Away All Boats is a 1956 American war film produced by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Joseph Pevney and produced by Howard Christie from a screenplay by Ted Sherdeman based on the 1953 novel by Kenneth M. Dodson.
Dodson (1907-1999) served on the USS Pierce (APA-50) in World War II and used his experiences there as a guide for his novel. He was encouraged in his writing by Carl Sandburg, who had read some of Dodson’s letters written from the Pacific.
The film stars Jeff Chandler, George Nader, Lex Barker, Julie Adams, Keith Andes, Charles McGraw, and Richard Boone with early appearances by Clint Eastwood and David Janssen.
The first choice for Chandler's role was Clark Gable who turned the film down.
The movie is about the crew of the APA-22 Belinda, a fictional amphibious attack transport. The movie was filmed aboard the USS Randall. It is most notable for its realistic and terrifying depictions of Japanese kamikaze attacks on U.S. Navy ships during the last year of World War II in the Pacific Theatre.
Universal received the full cooperation of the U.S. Navy, including an opportunity to photograph maneuvers and mock attacks in March 1955 in the Caribbean. The Navy also granted a two week leave of absence for Ralph Scalzo, a landing boat coxswain, who was needed for added closeup shots.
NBC made a color documentary about the making of the movie.
Away All Boats is one of the few films made in VistaVision at a studio other than Paramount. The film made use of the Perspecta stereo process for its soundtrack.
Clint Eastwood's role is a brief speaking one (with one line of dialog spoken by another actor), as a Navy Medical Corpsman assisting the Ship's Captain after he is severely wounded while trying to save his ship.
A review in the New York Times by Bosley Crowther found the early scenes in the movie confusing, particularly the motivation of the characters played by Jeff Chandler (Captain Jebediah Hawks) and Lex Barker (Commander Quigley). He also found the movie an efficient service film in which “all the confusions are adjusted and everybody comes out a hero in the end”.
The script, script revisions, and status reports dealing with the Department of Defense Film and Television liaison office is kept in the Georgetown University Library Department of Defense Film Collection.
Record, VHS and DVD releases
A record with some of Frank Skinner’s music from the movie was released by Decca in May 1956. Participants included Al Hibbler (who sang a theme from the film score) and an orchestra conducted by Jack Pleis. Decca released this on 78 rpm 29950 and 45 rpm 9-29950.
MCA Home Video released a VHS version probably in full screen and definitely in HiFi sound in 1986. Good Times video also released a VHS version in full screen on March 2, 1998.
Good Times Video released a DVD on May 1, 2001. This was in full screen rather than the VistaVision widescreen and may have been a copy of the earlier Good Times VHS release.
References
- Dodson, Kenneth. Away All Boats, Little, Brown and Company, December 1953.
- Crowther, Bosley. “Screen: Away All Boats”, New York Times, August 17, 1956, page. 14.
- Shenk, Robert “Away All Boats” in Jill B. Gidmark. Encyclopedia of American Literature of the Sea and Great Lakes. Page 26. Greenwood, 2001. (A description of the novel on which the movie was based).
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