Minesweeper (1943) - full transcript

Hey duke. Got a match?

Last the mohican.
Got a cigarette.

Likewise the last.
- Thanks.

Delighted for your boy?

Duke if you don't like our company
you know what you're going to do.

I'm mad again i wouldn't
think of such a thing,

palatial accommodation

intellectual companionship and
something cooking on the stove.

Say, I'll roll you for
some of that slump.

Against what? The sticker?

Go ahead.



Boy good old patriots here we go.

Come on sir.
- You got those things trained.

If they were I wouldn't be here.

Get a load of this.

By this time next year

it is expected that every able-bodied

man between the ages of 21 and 45

will be either in the armed service

or working in a defense plan.

How do you like that?

Bet the next thing you know
they'd be forcing us to go to work.

Why don't you get
wise to yourself Madigan?

the japs attacked Pearl
Harbor last week we're at war

and every able-bodied
man has a job to do.



So what?

A bunch of politicians ain't going to wave
no flag in my face and put me in no uniform

I don't owe this country a thing.

Listen, Madigan.

I don't like the way you
talk. Ain't that too bad.

You think this is a swell
country, don't you?

I think it's a great gun.
- Then get out and see more of it.

Hey, what happened
to you young fellow?

I guess you're out all right.

I don't mean you're
all right i just think you're out.

Quess I'll have to fix it.

Couple of hobos
running down our country.

It's a fine how do you do.

Mate j told me
your name? - Smith.

Hi's playing Jim Smith

No kidding? Same as mine?

I used to have a cousin by
the name of Jim Smith

born in a little jerkwater
town down in arkansas.

Buck I think it was.

Yep, like I was. Cause my uncle
used to always call him Buck.

