Plot
This WW II adventure chronicles the real-life courage of President John F. Kennedy when he was a Navy lieutenant in charge of the illustrious PT 109. Among the adventures they had was the courageous rescue of Marines stranded upon the isle of Choiseul. As they flee, their little boat is split in half by a Japanese destroyer. The survivors then make a long, dangerous swim to an island. One of them is too badly injured to do it, so Kennedy helps him. Later, the future leader braves many dangers to get to another island to radio for help. This video also contains a newsreel chronicling the President's assassination and a cartoon short featuring Foghorn Leghorn. ~ Sandra Brennan, RoviReview
PT 109 cannot possibly have as much of an impact on modern audiences as it did when released in 1963, five months before the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Clearly, having a personal connection to the Kennedy era -- whether positive or negative -- will make PT more meaningful. But looking at it objectively, PT is a moderately entertaining war picture, albeit an overlong one. At some two hours and twenty minutes, it tends to drag and gets repetitive; one wishes director Leslie Martinson had cut it down by half an hour or so. The character of Kennedy is also painted a bit too positively and as a bit too much of a take charge hero, although this is something that is often a problem with films of this sort. One of the screenplay's plusses, however, is its concentration on the minor but still deadly activities that were undertaken by thousands of men during World War II. Not everyone was involved with the major assaults; many spent their time risking their lives in places and situations of which most people are totally unaware, and it's a nice change of pace to see this aspect of the war dramatized. Cliff Robertson does well as Kennedy, wisely eschewing a Boston accent, and he gets good support from James Gregory, Ty Hardin and a bunch of ffaces soon to be familiar to TV viewers. ~ Craig Butler, RoviCast
- Cliff Robertson - Lt. John F. Kennedy
- Ty Hardin - Ens. Leonard J. Thom
- James Gregory - Commander Ritchie
- Grant Williams - Lt. Alvin Cluster
- Lew Gallo - Yeoman Rogers
Credit
Leo K. Kuter - Art Director, Alexis Davidoff - Costume Designer, Leslie Martinson - Director, Folmar Blangsted - Editor, David Buttolph - Composer (Music Score), William Lava - Composer (Music Score), Robert Surtees - Cinematographer, Bryan Foy - Producer, John P. Austin - Set Designer, Ralph Webb - Special Effects, Marvin Willens - Stunts, Richard L. Breen - Screenwriter, Howard Sheehan - Screenwriter, Vincent X. Flaherty - Screenwriter, R.J. Donovan - Book Author| PQD: Brazilian Paratroopers (2007 Film), POWs of the Reich: Prisoners of the Reich (2008 Film) | |
| PTU (2003 Film), PVC-1 (2007 Film) |
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