bkoganbing Minesweeper is a product of the Paramount B picture unit where producers William Pine and William Thomas did things on an Assembly line basis to provide second features for Paramount's big budget items like the films Cecil B. DeMille did. They got the best training because William Pine served as an associate producer with DeMille for years before branching out on his own.A cursory list of their credits show that their early films either starred Richard Arlen, Chester Morris or both. Minesweeper stars Arlen as a former Navy officer who deserted because of a gambling problem and who comes back to enlist under an alias as a seaman when World War II breaks out.Arlen and Russell Hayden have a friendly rivalry for Jean Parker who is the niece of CPO Guinn Williams who lives with Parker and her mother/his sister Emma Dunn. Both Arlen and Hayden get assigned to, what else, duty on a Minesweeper.Discovering this film was a bit of a revelation since the only well known film dealing with a minesweeper is The Caine Mutiny. But the action in that film takes place years into World War II when the USS Caine was sweeping mines away from landing areas. This minesweeper is dealing with them right outside San Diego harbor. Arlen enlists in the navy to redeem himself and as this is a B film about a romantic triangle I think you can figure out how this will end.Robert Mitchum has a tiny bit in this film and Mitchum completists might want to check this out. As it is Minesweeper is a curiosity flag waving film of the times.

MartinHafer Perhaps my score of 4 is a bit generous. All I know is that this isn't the sort of film I'd heartily recommend, as it's pretty dull and pretty cheap.The film begins with Richard Arlen traveling the rails. He's a hobo with a secret--and a very patriotic hobo at that. It's just after Pearl Harbor and Arlen has a fight with his fellow 'bos about the war and volunteering. Soon, Arlen meets up with Guinn Williams (in one of his better roles) and the two go off to volunteer with the US Navy. Williams was a retired navy man and Arlen seems to have some knowledge of the navy BUT he also has a secret. What it is and why he's posing as someone else is something you'll have to see for yourself---if you care.The film is only occasionally entertaining, but to me finding out Arlen's secret wasn't worth time I invested in this WWII propaganda film. Aside from Williams' nice part, the rest of the cast just seemed pretty dull and the story was, at best, lackluster--showing the earmarks of a B-movie produced by a third-rate studio.

drystyx This is the story of a man who tries to make amends for past misdeeds in the service by reenlisting under another name, and whose experience in the service gives him an edge in the disarming of water mines.It is a well written story, with interesting characters all around, including the minor ones. Everything is very believable, not just by film standards, but by normal standards.However, I gave this only a ranking of 6, which is still above average, because for me it was painful viewing. It is not because of a bad story, but because it shows the pain involved with gambling addiction in a true light, which means it will be difficult to watch. This is still quality work, and if you aren't afraid of the pain, this may be the film for you.

Robert J. Maxwell This is a Pine-Thomas Production, which should tell you a lot. I described a similar P-T story to my brother who advised me not to expect too much, that there were thousands of these cheap flag-wavers made during the war.This is a cheap flag-waver about two sailors (Richard Arlen and Russel Hayden) who are rivals for the affections of the same girl (Jean Parker) who happens to be the niece of their affable mutual friend (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams). Those are the four principles and none of them can act, though I suppose Jean Parker could be considered a modest talent while the three men can't manage to project a believable line of dialog between them. Russell Hayden at least looks the part but the star, Richard Arlen, is too old for his character. Frank Fenton as Lt. Gilpin probably gives the best performance.The story, when it's not wrapped around that romantic triangle, has the three men together on a small harbor minesweeper that is removing Japanese mines from the channel at San Pedro, California. There never were any such mines but this is fiction all the way. Arlen's character rises from Seaman Recruit (E-1) to Gunner's Mate First Class (E-6) in the blink of an eye or the blast of a mine.Arlen's character has an improbable secret past, and somebody gets blown up by a mine, but none of it is in the least gripping. But there are some nice shots of the minesweeper itself and a PBY swooping down over the ocean. What keeps one's interest in the movie is watching Dub Taylor as a young man and Robert Mitchum as a non-speaking but prominently featured extra.