You know, Buck left home when he was a

kid ain't been heard of since

you couldn't be him could you when is he

born

april 1st 1909 I'll always remember that

because my mom's used to calling my

april fool's cousin that couldn't be me

i'm no april fool baby and besides i'm

one of the tennessee Smiths

how do you do tennessee Smith glad to

know you san diego texan

i think you were kind to each other

somewhere along the line why are you

heading

los angeles i'm going right through

there on the way home to endless

army now my whole family's navy

20 years for me why i have to wash my

blood once a week or else i salt up like

a mackerel

joining up again then wait a little walk

into the commander lane

he's my skipper on the old sinclair tire

wasn't she

yeah how'd you know

you gave me a ship's clock when we

busted up he's commander of the section

basis ben pedro narrow

somebody tough joe to shave but you'd

never want to meet a greater little guy

what are you going to do when you hit

l. a oh I'll probably tie up for the

shipyard not your business

no not exactly until a couple months ago

I was knocking around the south pacific

and when i hit the stakes i joined up

with a salvage outfit as a deep sea dive

will be dog gone you've got all the

fixings for a gunner's mate

me an 80 sure you bet gunners mate

you're in charge of ordinance i have an

equipment tennessee you're a cinch

maybe you've got an idea

yeah i think maybe you have fix it hey

stop the next towel

y'all want to send a telegram sure i

will

I'll fix it all pal this really makes us

still say you should have dropped me in

town what's the matter we got the

measles or something

you're staying with us hej mom it's me

icky icky bod

hey mom are you home well upper boo as

you're saying french

corned beef and cabbage

well that smells good doesn't it and

some of mom's cookies stick your teeth

in one of them

dear mary mary's my niece i've gone out

to spencer's market if you get home

first put the potatoes on the boil

elliot telephone we'll have his 40 hours

and be here next week

40 hours means you'll be on liberty

elliotts are both

not moms mary's when you see her i can't

beat anybody in these studs

i told you i'd fix it didn't i yeah but

and you asked for it huh that is out

with it

hey dropping come on let me down will

you

hold on cut off it you're so further

notice

leave two and throw out your anchor I'll

wait a minute i'm not going to take your

bedroom away from you who says it's my

room

my brother jax he's in honolulu a ship's

fitter first class

his regular just about fit you so get

yourself ship shape while i drive

over to stenson's and pick up mom more

stuff in here in case you need them

help yourself hej fix it yeah

a lot of words i could say but if i put

them all together they

they spell thanks oh shucks

foreign

what are you doing here

I was just taking off my coat those are

my father's clothes

mary Smith you know that used to sound

like just an ordinary name to me

now it sounds beautiful

i like it what are you doing here

incidentally that picture doesn't

flatter you who are you

oh didn't i tell you i i'm Jim Smith one

of the tennessee Smiths and you see

fixit told me that i

fix it yeah

then you want to fix it friends that i

am i'm sorry

she thought I was a burger can you

imagine that

oh hej mom this is tennessee Smith I was

telling you about

tennessee this is mom's is she cute how

do you do i've heard

about you how'd you do we got things to

do let's get going oh yeah yeah

don't you think you better leave mary

here mr Smith oh yeah

sorry

your ship offers you the same

opportunities for promotion whether

you've graduated from a trade school or

not

but to be promoted you must work and

study prevent who

fix it Smith freshwater hinds have you

been great glad to see you good to see

you oh boy i bet we get that off you in

a hurry

yeah a couple of looks at that face of

yours that'll follow

your skipper board open your ears and

feast your eyes

based inspection parade see you later

okay

so

we're hoping for some old-timers for the

my disposal unit sir

yes everybody's yelling for old-timers

these new boys will be old-timers before

we're through with them

look who's here sir pardon me gilman

well I was wondering when you'd appear

on deck fiction

have you got a nice new mind sweeper for

me i think it can be arranged

did you bring your service record right

here sir shipshape

ichabod ferdinand Smith chief gunners

mate

yeah mr harley will take care of you as

soon as you've had your shots you're in

do i have to go through all that torture

against her same medical rules is when

you left fix it but i've been through it

four times sir

or i i almost forgot this is a

particular friend of mine mr

tennessee uh uh i mean Jim Smith

i want you to meet the commander mr

Smith

how do you do it he's an expert salvage

man and deep sea diver

pardon me commander did you say your

name was Smith

yes we met somewhere hawaii

san diego or was not afraid not there

unless it was down in florida in the

salvage business or

in the south seas i guess I was mistaken

good luck

thank you well sir

i thought Jim's just a little bit

worried sir you didn't know whether

you'd get in or not

deep sea diver right yes think he'd make

a gunners mate yes sir but i tell you

son

you're in the navy

so

i'm gonna pull a paint they'll put me on

