A crucial attribute of the war heroes that John Wayne had played is their rebellious nature and independent streak.
At times, Wayne’s military leaders are too spontaneous, even impulsive, willing to disobey orders if they think that their decision is morally right and action is needed. In general, Wayne played heroes want to fight on the front; they hate desk work.
In this respect, Wayne’s heroes stands in diametric opposition to sociologist William F. Whyte’s description of the “Organization Man,” a conformist who goes by the book, a man who adjusts himself to the organization’s rules by doing all things “the company way.”
For example, Wayne’s construction engineer Wedge Donovan in Edward Ludwig’s The Fighting Seabees helps to organize the Navy’s Construction Battalion, the Fighting Seabees (C.B), the special fighting units of civilian workers in the South Pacific.
Donovan gets impatient with the red tape of filling out the daily progress reports. He is told by Lieutenant Commander Bob Yarrow (Dennis O’Keefe) to disregard the Japanese snipers and to focus on construction.
Compared with Yarrow, Donovan is hot-tempered and impatient with the enemy. He continues to obey orders until his friend is killed, then in defiance of the rules, he orders his men to fight back. However, Donovan’s stubbornness causes the death of some men, for which he is held responsible.
Yarrow charges, “Every civilian here was wounded or killed because a fool wouldn’t obey orders,” and Donovan is forced to admit, “I was wrong, rotten wrong.” Guilt-ridden, he redeems himself in a one-man action, which costs him his life but succeeds in saving the important oil tanks.
Donovan devises a one-man solution, strapping dynamite to the front of a bulldozer and driving it forward to ram into one of the oil tanks. The explosion spreads flames that engulf the enemy. On the way, he is struck by an enemy bullet, but his mission is accomplished and the bulldozer goes right on.
It’s noteworthy, that “The Fighting Seabees” represents Wayne’s only second death on screen, and his dying is motivated by heroic sacrifices and expiation of past mistakes.
As is the norm with most of Hollywood War pictures, the romantic subplot with Susan Hayward, feels like a distraction and is not convincing. The romance–and woman’s part–were included in the plot in order to attract female viewers to the movie.
Oscar Nominations: 1
Scoring (Dramatic or Comedy): Walter Scharf and Roy Webb
Oscar Context:
The winner was Max Steiner for the sentimental family melodrama, “Since You Went Away.”
Cast
Wedge Donovan (John Wayne)
Lt. Commander Robert Yarrow (Dennis O’Keefe)
Constance Chesley (Susan Hayward)
Eddie Powers (William Frawley)
Johnny Navasky (Leonid Kinskey)
Sawyer Collins (J. M. Kerrigan)
Whangler Spreckles (Grant Withers)
Ding Jacobs (Paul Fix)
Credits
Running time: 100 Minutes
Distributed by Republic
Director Edward Ludwig
Screenplay: Borden Chase, Aeneas MacKenzie, from a story by Chase
Camera: William Bradford
Music: Walter Scharf
