bkoganbing 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?

MartinHafer 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.

verbusen 5 of 10 just because its the Navy and they do show that the lights turn off when you open an outside door (was that even an outside door?). I'm a Navy Vet so I would lean towards giving this propaganda film a high score but then again I did not like Wake Island or Fighting Seabess. Let me rephrase that slightly, I ate those two films up as a kid in the 1970's because they were very action packed with solid American characters but today as an adult they don't hold up well. OK so here goes, never saw The Navy Comes Through before (gee I wonder why???). A gunnery crew from a merchant ship is able to take a merchant raider unscathed and then with that prize ship sinks 5, yes not 1 or 2 or 3 or 4, but FIVE U boats. And I said "Air Force" was horrible (they shot down at least 20 fighters from one bomber in one flight alone)! I laughed when the U boats blew up with a shot from the gunner's that was funny. Lots to make fun of as other reviewer mentioned the subs interior is like a cruise ship, no beards, no hammocks, radio getting radio free Austria (sheesh), totally whacked out over the top stuff. I have to think even in 1942 they were rolling their eyes at this one, but I could be wrong! 5 of 10, we won, yippee.

boblipton This pretty good propaganda programmer has officer George Murphy fouling up, being busted out and reenlisting as a common sailor, where he runs into Pat O'Brien and Jane Wyatt, Murphy's ex-fiancée and O'Brien's sister.It's interesting to watch the two stock Irishmen play off of each other, each in their usual registers: Murphy easy-going and O'Brien in his bulldog mode. The story also takes some interesting and unexpected turns that raise it above the usual level of flag waving propaganda. Somehow a Viennese violist and Desi Arnaz wind up in the crew for some comic relief *and* plot purposes.RKO's technical department, the equal of any in the business, came up with a new machine to simulate the effects of horizon on the sea. Looks pretty good.