that cot over there

then when they get busy again I'll slip

out

oh this never bothers me laughing off i

always say say doc did you ever play

nebanese poker

go ahead ask me what's tipping these oh

yeah you gotta have two jobs to open

so you're in again huh you said it

hey you don't look so good i'm feeling

all right

now look don't go pulling any more of

those pony faints who me

as if i can't take it

oh they gave me a blue plate spacious

hello

mr Smith yes

happy birthday mary and many of them

thank you fix it

happy birthday thanks it's my uncle oh

that's right so here

hey that's what you get for being an

uncle

uh happy birthday anyway

what is it open and find out don't mind

if i do

so he did

oh it's beautiful

i'm glad you like it really it's too

nice i shouldn't accept it

you know any other blue-eyed girl i

could give it to just you try

hello boys sounds like someone's

knocking at the door

oh must be elliot

hello mary hi yo mom

sorry i'm late had a lot of important

things to talk over the admiral mike why

hello fix it i'm glad you made it for

mary's birthday one message

hope you like the present mary I don't

know when you give it to me oh

i'm sorry here it is happy birthday

thank you hej you fellas ain't been

introduced

this is tennessee Smith Jim this is

elliott knight he's a mind disposal

latin are latino hi fella

elliot gave his fishing boats to the

navy to be converted into mine sweepers

better to catch big fish in little one

having trouble over there excuse me

come on mom we got something to do it's

lovely looks like you like it

i love it it's just what i needed

happy birthday to blue eyes from

tennessee Smith

blue eyes hej this smacks the sabotage

i didn't know there was anything that

funny in the blue jackets manuals

hmm his jokes and funny sayings

we need some humor in the navy welsh say

something funny

i'm sorry sir no go ahead go ahead

read me one of those jokes and if it

makes us laugh we'll forget the whole

thing

anyone yeah anyone

what's the best way to raise corned beef

and cabbage

go ahead mr bones what's the best way to

raise corn beef and cabbage

with a knife and fork

now I'll tell you a good joke welch go

to the blackboard and write

corny welch is as funny as a crutch and

write it 500 times

yes go ahead stick your knife and fork

on that one

let's see you men off the drill

v

left over

present first

right shoulder hurt

left shoulders

moro Smith

i miss what's the matter with you Smith

how do we make out with this class

pretty good sir

five three sevens four three eighths and

one four oh sir who's the four

oh smitzer number five

mr tennessee Smith yes sir i never saw a

rookie take to navy routine like

Smith just like an old

he's going for gunners mate sir i hope

you make it Smith

thank you sir i'm going to try that's

the spirit

most of you will be assigned to duty on

minesweepers

you will find the work difficult dying

and at times dangerous

the continual sweeping of the channels

may appear dull and monotonous

at times you may wish that you were

serving at sea in a more colorful and

active branch of the navy

but remember this the lives of the ships

and the men who go out through these

harbors to battle our enemies

depend on you you are the men who keep

them sailing

good luck

good work probably more where that came

from mr well

undoubtedly we'll get them

you know for rookie you're a little

short of terrific that coming from you

is a real compliment

it took me a year to get where you got

in a month you're referring to the navy

or

uh oh i'm not taking a backseat for

anybody no i'm sort of a handy lad

myself sure it's guys like you that make

it tough for guys like me

another inch around that which you have

to throw that bell away i guess you're

right

between mom's cooking in that navy chow

they're about to play ned with my

streamlined fingers yeah they sure are

uh mom's having corned beef and cabbage

tonight as you can drop around

yeah I don't think so i uh

by the way mary was asking about you she

was

tell mama I'll be on deck then that's

what i thought

oh you guys wouldn't know a good joke

when you heard one no mr corn but we're

learning

learning very fast speaking of corn that

reminds me tennessee

mom's having her favorite dish tonight

corned beef and cabbage

did she raise it with a knife and a fork

oh i'm sharp as a marble

had an announcement or an invitation an

invitation how about it

I don't know fix it i uh uh mary is

asking about you oh she was sure

when you tell mom I'll be on deck

tonight then i figured that i already

told her

hey we want to snag them on come on

this mowing line is falled in our cutter

headwind sir engine stop swinging right

and drifting back low more sweep line

toward the mine

i had one third come left to your course

my answer

looking back on our course toward that

middle number would make a great show

with it

a one-way ticket to davy jones

here notify the other ship to stand by

and maintain strain on the cable

we'll lower boats and cut loose to mine

send out a detail and post to one file

of gear

yes floor of the sir

send out a detail to one file appear

like yourself corny I don't worry about

me

they're doing all right

those horns look different than the

others i'm gonna take one back to

skipper

what do you call this one i want to get

one of those

