April 22 Eddie Albert

Happy Birthday to Eddie Albert and Jack Nicholson.

For Eddie Albert’s birthday I watched You’re In The Navy Now. Eddie plays an executive officer on a ship at the beginning of WWII. The ship is equipped with a top secret device which they are testing. Gary Cooper plays the new Captain of the ship. Most of the officers assigned to ship have never been on this type of boat and are not experienced sea men. The first time they take the ship out of dock they crash. Out on the water the test the equipment and it fails, which causes the boat to drift and no electricity. They get a tow from a tanker ship and basically become the laughing stock of the navy. Eddie has a little more action in the film with the admiral comes onto the ship to see how things are going. The equipment is frozen and they try to maneuver around obstacles such as other boats and bridges. Eddie yells and motions like the bridge crew and other boats can see and hear him. Which they can’t being so far away, but it is good for my as the audience to show perspective on how bad or close the objects really are. In the officers office the admiral and dignitaries are getting a drink and they sway with the ship and the glasses rattle. When one of the men comes into the cabin you see another boat passing very closely. The admiral sees this and goes to find out what is happening. They end up crashing into a larger ship. It is a different type of war film with action, comedy and men not knowing what they are doing.

This film is directed by Henry Hathaway. There are really interesting shots of views from the portholes. You get a sailors view of the action. The film opens with a beautiful shot of Washington DC. It is a spring day with the sun shining and few clouds in the sky. I also like the staging of the shots. Instead of being messy, jumbled views of the dock they seem almost like architectural/structured plans. Every thing in frame has a use and is interesting to look at.

Most of the films that I have seen with Eddie Albert he plays the best friend, a supporting character. He is very talented and knows his craft. To me he always seems to have a good time in the roles that he plays. I always liked him in Green Acers.