McHale's Navy

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McHale's Navy was an American television sitcom series. The series ran for 138 half-hour episodes from September 11, 1962 to August 20, 1966 on ABC. The series was presented in the Black and white format. The show sprang from a one-hour drama called Seven Against the Sea broadcast on April 3, 1962.

Contents 1 Pilot: Seven Against the Sea (1962) 1.1 Summary 1.1.1 Cast 1.2 Result 2 Series: McHale's Navy (1962–1966) 3 Theatrical films 4 Trivia 5 External links

[edit] Pilot: Seven Against the Sea (1962)

[edit] Summary

Ernest Borgnine as McHale first appeared as the lead character in a one-shot non-comedy drama called Seven Against the Sea. Aired as an episode of Alcoa Presents, a dramatic anthology also known as Fred Astaire's Premiere Theatre and hosted by Fred Astaire, the idyllic island setting introduces the audience to Commander Quinton McHale (played by Borgnine), the commanding officer of the navy PT boat island base, Taratupa. In the late spring of 1942, the Japanese heavily bombed the island and virtually destroyed the base. Only 18 out of the 150 Naval Aviators and Marines assigned to the base survived. With the Japanese patrols in the region too heavy for the Navy to mount a rescue mission, McHale and his men were forced to survive by remaining in hiding on the island. Assisted by the native tribes whom they befriend, the sailors live a relatively paradisical island existence. After months of rather leisurely living, straight-laced, by-the-book Annapolis graduate Lieutenant Durham (Ron Foster) parachutes onto the island. His job is to assume duties as McHale's executive officer and help him get the base on Taratupa back into the action.

Durham faces an uphill battle, however: The men have gone native. One of them has even started a native laundry service, and McHale has a still and makes moonshine for the men and the natives. In addition, McHale is close friends with the native chief and even bathes with him. When Durham informs McHale of his new orders, McHale refuses to follow them. It becomes clear that while McHale is as loyal as any American, following the devastation the Japanese rendered on the previous attack on the base, he is now extremely reluctant towards the prospect of losing any more men. His primary concern now is for their survival until they can be rescued. This creates a great deal of friction between Durham and McHale.

When they receive word that a Marine battalion is pinned on a beach, and an enemy cruiser is planning to attack the beachhead in the morning, McHale's attitude changes. McHale is ordered to use all boats they have to protect the beachhead and the Marines; boats McHale does not have, as the Japanese have sunk all their boats. However, McHale manages to capture a Japanese PT boat that has come to patrol the island. In a surprise to both his men and Durham, McHale doesn't plan to use the boat to evacuate either his men or the Marine battalion. Instead, he plans to attack and destroy the Japanese cruiser. His plan is that since they're on a Japanese boat, flying a Japanese flag, that they can get close enough to torpedo the cruiser twice and send it to the bottom.

Seven Against the Sea remains available for public viewing at the Museum of Radio and Television in New York City and Los Angeles.

[edit] Cast

• Ernest Borgnine ... Quinton McHale
• William Bramley ... Bosun Gallagher
• Ron Foster ... Lieutenant Durham
• Steve Harris ... Plumber Harris
• Juan Hernandez ... Crew Member
• Gary Vinson ... Christy Christopher
• Bobby Wright ... Willy Moss

[edit] Result

This episode of an early dramatic anthology series received respectable enough ratings for ABC to order it as a series. However, the series they requested was significantly different in tone than the pilot show offered.

[edit] Series: McHale's Navy (1962–1966)

As was the pilot, the series was set in the Pacific theatre of World War II (in the show's last season the setting was switched to Italy) and focused on the crew of PT-73, again led by Lt. Commander Quinton McHale (Borgnine). McHale's second-in-command is Ensign Charles Parker (Tim Conway), in his career-defining performance as a gentle, naïve but somewhat gung-ho bumbler who usually succeeded in spite of his own ineptness. Beside Borgnine, the only other actors that made it to the series were Gary Vinson as George "Christy" Christopher and John Wright as Radioman Willy Moss.

The "forces of evil" were well represented by McHale's commander, Captain Wallace Burton "Leadbottom" Binghamton (Joe Flynn), ably aided by the sycophantic Lieutenant Elroy Carpenter (Bob Hastings). Flynn was an expert in depicting sputtering frustration. Binghamton's only wartime "accomplishment" consisted of launching a torpedo from the PT-73 and destroying a truck on land!