what are those fellows doing which is if

Smith's removing a harm

all right taking the rest away not this

thing don't go off and scared of

right away

okay easy

boy this thing is

sorry about those two men wells welch

and ryan

two good boys we're going to miss them

well at least we have something to work

on to prevent any larger tragedies as a

result of these new mines

what led you to believe this was a new

design nash the Smither recognized it

sir

is that so smooth yes more hunch than

anything definite

the shape of the horn looks strong

enough for safe handling aboard ship

i figured it would detonate more easily

than the others on contact

you seem to have quite a knowledge of

mine

i've been making a study of them sir

i'm turning you over to lieutenant

gilpin you will both be transferred at

once to his mind disposal unit

the recommendation that you'll be sent

to mind school for further instruction

thank you sir thank you

all right i fix it

boy what a run of luck never happened to

me before oh Jim Smith don't even move

that money did he yeah i tried to get

him to quit but he's an awful separate

crap shooter

hey fix it give me one of those i'm

starved no a freshman

hey i thought you was coming up the

house to see mom oh i got tired of

downtown

extend my apologies i knew you'd make it

good

there you boys married that's another

thing

Jim if you don't watch that engine he's

going to beat your time not without a

struggle

see you later

come here

oh eddie you like dancing naturally

not man a sails out here but just dying

to death if you but he can't get up he's

not dead

you can't get up to a little bit oh he's

kind of bad

trying to tell me that he's right out

there the sun with a girl

nevermantic i hope he can get a bug

i'm getting a higher rating mary i know

it eliot i think it's swell

well what I was about to say was that i

don't see any reason to celebrate just

for getting another stripe

i thought maybe you and i could figure

out some really big reason for

celebrating

like yes miss max i didn't know you were

that bashful i'd love to dance

excuse us please you know the moral of

the armed forces

yes who Jim

did you have anything to do with that

what angie

angie i never heard of it

i had to see it mary they explained

about not coming up in the house

we probably had something more important

isn't harbor beautiful so quiet and

peaceful

full of deceit to see

yeah like a lot of things that seem all

right on the surface

yeah guess i'm all mixed up

thank you very much

until i popped out of nowhere you were

all set to marry elliot

I don't know june what are you trying to

say

i know what i'd like to say do you

suppose a person could change that is it

if they were different what i mean

why didn't you tell me you'd want to

dance with me i could excuse us

sure

now this illustrates with one variant of

the nazi's much voted secret weapon

which was supposed to bring england to

her knees

but it didn't work because through the

extraordinary heroism of lieutenant

commander uber of his majesty ship

vernon

the secret mechanism of this mine was

discovered

the english channel was opened again and

england was able to receive her

necessary war supplies

the blockade was broken any questions

have the jabs laid any new type mines

off our coast most of them are the

ordinary contact type

as far as we know they

nothing speaking oh yes sir

i see yes there are then the men at once

nash Smith here's a real opportunity to

get some practical diving experience

attenders report a break in the nets in

the outer harbor you tool report to the

diving launch it wants to handle repairs

higher

so

just a minute there aren't any bubbles

get him untangled as fast as you can

afraid i can't I'll have to cut him

loose with a torch

make it snappy he's still got three or

four minutes there left in that suit

high

when you get him all clear let me know

we'll pull him up fast and rush into the

recompression chamber

right

how's it coming he can't last much

longer i'm doing my best

yes he's free good pull him up fast

oh yes shut the door please

well how do you feel much better thanks

to the decompressing

it's quite an experience

here you're close Smith greg brought

them in from the launch for you

on your watch and your money i put in

here for safekeeping

rate liberty is 1430 is that right till

tomorrow

when you get back you're going on my

sweeper duty for a few days there's

short handed up there but report to me

first yes

so

all right stephanie hej baby boy hej got

me

yeah i know

that girl you got liberty you wanna

borrow five Bucks you're wrong Jim

i can't do it Jim good night you know

what happened about cooperation

yeah but that don't mean i gotta be loan

you money all the time you gotta

cooperate

all right will you do a favor when you

go in town sure well my girl my mom is

coming in from alabama tomorrow yeah

and i got the mission to meet him over

here to canteen

you won't tell anybody will you well i

got a deposit up on the ring down sloan

jury store and you want me to pick it up

yeah so i can give it to margie tomorrow

you let me have

the ten Bucks a deal okay there's your

ten

twenty five

dollars i've been leaving a five dollar

stick marginal money after dinner

every time i think that much i just get

the goose pimples

hey stuffy yeah no flyers for margin

gosh i never even thought of that Jim

