"Stand By For Action" has a little bit of everything: tennis, babies, head injuries, sea battles, propaganda, multiple births, and Charles Laughton milking every scene like only he could do. The film tries so hard to squeeze in so much that I was expecting Brian Donlevy to give Robert Taylor advice on how to keep his mustache properly trimmed, as well as the wisdom he gives him on commanding a ship. "Stand By For Action" is unfocused and this is why it feels like it drifts to a climax rather than steams ahead. However unrealistic the final battle scene might be, I did find myself caught up in it. It maybe helped that they had Laughton act as narrator to make some sense of what the Warren was up to.
Review of Stand by for Action
