get through. The transport is hit several times and badly damaged. As the ship is being repaired, another attack of Kamikaze breaks through the CAP. A bomb laden Zero fighter hits the ship at the waterline, holing her. The Captain, Jeff Chandler is severally wounded and command falls to Nader.The ship is ordered to withdraw out of the combat area. Things now go from bad to worse, as the ship loses its propeller. The ship is also slowly filling with sea water and is in danger of rolling over and swamping. Needless to say the remaining crew work like demons to effect repairs to the hole in the side. They then launch the few landing craft to survive the air attacks. These are used to tow the ship from the danger area. Chandler sees that the ship will be saved, then dies.While there is the odd slow bit, the film as a whole is quite entertaining. It is interesting to see a film showing duty in a rather unheralded area of Naval combat. The action scenes are quite well done considering the era the film was produced. Look close and you will see an unbilled Clint Eastwood in several scenes. I also saw stunt-men turned actors, Charles Horvath and Bobby Hoy in small roles. .

This movie contains great examples of how to lead people, especially in extreme circumstances. Captain Hawks reports aboard a ship with a terrible record and sets about getting it and its crew ready to fulfill its mission as an amphibious landing ship. At the same time, he starts them on a project of building him a small sailboat. It seems like madness but is really a bit of camouflage. While the sailors are going through the constant drills and the laborious work of repairing their ship, they also have to do work that contributes to the sailboat. The grousing turns from their regular work to the hated sailboat. Soon nobody grouses about anything except the sailboat. However, when they pull into their next liberty port, with their ship squared away and their drill times excellent, they watch proudly as the old man sails his new boat past the other ships lying at anchor there, their captains green with envy at Captain Hawks' new toy.General Merrill McPeak did much the same thing with us when he was Air Force Chief of Staff. He kept us from grousing as much about the personnel drawdowns of the 90's by giving us a red herring to grouse about, namely a change to our uniforms. While the drawdowns were decimating our ranks, the thing you heard about the most was how people hated the new uniforms, how expensive they were, and how they made us all look like pilots for a commercial airline.I've always remembered that red herring example. Once it sunk in, I started recognizing it in other places like Patton's infamous order about the wear of neckties. Patton knew his men would hate that order. He also knew it would give them something to grouse about that he could discard if it became enough of a problem and in the meantime, it kept their minds off the heat, the sand and their fear of the next battle.Actually, for a movie about a boat that was not supposed to be a fighting craft, this is a pretty enjoyable piece of film. Jeff Chandler was magnificent. Richard Boone gives another of the solid performances that made him one of the most underrated actors who ever lived.I highly recommend that you check this movie out, especially if you are in a leadership role where you work.

There was a time that I would watch any war movie I could find. A Saturday afternoon on KHQ in Spokane would have either the "Creature Features" or something else innocuous and old, like Away All Boats, a movie that boasted being the most expensive film ever made by its studio or Hollywood, back in 1956.Having read the book and seen the movie (probably a dozen times), it would be fair to say that it's one of my favorites, the story an attack transport in the Pacific War, captained by a man who wants to command a real warship, but is willing to pay his dues first.It's all so vanilla, with every darn stereotype you can imagine, only on a big, lumbering freighter instead of in a foxhole. The skipper is wound too tight, the XO can't figure him out, the officers and men hate him, and they're all up to the task when the Kamikazes show up and turn the Belinda into a big, lumbering piece of almost scrap iron.It is fun watching and identifying all the character actors who man the guns in this classically antiseptic, very '50s, WWII shootemup. The special effects are pretty impressive, what with a lot of the ships the US Navy lent to the film makers still in service. Modern kiddies might groan at the matte photography of Japanese Zeroes hurtling in to smash the Belinda into a blazing hulk, but I still have an image burned (pun intended) in my memory of Jeff Chandler screaming at the oncoming plane, waving as if he could by force of will make the crippled plane and its Jihadist pilot miss, "Get away from my ship, get AWAY from MY ship!" Strong stuff.That scene made Away All Boats step up a rung on the quality-meter and makes me recommend it to you, if you can find it in the "classics" section of your larger video store.

Jeff Chandler's portrayal of Captain Jeb Hawks was an example of just how aloof a captain must be during a time of war. A captain's decision must not be made from friendship but what is best for the ship. Captain Hawks only real companion was a monkey. The men on the ship were almost all rookies that had never fought in a war. Hawks had to prepare them for "life and death" but made many enemies out of the crew because of his harsh techniques. The actual war scenes were very realistic. Overall a fine film to watch.