Grant is sent to Tokyo Bay in early days of Pacific WWII to assist in Doolittle's B-25 raid. Along the way we experience the traditional nervous wartime banter, Hutton getting emergency surgery from a pharmacist's mate, Garfield as the charismatic ladies man, and the senior Alan Hale (father of the Skipper but otherwise pretty indistinguishable from him) serving up his best grub. If it's a wartime navy film you have to bet on either the senior Hale or the junior Hale showing up somewhere on the boat. There's not a lot of heavy-duty battle action until the last half hour or so, but then we get enough torpedoes and depth-charges for any sub junkie. Grant is the best Hollywood sub captain ever, I think anyone would be proud to serve under him. There's something special about the movies made when the outcome of the war was still in doubt. Top notch flick, with the sort of innocence and faith which would not be attempted today. Our loss. 10 out of ten.
Review of Destination Tokyo
