Battle Stations (1956)

Stars:

John Lund, William Bendix, Keefe Brasselle

Produced by low-budget maven Bryan Foy, Battle Stations is a standard wartime melodrama with the usual assortment of cliches. John Lund plays Father Joe McIntyre, who is assigned as chaplain of an Essex-class aircraft carrier. Father Joe finds himself in conflict with the carrier's Captain (Richard Boone), a strict disciplinarian with little room for compassion. Among the chaplain's allies on board are tough-but-tender chief bos'un Buck Fitzpatrick (William Bendix), hotheaded sailor Chris Jordan (Keefe Brasselle), and young pilot Pete Kelly (William Leslie), whose doom is assured the moment he learns that he's about to become a father. The economies in Battle Stations extend to its opening-credit music, which has been lifted bodily from Max Steiner's score for The Caine Mutiny.