The Frogmen (1951)

Directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Richard Widmark, Dana Andrews, Gary Merrill, Jeffrey Hunter and Robert Wagner. Plot finds Widmark as a strict disciplinarian who takes command of the Navy Underwater Demolition Team and quickly upsets the men with his forceful ways. With the team building up to a crucial mission the question is if the men and commander can find an accord for the war effort?Like the men at the film's heart, this is a sturdy war film that's for those who don't mind the focus being more on characterisations than action. The sets and construction of certain scenes show their age, but the underwater filming is neat and the strong cast keep the viewer engaged enough till the big mission arrives. Not essential war film buff viewing, but a decent time waster at least. 5.5/10

This Second World War drama follows a US Navy Underwater Demolition Team as it takes part in preparations for the invasion of Japanese occupied islands and comes to terms with the replacement of a popular leader who was killed in action. Form the way they talk it is clear that there former CO was very much one of the men but his replacement, Lt. Cmdr. John Lawrence, is very much a by the book officer. The men's opinion of him gets even worse when he orders his boat back to the ship after their second boat is destroyed leaving the survivors to wait for the rescue boat; is reasoning may have been militarily correct but it was unpopular enough to have three men request a transfer. It isn't long before everyman in the team wants out. Luckily for him an opportunity arises for him to demonstrate his courage and win the respect of his men before he must lead them on a top secret mission to attack Japanese submarine pens.This is a solid film with decent action, a good cast and an interesting story to tell. It may be a fictional story but it nicely demonstrates the sort of work the Underwater Demolition Teams would have done without being gung-ho about it. The cast did a fin job; most notably Richard Widmark who put in a nicely understated performance as Lt. Cmdr. Lawrence; a character who wanted to do the right thing and respected his men even when he knew they didn't have such an opinion of him. The action looked believable; the underwater scenes especially so. The fact that it was filmed in black and white somehow gives it a more realistic feel... presumably because the vast majority of archive footage of the war was in black and white! The tension in the unit was there to add to the drama and it did so in a believable way; the men might not have liked Lawrence but they didn't do anything unrealistic about it; just griped a bit and got on with the job. We don't see much of the Japanese but when we do it was refreshing to see them depicted as ordinary soldiers sharing a cigarette rather than as 'the evil enemy'. If you enjoy films about the second World War I'd certainly recommend this as it shows the sort of operations not usually depicted in films in a fascinating way.

After watching and enjoying this film, I checked out the trivia section for this film and found that many of the events in this film are based on the real life unit they were named for in the film--including the banner on the beach scene. At first I thought this scene totally ridiculous and didn't fit the film--seeing it REALLY happened is amazing! This is an interesting war film even if it didn't get made until well after the war. Most people never think about the need for naval demolitions crews, yet their incredibly dangerous job is shown in this film. How dangerous it was and how they actually performed it was truly interesting for history buffs like myself. Seeing them often diving with no real equipment such as snorkels or tanks (these were only used late in the film) and simply free-diving to set demolition charges is pretty amazing. What was more amazing was seeing how they picked up these guys on the fly, so to speak.Apart from the technical aspects of the film, the plot itself is somewhat formulaic but interesting. Richard Widmark plays the typical hard-as-nails commanding officer and naturally the men miss their old C.O. since he was "one of the boys" (see THE FLYING LEATHERNECKS and TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH and you'll see what I mean). The whole "loneliness at the top" angle has been done many times before, though this one was played a bit better. Having such pros as Dana Andrews, Jeffrey Hunter and Gary Merrill on hand sure didn't hurt! What did hurt, however, with the formula was that, at times, it made the men seem like whiners.Overall, rather exciting and well worth seeing despite its roots in Hollywood formula and a fitting tribute to some incredibly brave men.

Richard Widmark plays the new skipper of an elite UDT (Unerwater Demolition Team) unit in WW2. In many ways it was typical of the patriotic fare that was popular back then. The skipper takes over for a popular commander that was lost in a previous mission. We watch as he agonizes over almost every decision he makes. He constantly second guesses himself and compares himself to the ever popular Cassidy at every turn. As you can imagine, he grudgingly gains the respect of the team while making these life or death decisions.The support cast is reliable - even talented. Unavoidably for the genre, we have the guy from Brooklyn - in this case Canarsie - played believably for a change by Harvey Lembeck. Not once did I hear him say the word "goil". Dana Andrews plays a veteran CPO who identifies too well with his crew and resents the skipper. Gary Merrill does a very credible job as the captain of the transport ship that delivers the UDT crew to their targets.A couple of things caught my attention. Although this movie was produced in 1951, it depicts what amounts to an experimental unit developed in WW2. I couldn't help but notice how primitive the operations were back then. No underwater breathing gear, no communications once they were in the water, simple slates and pencils to record the details of their mission. As a launch brought them into target range, they would jump into a rubber boat, then roll off into the water. Worse yet, at their pick up point, they had to tread water, raise their hand, and wait like sitting ducks to be pulled back into the rubber boat at speed.This is not a silly movie. It celebrates the courage of men doing a very dangerous job under impossible conditions. There are a few clichés here, but nothing we can't overlook. A good action adventure flick, well worth watching.