There should be no doubt that this film is a highly over simplified account of how the U.S. Navy Seabees came into existence. John Wayne portrays the hot headed owner of Donovan Construction Company, who offers his services to the government in building airfields and related support fortifications for the war effort. The story centers on Wedge Donovan's single mindedness in getting his men armed so they can defend themselves under attack; as civilians they have no such authority. Boiled down, Wayne's role was to make a lot of foolish mistakes that got many of his men killed, both out of uniform and as soldiers.
Complicating matters for Donovan is a three way love triangle supplied by reporter Connie Chesley (Susan Hayward) and her fiancé Lieutenant Commander Robert Yarrow (Dennis O'Keefe). When Connie suffers a near fatal wound following a Japanese invasion of Island X-371, Yarrow overhears Donovan and Chesley exchanging "I Love You's" together. Ever the stalwart military man, Yarrow doesn't seem to take it personally, even as he continues to pine for his woman.
The fight scenes offer some unique twists that one would not expect. As Japanese tanks advance on the island, the Seabees combine ingenuity with resolve by battling the enemy with bulldozers and cranes. The surreal nature of the exchange makes one wonder if such fighting actually could have taken place, though I imagine it would have been possible.
Only John Wayne could go into battle without a weapon, and in seconds take out three attacking Japanese while securing a rifle in the process. It comes as a surprise then when his character dies on the battlefield, first shot and then blown up by enemy fire. Most of his men suffer the same fate, a colorful supporting cast that includes William Frawley, Leonid Kinskey, Grant Withers, Paul Fix and Ben Welden.
With no sense of a time dimension for the history of the Seabees, and a hit and run approach to the Wayne/Hayward/O'Keefe romance, the movie has a disjointed feel and is best approached as an entertainment piece and not a serious exploration of it's subject matter. The film closes on an appropriately patriotic note, with Commander Yarrow reading a presidential citation for the heroes of X-371. The movie's theme is formalized with the line - "We build for the fighters, we fight for what we build".
Complicating matters for Donovan is a three way love triangle supplied by reporter Connie Chesley (Susan Hayward) and her fiancé Lieutenant Commander Robert Yarrow (Dennis O'Keefe). When Connie suffers a near fatal wound following a Japanese invasion of Island X-371, Yarrow overhears Donovan and Chesley exchanging "I Love You's" together. Ever the stalwart military man, Yarrow doesn't seem to take it personally, even as he continues to pine for his woman.
The fight scenes offer some unique twists that one would not expect. As Japanese tanks advance on the island, the Seabees combine ingenuity with resolve by battling the enemy with bulldozers and cranes. The surreal nature of the exchange makes one wonder if such fighting actually could have taken place, though I imagine it would have been possible.
Only John Wayne could go into battle without a weapon, and in seconds take out three attacking Japanese while securing a rifle in the process. It comes as a surprise then when his character dies on the battlefield, first shot and then blown up by enemy fire. Most of his men suffer the same fate, a colorful supporting cast that includes William Frawley, Leonid Kinskey, Grant Withers, Paul Fix and Ben Welden.
With no sense of a time dimension for the history of the Seabees, and a hit and run approach to the Wayne/Hayward/O'Keefe romance, the movie has a disjointed feel and is best approached as an entertainment piece and not a serious exploration of it's subject matter. The film closes on an appropriately patriotic note, with Commander Yarrow reading a presidential citation for the heroes of X-371. The movie's theme is formalized with the line - "We build for the fighters, we fight for what we build".