yeah yeah his five dollars get marginal

one of them great big bunch of them red

roses

hi Jim hello elliot hi fix it hi i need

to catch you decompress

yeah thanks to you elliott's 4-0 you can

say that again look I don't mind the

medals admiral but don't kiss me on both

cheeks

got your liberty yeah tomorrow i got 48

hours and boy i'm going to eat my way

right through them you fellas are coming

up the house inches i got a date with

mary have a good time boys i'm going

down to san diego to see my folks

oh i get it's going to make the coach

clear for a better man huh see if i

thought you were a better man i wouldn't

even go to san diego

tell me i'm seeing her tomorrow i'm

saving 20 out of my 40 hours leave just

for her

take care of yourself bob come on romeo

hello

hey Jim i think he's getting ready to

propose

what makes you think so another way he's

talking about seeing his folks

i think he's gonna go down there tell

him about her then come back up here and

pop the 64

question maybe you're right sure

i bet she comes back tomorrow with a

ring i listen Jim

you want some advice if you're serious

about mary

you better get in there first i wish i

was in a position to

oh all you got to do is ask her come on

oh you go ahead pick

it i got to stop in town what for i got

a couple of things to do

you're not going to get in the game and

lose your shirt like you did last week

oh no i'm off that stuff

that's what you said week before last

you sure you don't want a chaperone

I'll lay off when you fix it okay okay

see you dinner

there it is debbie gordon

balance 75 that's the one rabbit

I'll put a nice little box for you

how much is that one this one here yeah

oh no you got something there sailor

almost a carrot blue white isn't that

beautiful

take a look at that how much

wait a minute let me see i can let you

have that for

425. holy smokes has a lot of dope for a

sailor

oh you got a girl too huh you want to

buy a ring

why don't you buy one like gordon that's

a nice ring too no no this has got to be

the real thing

tell you what to do hold that for gordon

and put this one away for me all right

just 10 bucks on
deposit 10 that's not

much deposit for a ring like this

oh don't worry I'll be back in the flash

with the cash well i hope you can get it

there's more than one way

just hang on to that ring the name is

Smith

not that far all right we got

two pair no good three kings

turn ahead enough come on fellas oh boy

can i cut in sure sit down hej table

sticks

hello no

i'm sorry you have the wrong number

oh what else could have happened to him

well maybe met up with some of his old

friends or something

hey mom how's it about putting on the

chow i'm so hungry i could eat an anchor

chain

let's wait a little longer

mr you're called

mom if i could ever find a girl that

could cook like you

i guess you know what i do yeah she's

either lot of house and homes

oh stop that you're a big boy now

i got the material for the curtains

darling not exactly what you want but we

can't get much in stores these days

do you hear anything i call the base

nobody seen him there either

means liberty's up in half hour that's

just what I was thinking

something must have happened to us well

you're not going to be a

well see I'll go down report for him but

when you tell them

he could be sick you know yes did he

might be

well don't you worry mary I'll fix it

well goodbye moms and if Jim shows up

I don't even have to get his stories

mixed up he's sick see

but wait a minute come on you've got a

whole day of your liberty left you think

you ought to do this

mom Jim's my pal if I was in his spot

you'd do it for me wouldn't he

thank you and your pardon sir but i came

to tell you about Jim Smith

where is Smith fixer at my house had to

relax in that beating

tip yesterday that's too bad running a

fever the doc said it might be dangerous

for him to get up now

it might develop into into something i

see

that leaves the mind sweeper shorter

hand no sir i rate liberty but i saw

lieutenant wells and he said it'd be all

right for me to take over for Smith

giving up your time for a buddy huh real

navy spirit

thank you sir uh reported senate well

then why i sir

i just thought you'd like to know about

Smith

looks like wayne's going to have no mind

business today well

many plants reported a sub in these

waters they're not hanging around for

fun

i'd sure like to get a shot at one in

their minds sir

and of course sir looks as if we can

report the channel three of mines for

today

yes sir

wow

hi mom yeah the roses are filled

sort of an apology for not showing up

last night hej uh

where's mary you shouldn't have come

here oh moms you're not gonna be sorry

because i'm the day late are you

you know that old adage better late than

never oh hi mary

now before you say anything you listen

to me i've been rehearsing this thing

for the last hour and if you interrupt

me I'll have to blow the whole thing

and you sit right down there have you

been to the base

well I'll get there all right look i've

been wanting to say this to you for a

long time

I was afraid you might turn me down but

look mary

you're the only girl i ever really cared

for and well

holy mackerel what i'm trying to say is

this is a fear with you

anyway oh Jim

then you don't know about fix it

how

you were aol we didn't know what

