THE FIGHTING SEABEES (1944)

Even with allowances for Wartime attitudes (news of the Bataan Death March, a particular horror, coming out early this year), this is one of John Wayne’s more infuriating WWII films, single-handedly winning the Eastern Theater on screen while in real life conspicuously avoiding service.  And playing such a selfish shit, it’s hard not to root for the ‘Jap’ snipers the film refers to as ‘Slaughtering Bug-Eyed Monkeys.’  Wayne’s a construction team leader on Navy Projects, a civvy building bases & airfields overseas, he & his crew unarmed against attack & losing his best men.  Taking it out on Naval Officer Dennis O’Keefe (a rare co-star nearly as tall as Duke) unaware they agree on the issue.  But before Washington makes it official (Construction Battalion getting armed and becoming Navy SeaBees), Wayne ignores orders in the field, and jumps into action with his untrained crew, foiling O’Keefe's planned military offense.  Result: scores of men & civilians needlessly killed.  Hopefully, now that he’s part of the force, Wayne’s learned his lesson . . . NOT.  And it’s not only the enemy Wayne moves in on, he’s also advancing on O’Keefe's girl, reporter Susan Hayward, and largely responsible when she’s seriously injured in the field.  She loves ‘em both, but Wayne just that much more.  (Hey, he’s top-billed!)  Republic Pictures threw a lot of military ordnance & cash at this one, but impressive explosions can’t make up for Edward Ludwig’s haphazard shot sequencing or Borden Chase’s embarrassing dialogue, corny characterization & flimsy construction.  (Jap snipers repeatedly used for ironic punctuation.)  And as comic relief?  A Russian-American fighter Stalin could love.  But it’s Wayne, pigheaded, selfish, out for glory, an Ugly American we’re meant to cheer who really sinks the ship.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT/LINK: Wayne’s unteachable character not so far off Lt. Col. Thursday, the George Armstrong Custer stand-in Henry Fonda played against Wayne’s lower-ranked officer in John Ford’s FORT APACHE/’48.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2009/11/fort-apache-1948.html  OR: Wayne making up for WWII self-glorification in John Ford’s habitually undervalued downbeat masterpiece THEY WERE EXPENDABLE/’45.