Some of the McHale's Navy cast members had also starred in a previous sitcom, The Phil Silvers Show (a.k.a. Sergeant Bilko). A future American TV star, Gavin MacLeod (later of both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Love Boat), played crew member Joseph "Happy" Haines. The most unusual crew member was a privately held Japanese POW called Fuji (Yoshio Yoda), who had become a de facto comrade that the PT-73 crew kept hidden from Binghamton. Binghamton's catch phrases were "What in the name of the Blue Pacific" or "What in the name of Halsey" when he saw gambling or native dancing girls on McHale's island.

The plots revolved around the efforts of Captain Binghamton to rid himself of the PT-73 crew. Binghamton's military discipline ran counter to the get-rich-quick, money-making schemes of the 73's crew, which were usually led by the confident con-man Lester Gruber (played by actor and comic magician Carl Ballantine). The lover boy of the crew was Virgil Edwards (Edson Stroll). Quite often, Binghamton "had the goods" on McHale and his "pirates" (the 73's crew), only to see them pull off a military success against the enemy that impressed Admiral Reynolds (Herbert Lytton) or Admiral Rodgers (Roy Roberts) and headquarters. Binghamton would then say, "Elroy, I could just scream!" or "Why is it me, why it always me?" The navy brass respected McHale. He served in the Navy (World War I) and knew the South Pacific as a former Merchant Marine, while Binghamton held a reserve commission.

A Polynesian chief, Urulu (Jacques Aubuchon), was as crooked as McHale's men. When McHale and his men were in Urulu's village, the chief had a large photo of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; when the Japanese troops arrived Urulu turned over the picture to reveal a photo of Japanese Emperor Hirohito.

McHale's love interest was a navy nurse, Molly Turner (Jane Dulo). Parker's love interest was a French girl from New Caledonia, played by Claudine Longet.

The final season saw a major change in scenery, as both Binghamton and the 73 and her crew were transferred to the recently liberated Italian theater—a change of assignment that was, in the real WWII, so rare that many military historians disagree as to whether such reassignments ever actually happened.(Only high ranking officers in the Army Air Force were transferred from Europe to the Pacific). The addition of the clever get-rich-quick schemes of the Mayor Mario Lugatto (Jay Novello) and citizens of the coastal city of Voltafiore increased the plot twists. Colonel Douglas Harrigan (Henry Beckman) represented the Army and was at odds with McHale.

[edit] Theatrical films

There were two feature film spin-offs based on the series: McHale's Navy (1964) and McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force (1965). The full cast appeared in both films, with the exception of Borgnine in the latter film; he was unavailable due to schedule conflicts resulting from the filming of The Flight of the Phoenix. Both McHale films were essentially extended-length episodes of the series, without the laugh tracks. While both did well at the box office, the latter one was not as successful and was derided by the critics as being far too excessive in the slapstick. Some critics claimed Borgnine refused to appear in the film due to a poor script. Although Borgnine has denied this repeatedly over the years, the fact that he refused to appear in a third film due to a desire to move on to more dramatic roles still led many fans and critics to believe otherwise. Unlike the television series, both adjoining movie versions were fimed in Technicolor.

In 1997, there was a remake, where the PT73 and its crew operate in a more modern, post-WWII setting. Borgnine reprises his old role in a cameo appearance as an admiral. This film was one of that year's biggest box office flops.

[edit] Trivia

• The entire Pacific Ocean naval base was built on the backlot of Universal Studios. For many years after the show went off the air, the sets were used as an attraction on the studio tour.

• Because shots of the crew aboard PT-73 were filmed on a soundstage, an echo can frequently be heard during dialog.

• McHale often referred to his men as "8 balls". The men referred to him as "Skipper" or "Skip".

• The crew's assigned duties were:
  • Harrison "Tinker" Bell - Engineman
  • George "Christy" Christopher - Quartermaster
  • Virgil Edwards - Gunner's Mate
  • Lester Gruber - Torpedoman's Mate
  • "Happy" Haynes^{[verification needed]} - Torpedoman's Mate
  • Willy Moss - Radioman
  • Takeo Fujiwara^{[verification needed]} (Fuji) - Cook, Seaman 3C, Imperial Japanese Navy (A.W.O.L.)

• Sometimes a character mentioned an unnamed commander of torpedo boat PT-109. PT-109 was the boat commanded by then-President John F. Kennedy during WWII. Ironically, the PT-73 is considered the most recognizable PT Boat designator next to PT-109."^{[citation needed]}
• Alone among the princpal officer characters, McHale wears a historicaly accurately-sized US Navy crest on his hat (prior to the '50s, the crest was noticably smaller than it is today).

[edit] External links

• Seven Against the Sea at the Internet Movie Database
• McHale's Navy at TV.com
• McHale's Navy (Original tv series) at the Internet Movie Database
• McHale's Navy (1964 film) at the Internet Movie Database
• McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force at the Internet Movie Database