Lavishly produced, PT 109 is a Technicolor biopic about John F. Kennedy as an officer of the U.S. Navy, when he commanded a Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 in the Pacific theater of World War II.
Grade: B+ (***1/2* out if *****)
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The film was adapted by Vincent Flaherty and Howard Sheehan from Robert J. Donovan’s book, PT 109: John F. Kennedy in World War II.
Starring Cliff Robertson (personally chosen by Kennedy himself), the film features Ty Hardin, James Gregory, Robert Culp and Grant Williams.
PT 109 was the first commercial film about a sitting U.S. president released while he was still in office; FDR was depicted in small roles during his administration, as in Yankee Doodle Dandy.
It was released domestically on June 19, 1963, five months before Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22.
The take begins in August 1942, when the US forces are fighting the Japanese in the South Pacific during World War II. Fresh out of PT boat training school in Melville, Rhode Island, U.S. Navy Lieutenant, junior grade John F. Kennedy used his wealthy and powerful family’s influence to get himself assigned to the fighting in the Solomon Islands, a hotbed in the Pacific Theater.
Lobbying for command, he is given the well-worn PT 109. Initially, Tulagi’s irascible maintenance officer Commander C. R. Ritchie is unimpressed with the young, untested Kennedy.
With a crew anchored by Ensign Leonard J. Thom as officer and skeptical sailors “Bucky” Harris and Edmund Drewitch, he gets the 109 seaworthy again.
Lacking fuel for the return trip, the PT 109 is dispatched on emergency mission to evacuate para-marines pinned down after disrupting the Japanese in the Raid on Choiseul.
Under heavy fire, Kennedy rescues the survivors, but barely makes it before the engines die. Drawn shoreward by incoming tide, the boat and its passengers are saved from disaster when a tow arrives.
While on patrol one dark night in August 1943, the radar-less boat is throttled down and searching for a Japanese convoy returning from a supply mission via “The Slot”. Out of nowhere an Imperial Navy destroyer appears, and before Kennedy can react the PT 109 is rammed and sliced in half, killing two of her 13 crewmen.
Towing a badly burned crew member by a life jacket strap clenched in his teeth, Kennedy leads the survivors to Plum Pudding Island. The next day the abandoned wreckage is spotted by a reconnaissance plane, and the 109’s crew is presumed lost with all hands. After dark, Kennedy swims out into the channel with a signal lantern, staying out all night in the hope of flagging down a passing U.S. vessel. The next night, he sends out a friend who tagged along on the mission, Ensign George Ross.
Hoping for better prospects of food and water, he leads on another three-mile swim. Two natives show up in a canoe and hold the men at gunpoint, confused as to their identity. The boys do not understand English, so Kennedy carves a message on a coconut requesting rescue.
As a result of their ordeal, Kennedy and his men are eligible for leave, but he and other members choose to stay and continue fighting on a new combat boat.
Cast
Narrated by Andrew Duggan (uncredited)
Cliff Robertson as Lieutenant (j.g.) John F. Kennedy, skipper of PT Boat 109.
James Gregory as Commander C. R. Ritchie, maintenance officer
Ty Hardin as Ensign Leonard J. Thom, XO of PT Boat 109.
Robert Culp as Ensign George “Barney” Ross
Grant Williams as Lieutenant Alvin Cluster, Commander MTB Squadron 2.
Michael Pate as Lieutenant Reginald Evans, RANVR.
Lew Gallo as Yeoman Rogers
John Ward as John Maguire, Radioman 2nd class.
Biff Elliot as Edgar E. Mauer, Seaman 1st class.
David Whorf as Raymond Albert, Seaman 2nd class.
Sam Reese as Andrew Kirksey, Torpedoman’s Mate 2nd class.
Robert Blake as Charles “Bucky” Harris, Gunner’s Mate 2nd class.
Buzz Martin as Maurice Kowal, Gunner’s Mate 3rd class.
Norman Fell as Edmund Drewitch. Motor Machinist Mate 2nd class.
Clyde Howdy as Leon Drawdy, Motor Machinist Mate 2nd class.
Joseph Gallison as Harold Marney, Motor Machinist Mate 2nd class.
Errol John as Benjamin Kevu
Sam Gilman as Raymond Starkey
William Douglas as Gerard Zinser
James McCallion as Pat McMahon
Glenn Sipes as William Johnson
Dean Smith as Lieutenant Liebenow
Andrew Duggan as the narrator (uncredited)
George Takei as helmsman of the Japanese destroyer (uncredited)
Credits
Directed by Leslie H. Martinson and Lewis Milestone
Screenplay: Richard L. Breen
Adaptation: Vincent X. Flaherty and Howard Sheehan, based on “John F. Kennedy in World War II,” by Robert J. Donovan
Produced by Bryan Foy
Cinematography Robert Surtees
Edited by Folmar Blangsted
Music by David Buttolph, William Lava
Production and distribution: Warner Bros.
Release date: June 19, 1963 (U.S.)
Running time: 140 minutes
Budget $4 million
Box office: $3.5 million (US/Canada rentals)
