Destroyer - Edward G. Robinson

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by William A. Seiter
US 1943

A 1943 flagwaver starring Edward G. Robinson and Glenn Ford as US Navy sailors in World War II.

Destroyer tells the story of a new American destroyer, the John Paul Jones, from the day her keel is laid to nearly her last voyage. Among the crew, is Steve 'Boley' Boleslavski (Edward G Robinson), a shipyard welder who helped to build her, who re-enlists with his old rank of Chief bosun's mate. After failing her sea trials, the John Paul Jones is assigned to the mail run - until she is caught up in a desperate battle with a Japanese sub.

***

Edward G. Robinson portrays a hard-driving, hard-nosed perfectionist who causes dissension aboard the WWII destroyer he helped build before re-enlisting in the Navy. Coming aboard as a senior crewman and trying to emulate the perfection of his hero John Paul Jones, he drives himself as hard as he drives the younger generation of sailors he commands, even going so far as recounting the last battle of the Bon Homme Richard to the increasingly disgruntled crew. But it is not his words that earn him their respect. During a major battle Robinson proves himself a true hero. The harsh training also pays off and the young sailors successfully defeat the enemy. Afterward they realize that Robinson was right to be tough on them and never question him again. Meanwhile, the captain who stood by Robinson through the thick of it even winds up involved with the old salt's daughter.

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Theatrical Release: August 16th, 1943

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DVD Review: MovieMail - Region 2, 4 - PAL

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from: NTSC version also available here:
Distribution	MovieMail - Region 2, 4 - PAL
Runtime	1:35:30 (4% PAL Speedup)
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.94 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Columbia Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Trailer (1:44) DVD Release Date: March, 2013 Keep Case Chapters: 12

Comments:

Another highly impressive DVD image from MovieMail. Destroyer is a standard war-flic but it adds more appeal with Edward G. and Glenn Ford.

The dual-layered DVD is a real winner. Aside from a few, minor speckles this looks very good. The contrast levels help export some surprising detail. There is even some grain to be seen. There is some battle-footage used that is, obviously, of a lesser quality. Audio is unremarkable but dialogue is easily discernable and there are optional English subtitles. Being familiar with Glenn Ford's voice I could notice the higher pitch via the 4% PAL speedup, The disc is coded for regions 2 + 4.

No extras, aside from a trailer, but I was in the perfect mood to see this film and enjoyed the presentation. Many vintage film devotees will see the value here.

Gary W. Tooze

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