happened

we thought you might be sick he was

worried and reported for duty in your

place

took your watch on the minesweeper

he's a jab might

fix it i had the nerve to come here and

ask you to marry me

it should have been me not him it could

have happened to anybody

no not anybody i killed him just as if i

had laid that mine out there myself

Jim I don't blame you

i'm not gonna let this come between us i

know

because you're clean fine and honest

everything i'm not everything i ever

touched i spoiled

i tell you it was an accident accident

he knew where I was he knew I wasn't

sick

you know I was gambling do you get the

dough to buy that ring so i'd make an

impression on you

i'm not what you think i am mary

everything about me is a lie Jim don't

talk like this

even my name's a lie my name isn't Jim

Smith

it's richard houston i graduated from a

nap

i got a commission but that wasn't good

enough no i had to be a big shot and i

had to have money

so i gambled and i lost and i borrowed

money from my fellow officers to pay

back what i had lost

when i couldn't pay my debts i did the

lowest thing a navy officer could do

i deserve it i wandered around for a

while trying to forget that i couldn't

maybe it was in my blood and when the

war broke i

met fix it thought i could pay my debt

by joining up

i met you and i thought i could make a

new life for myself

now the same thing happened i lost my

friend's life

god forget about me mary dick houston

walked out years ago

Jim Smith never existed

there isn't a place for either one of

them in a decent society

or in the navy

that'll be 27.60

attention attention all leave and shore

liberty cancel for men attached to the

san pedro section

return to the base at once emergency huh

attention attention all leave ensure

liberty cancel for men attached to the

san pedro section

hey look at this stuff or don't you

we can't wait much longer we've got to

get the transport out in time to meet

our convoy

but the channel has undoubtedly been

mined my men are needed for a vital

action in the south pacific

if we don't get out today the convoy

will have to proceed without us so why

can't we sweep the channel again

i doubt if it would do any good what's

your suggestion we swept the channel

and found no minds that one of our ships

was blown up

evidently the japs have developed some

new device

where does that leave us we take the

transport out you probably be blown to

kingdom come we don't

we don't know yet hold the man in

readiness

reporting for duty sir a little late

aren't you

i know i should have been here yesterday

but yeah I was a little under the

weather

i see the minute i heard the alert over

the radio i reported immediately

you've been speaking there must be mines

on the floor of the channel

and of the unmoored type we've got to

locate one so we can find out what makes

them tick

on the floor of the channel sir it's

like looking for a needle in a haystack

well then we've got to find that needle

how many divers have you got

three divers sir oh yes sir we have four

attached but one of them is a prisoner

at large

have them search the floor of the

channel starting a thousand feet beyond

the harbor gate

there's a transport here that's got to

be out in less than three hours

understood sir I'll put the data to work

at once

yes sir ready both diving launches and

prepare all men for diving

i answer we're going to comb the floor

of the channel and see if we can locate

one of those mines

what about Smith he's not available

i I report to the chief master at arms

you're a prisoner at large

you only knew the circumstances sir i

I wasn't exactly overly

that was only one of the things I was

referring to houston

don't you think i'd be a lot more used

to the navy if i were out there with a

man and

step in the break oh all right houston

get to your

diving launch but report back to me as

soon as the job's finished

ready greg the launchers are ready sir

all right

any word yet not yet sir but if they're

out there they'll find them

yes listening we bought one sir

good

what's it look like nash it's circular

with a

flat bottom something like an inverted

flower phase

plane overhead

gives me an idea

i think i've got the answer a way to

explode them all better come up now

there's a gadget of some sort fastened

to the side by taking a part down here

we should have the whole story sir

it might be dangerous maybe a booby trap

send Smith up first that's a Smith

yeah for bringing you up

go ahead nash grab each caught me

consecutively so i can get the whole

picture

and take it easy those japs are tricky

I'll be careful sir

all

what's the matter nash answer me

he doesn't answer Smith gotta set him up

right away

I'll continue with
him right go ahead

break leave Smith down there and bring

mash up something's happened to him

we've lost contact

i ice

ready Smith give it to me carefully and

watch yourself

first is the steel ring about eight

inches diameter

steel ring inches in diameter

six bolts

rubber gasket under rain

that's enough Smith the booby trap could

be right behind the diaphragm don't

touch it

Smith

pull up the line sir

pull them up put the base in the radio

at once

mine located sir

good work gilpin all right

you knew the danger sir that's why send

me up

Jim Smith was davey
through and through

he certainly was

my

foreign