Don't listen to the negative reviews

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Another vision of World War II through the eyes of two old friends, stuck with each not under the best of circumstances, yet forced to work together in spite of old animosities. In one of his darker roles, George Murphy plays a rather self centered lieutenant who once dates pretty nurse Jane Wyatt, the sister of tough Pat O'Brien who had to testify against Murphy for neglect and later has to deal with him aboard a merchant Marine ship. Murphy once again messes up, but when they somehow capture a Nazi ship, Murphy must find his own patriotism and O'Brien must learn how to gracefully forgive. Not so interesting for the story but for the supporting cast, this is another example of potpourri of different types of sailors, including an Austrian musician forced to miss the concert of a lifetime in order to serve his adopted country. Young Jackie Cooper and Desi Arnaz are instantly recognizable, with Arnaz of course singing. It's an o.k. film that documents early war propaganda (set just right after Pearl Harbor) and pretty much free of clichés. But the Hollywood propaganda machine could do much better, and compared to other films of this nature seems unexciting and sort of dull in spots. Scenes with the German U-Boat often seem like outtakes from another movie with the plot line seemingly different than the rest of the film. Curiosity over that cast makes this worth a look. Something tells me that this was rushed together to take advantage of timely topics.

Pat O'Brien and George Murphy play a couple of Navy guys with some bad history between them. When Murphy was an officer, O'Brien testified against him and got him busted out of the service. After Pearl Harbor Murphy enlists as an ordinary seaman and as it is in these films, he's assigned to O'Brien's gunnery crew. The two also have Jane Wyatt who is O'Brien's sister and who Murphy was going out with also as part of their history.Which is assigned to a merchant marine ship to defend it from enemy attack. If you remember in Action In The North Atlantic such a Navy gun crew was assigned to Humphrey Bogart's and Raymond Massey's vessel in that film. So far it's the normal run of World War II flag wavers, but after they're at sea, the plot goes totally off the charts. Jane Wyatt is a Navy nurse now and she's on the ship tending to the wounded. And a German speaking member of their crew gets a vital piece of information and has captain Ray Collins and O'Brien diverting the merchant vessel from its course on a mission all its own.Other members of the cast and part of O'Brien's gun crew are eager kid Jackie Cooper, career Navy man Max Baer, Desi Arnaz who came up from Cuba to fight, Carl Esmond who was the German speaking man and a former musician, and Frank Jenks the obligatory guy from Brooklyn whose main concern is getting a radio transmission of the Dodgers game.I can't go into the incredible ridiculousness of the plot except to say it involves our guys attempting to sabotage Admiral Doenitz's fleet of U=Boats all by themselves. You have to see it to believe it.The Navy Comes Through with some interesting and colorful performances which is the main reason to see the film as well as some nice special effects from RKO which got an Academy Award nomination has not held up well over the years. Did the American movie-going public really buy this stuff even then?

This is a WWII propaganda film made to bolster the American war effort. It certainly does deserve credit for an unusual cast! In addition to familiar faces like Pat O'Brien and George Murphy, the ship they serve on has the likes of Desi Arnaz, Jackie Cooper and Max Baer (the father of 'Jethro' from "The Beverly Hillbillies" and ex-heavy-weight boxing champ).The film surprised me a bit, as it talked about an aspect of the work of the US Navy that I'd never heard about--though it made sense. The merchant marine ships apparently also had US Navy gun crews stationed aboard them and this movie is about one of these crews. The boss is the Chief (O'Brien)--who plays his usual tough self. Murphy is an odd character--a guy who had been a Naval officer accused of cowardice who has now enlisted as a seaman--and the crew won't let him forget his past. In addition, and I know this is SUPER-contrived, but later in the film O'Brien's sister (Jane Wyatt) is taken aboard the merchant marine vessel! And, she just so happens to be Murphy's ex-girlfriend! Later in the film, a very unbelievable thing occurs. The merchant marine ship is able to easily capture a Nazi resupply ship loaded with torpedoes. And then, using this captured ship, they pass out booby-trapped torpedoes to German ships--and hilarity ensues! Not believable but really, really cool! Along the way, Murphy proves he IS a brave man and regains his good name and 1358 different movie clichés take place as well. But, because the production is so well-made and entertaining, you can't help but like the film from start to finish.By the way, there was one problem with this film that was pretty common in films. When the ship is attacked by airplanes, they are shot down--and really crude stock footage is used. In one case, the film is very blurry and in the other a two-engine fighter-bomber becomes a single-engine plane! Pretty sloppy--and an irritant to aviation buffs like me.

Before the Village People popularized the United States Navy with their song "In The Navy" this aquatic based branch of the armed forces was featured in many a Hollywood film during World War Two. "The Navy Comes Through" is one of those films and it features Pat O'Brien and George Murphy who are at odds with each other as they head out to sea as part of a gunnery crew to sink Nazi vessels. The overall theme to the film is a common one to WW II era war movies. A group of men with disparate backgrounds (in this case an Austrian-American, Ricky Ricardo, the ubiquitous guy from Brooklyn, and the boy who will become a man once he has seen some action) are thrown together to stick it to the Nazis. The idea is that America, the land of the melting- pot, can prevail over totalitarianism as long as everyone is willing to pull together. During the movie O'Brien's acting style is consistently blunt. The interior of the German subs are enormous. The action is well paced, and in the end the Navy really does comes through.