The Eternal Sea (1955)
1h 43m | PG-13
Biography of Admiral John Hoskins' efforts to retain active command despite WW2 injury.
Director: John H. Auer
Studio: Republic Pictures
Genre: War, Drama
Video: 720p
Cast
Sterling Hayden
as Rear-Adm. John Madison Hoskins
Alexis Smith
as Sue Hoskins
Ben Cooper
as Seaman P.J. 'Zuggy' Zugbaum
Dean Jagger
as Vice-Adm. Thomas L. Semple
Virginia Grey
as Dorothy Buracker
Hayden Rorke
as Capt. William Buracker
Reviews
This is another film that is really let down by it's title. One that suggests more of a swashbuckler - or a romance, at any rate - than a biopic of American Admiral Hoskins (Sterling Hayden) who was a pioneer of the use of jet aircraft from aircraft carriers. As it is, it's an OK depiction of the struggles of the man against the elements, technology, human frailty and government to get his ideas implemented. Hayden is a charm-free actor here, his dedication to his task is laudable, but cheerless and any semblance of romance with wife Sue (a rather prim Alexis Smith) left me cold. It does have oodles of wonderful original aerial photography to augment it, though - and that helps. Sadly, though, this is all as flat as the deck on the "USS Princeton".