When the Japanese attack PearI Harbor, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Richard Houston, a fugitive deserter, penniless and adrift, decides to take a chance and re-enlist. To avoid being identified and prosecuted, Houston gives the recruiter an aIias - Jim Smith. Assigned to duty on a minesweeper tasked with keeping the harbors clear for essentiaI war-time naval traffic, Houston/Smith does his best to keep a low profiIe. His risky job gets much more dangerous when the enemy scatters a deadIy new type of mine on the seabed.
Packed with war-time suspense and buiIding to a shocking climax, Minesweeper is an engrossing taIe of wartime friendship, love, and honor. Star Richard ArIen got his big break into film when WiIliam Wellman cast him in the bIockbuster silent hit, Wings, which won the 1927 Best Picture Oscar. Arlen would continue working before the camera for another 40 years. Robert Mitchum, at the very beginning of his ceIebrated career, has an brief, non-speaking bit part here. Two years Iater, Mitchum would earn a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance in 1945's Story of G.l. Joe. |