A routine World War II movie, "Away All Boats" takes place aboard the "Belinda," a PA-22 U.S. Navy landing-craft transport operating in the Pacific Theater. Written by Ted Scherdeman from a novel by Kenneth M. Dodson, the film purports to trace the ship's life through a series of incidents: from a shaky shake-down cruise to Pearl Harbor, through action in Kwajelein, Saipan, and Guam, to a climactic kamikaze attack off Okinawa. Beginning with a brief aside from John McIntire, who helped construct the ship and hears it talking to him, a largely inexperienced crew stumble through mishaps, which are supposed to be comic, but seem silly and incompetent behavior during wartime. As time passes at sea, the crew grow discontent, and conflicts arise; but these too seem like petty nonsense out of "South Pacific," such as two sailors fighting over a coconut. Somehow, the esteemed captain thinks that building a sailboat with a red sail will solve ship board problems; wonder how many times that idea surfaced during the War.
The lumbering film stars a bevy of ruggedly handsome actors of limited depth, led by silver-haired Jeff Chandler as Captain Jebediah Hawks. Hawks wants to excel, because he has his eye on the captaincy of a cruiser; he emphasizes discipline and pushes the crew to improve the ship's "away all boats" timing. Hawks's Executive Officer is Commander Quigley, played by Lex Barker, who is inexperienced, initially aloof, and generally disliked. The third major role is played by George Nader, who, as Lieutenant Dave MacDougall, was previously a captain in the merchant marine, but accepted a lesser rank to join the Navy and aims to become a captain again; MacDougall is the only officer with a personal life. Keith Andes as Doctor Bell and Richard Boone as Lieutenant Fraser round out the all-white, all-male leads. However, sharp-eyed observers may glimpse an African-American sailor or two, spot an Asian aboard, and catch a young Clint Eastwood.
Doubtlessly aware that women go to movies, and females must be patronized, Julie Adams appears in a gratuitous flashback as MacDougall's wife; although the lovely Adams is always a welcome sight, she has little to do, and the sequence adds nothing but padding to the film. The scene, however, highlights the loneliness of command; the captain appears to have no home life or friends, he generally eats alone, and he adopts a monkey for company. Unfortunately, the captain, like his officers and crew, is a cardboard character, and most viewers will care little about him, although the monkey may have her admirers as the only female besides Adams in the cast.
Filmed in Technicolor by William Daniels and directed by Joseph Pevney, "Away All Boats" is further padded with extensive stock footage played against rousing music by Frank Skinner. After 90 minutes of dull stretches, occasionally interrupted by trite dialog, the film does come alive during an exciting kamikaze attack off Okinawa. Unfortunately, the action is too late to resuscitate the film. With no over-arcing story line to hold the film together and a cast of wooden actors in two-dimensional roles, "Away All Boats" should have been re-titled "Away All Moviegoers."
The lumbering film stars a bevy of ruggedly handsome actors of limited depth, led by silver-haired Jeff Chandler as Captain Jebediah Hawks. Hawks wants to excel, because he has his eye on the captaincy of a cruiser; he emphasizes discipline and pushes the crew to improve the ship's "away all boats" timing. Hawks's Executive Officer is Commander Quigley, played by Lex Barker, who is inexperienced, initially aloof, and generally disliked. The third major role is played by George Nader, who, as Lieutenant Dave MacDougall, was previously a captain in the merchant marine, but accepted a lesser rank to join the Navy and aims to become a captain again; MacDougall is the only officer with a personal life. Keith Andes as Doctor Bell and Richard Boone as Lieutenant Fraser round out the all-white, all-male leads. However, sharp-eyed observers may glimpse an African-American sailor or two, spot an Asian aboard, and catch a young Clint Eastwood.
Doubtlessly aware that women go to movies, and females must be patronized, Julie Adams appears in a gratuitous flashback as MacDougall's wife; although the lovely Adams is always a welcome sight, she has little to do, and the sequence adds nothing but padding to the film. The scene, however, highlights the loneliness of command; the captain appears to have no home life or friends, he generally eats alone, and he adopts a monkey for company. Unfortunately, the captain, like his officers and crew, is a cardboard character, and most viewers will care little about him, although the monkey may have her admirers as the only female besides Adams in the cast.
Filmed in Technicolor by William Daniels and directed by Joseph Pevney, "Away All Boats" is further padded with extensive stock footage played against rousing music by Frank Skinner. After 90 minutes of dull stretches, occasionally interrupted by trite dialog, the film does come alive during an exciting kamikaze attack off Okinawa. Unfortunately, the action is too late to resuscitate the film. With no over-arcing story line to hold the film together and a cast of wooden actors in two-dimensional roles, "Away All Boats" should have been re-titled "Away All Moviegoers."