Review of The Gallant Hours

I'm going to buck the trend of giving this film 10 out of 10 stars. The Gallant Hours is a war film that surprisingly has few (or none) combat scenes in it. For most of its length, the film is inside Admiral "Bull" Halsey's stateroom and consists of the Admiral, played by James Cagney, discussing strategy with his staff officers and other flag officers along with some interaction between the Admiral and his Philippine enlisted personal aide. As a Navy veteran myself (enlisted, who served on a battle group staff in modern times as an enlisted aide to the officers), after watching this film I found it entertaining but also disappointing. I looked up the back-story to it and how it was made. It is from a joint production venture between Robert Montgomery (who served under Halsey in WWII but I'm not sure if on a staff level or just on one of the ships in his command) and James Cagney. Montgomery got the rights to Halsey's bio in the late 1950s with the promise that 10% of the film profits be sent to Halsey. There is a picture of Montgomery, Halsey and Cagney together from around 1959 while production was ongoing. Sadly, Admiral Halsey would pass away within a year before the film's release in 1960 (it probably helped it's box office). Information about the film online says this was a labor of love for Montgomery who knew Halsey and Cagney who looked a lot like Halsey. Here are the parts of the film I enjoyed. The Japanese officers are represented with respect and use their own language, something that was uncommon in that era of film making (though it had been done before, mainly with the German military in films). With the post war era and Japan an important ally in the Cold War, this was inevitable. I liked the attention to detail such as the Marine saluting inside the ship but not the sailors. From personal experience, that would make me wonder when I served with joint branches what I was supposed to do inside since I was in the Navy and we don't salute indoors like the Marines and Army do, I'd just salute to be on the safe side when dealing with other branches officers. There are bios of many of the characters adding to the realism that this was not fiction (although it is in part). I did like the opening of the sailors on the deck while the chorus sang the song "I knew a lad who went to sea and left the shore behind him; I knew him well; the lad was me and now I cannot find him." I joined the Navy at age 17 and was transformed after a six year enlistment that included going on two six-month long Westpac cruises. I'm sure the teenage sailors of WWII were transformed even more after being in combat. Cagney's performance was great and although the film is long, his performance made it interesting to watch scene by scene. The negatives I have for this film are its lack of actual combat dramatizations. I think this was a budgetary issue to save money, although Montgomery was known for unconventional film making (Lady in the Lake, first person viewpoint which I hated), the film could have used some actual battles in it. There is one scene showing wounded but no burials at sea, a standard scene in Navy war films and there were thousands of dead sailors and Marines during this time frame. Even without combat scenes, I think Cagney could have gotten out of that stateroom during the Battle of Savo Island and some shots of him in CIC would have helped a lot. Rather, we hear some radio chatter that seems it could be a recurring thought in his head then actual operations taking place. Despite the film being a stickler for accurate details I spotted some mistakes. At the end, Dennis Weaver's character is shown in 1945 after the war is over and he has not been promoted from the Lt. Cdr. rank he was in 1942, saluting Cagney and having no embellishments on his cap (scrambled eggs). For someone to have been in a staff position in 1942 and a fighter pilot for 3 years of war I find that hard to believe. Also, they compressed the time-line of events from 9 months to 5 weeks condensing the victory at Guadalcanal with the Yamamoto air mission which happened months after the battle was over. Some scenes of the ship Cagney is on seem to be a repair tender, not a warship. The chorus music can get repetitive as well. Also, since Montgomery considered Halsey a friend, he is portrayed statelier than in real life. They used Dennis Weaver's character to show a womanizer when it has been written that "Bull" Halsey got his nickname from his off ship exploits, not from combat, as well as him often using "salty" language on board ship like when he received the letter saying he was to take over command his actual response was, "Jesus Christ and General Jackson! This is the hottest potato they ever handed me!" Made as a tribute to Halsey during his elder years, it may have been a very different film if made after his passing. I liken watching this film to the 1976 film Midway had it been done with no combat scenes and mostly in Admiral Nimitz' (played by Henry Fonda) war planning room. Some may love it but I think it does a disservice to those who died there on the ships, sky and land, 6 of 10.