Evening star., 1955-06-26
They Moy Be
All Wet but
They're Stors
BY HAROLD HEFFERNAN
HOLLYWOOD.

HOLLYWOOD.
The history of motion pic
lures is replete with instances
where inanimate objects have
become the silent costars Of
great actors. but nowhere is
this more evident than in
stories Of the sea.
The Nautilus, for instance.
will be remembered as the
greatest name in submarine
history long after the stars Of
Disney's 10000 Leagues Un-
der the Sea" are forgotten. A
fictional name Of such great
tradition that it's been given
to the first atom-powered sub.
Nautilus has been the hero Of
a novel as well as of a movie.
A name currently groomed
for a niche in history Is that
of the U.S.S. Belinda. an at
tack transport which becomes
the mother ship Of an am
phibious saga Of World War
II, Away All Boats" The Uni
versal-International picture,
costarring JEFF Chandler.
George Nader, Lex Barker and
Julie Adams. tells the story Of
water-to-land invasions that
made the nd-hopping vic
tory over Japan possible in the
1940's.
Heroic Steel Lady
What makes the story live
is the fact it is seen through
the eyes of one skipper.
Chandler, from the flying
bridge Of a heroic steel lady,
the Belinda. This great ocean
vessel takes her place along
side such famous film ships as
the Game of 1.-THE Caine
Mutiny" and the aircraft car
rier Yorktown Of Fighting
Lady" fame.
Navies Of all lands have
been great pools Of ship tall
ent and England has stood
alongside the United States
for years as joint ruler Of the
cinematic waves.
II. M. s. Bounty has been a
screen tradition ever since
Clark Gable. Charles Laugh
ton and Franchot Tone CO.
starred in "Mutiny on the
Bounty" and I'm Which We
Serve" starred a modern Brit
ish Navy vessel together with
some of the finest actors In
England.
In one of the outstanding
sea classics Of all time. "Moby
Dick" q ship figures as a key
character in the story. The
decks OF the sturdy whaler,
Pequod. have resounded to the
peg-legged stomp Of the late
Milton Sills and John Barry
more and will soon echo again
under Gregory Peck.
From "Down to the Sea in
Ships" (Which brought Clara
Bow from the bounding waves}
to Wake Of the Red Witch"
the giants riding the seven seas
have sailed through storms
whipped up by Hollywood spe-
cial effects men to become al
most as famous as the screen
personalities who skippered
them. But they have not al
ways been big ships. The Kon-
Tiki, from the picture of the
same name, was a tiny craft
compared to the adventure ship
which carried both hero and
pirate in Treasure Island"
A dilapidated, barnacled old
cargo ship, rather than a
proud. spick-span liner. be-
came the silent hero of one Of
the greatest of this years pic
lures. Mister Roberts" With
all the action unfolding on its
deck and in its bottoms, it be-
came necessary, first Of all. to
scour the worlds ports for just
the properly decrepit vessel.
Warner scouts finally found
what they wanted-the U.S.S.
Hewell, a Navy cargo vessel
which, after leasing from the
Government. they proceeded
to deglamorize even more. Re
named the Reluctant, its
Diesel engines were removed
and 1t was towed to the loca-
ton site near Wake Island.
Henry Fonda, James Cagney,
William Powell, Jack Lennon