User Reviews

Documentary short depicting the dangers of inadvertent dispersal of secret military information, showing the unintended and disastrous results of careless conversation and improper maintenance of secret records.

This film had the unfortunate timing in having a scene about "sailing to Hawaii", or perhaps fortunate depending on how you look at it. The Pearl Harbor attack really illustrated how serious it could be if a secret were to get out.

How interesting that this was made by Academy and not the War Department or something like that. And then to star Walter Huston, the patriarch of the Huston film family? And Eddie Bracken... wow. This was a very professional job.

Even though many world governments try to protect their most prized military secrets the best they can, this short film from the Second World War shows that it's always a possibility that a saboteur will manage to sneak in and cause havoc. The film starts by showing a ship somewhere on the ocean. Everyone watching is caught off guard when an explosion rocks it from bow to stern. Two undercover agents from an enemy country are responsible. Next, we see a seemingly innocent naval officer talk to his girlfriend on a phone at the bar. He tells her that nobody else matters to him but her, but he's supposed to sail to Hawaii on a ship called the USS Navajo at 10:30 that night. The way the guy keeps repeating the name of the ship and the time catches the attention of a man sitting nearby, who has a secret radio made to look like a hearing aid. He relays what the guy talking to his girlfriend says to spies on the other end of the radio. As it turns out, the things he was saying were codewords, and thanks to them, a hostile submarine destroys an American ship. Walter Huston, playing a military officer, tells a few men in front of him about the importance of making sure things that are top secret stay secret. The next segment takes us to a bowling alley. Two servicemen are playing here, and a stranger walks up to one and asks about how those new, extremely effective anti-aircraft guns the navy uses work. The guy responds by saying he's going to get a drink, but he tips off federal agents who then come to arrest the questioner. The last section focuses on the mother of a service member trying to buy groceries. The cashier asks about her son George, and the woman says he's taking a train to the west coast soon. Meanwhile, both people in the conversation are oblivious to a man standing next in line. Although it isn't shown how it happened, he somehow managed to cause the train George was on to explode. A newspaper says 200 people were killed, including him. Like many other short films from around this time period, this one is a product of its time, which is basically my nice way of putting it's not that good. During the war, civilians were expected to understand the importance of letting the army do its job as efficiently as possible. If you're not willing to fight, at least assist the ones who are willing to by not saying anything to anyone regarding secret projects. Not really an interesting message, but a necessary one for the biggest war in history.