PT 109 (Warner Bros.) (1963)

The Billings— —The Cast— —-The Credits Warner Bros. geo, Pictures Presents 5% “PT 109” 100% Starring CLIFF ROBERTSON 50% TY HARDIN 25% JAMES GREGORY = 25% ROBERT CULP 25% and GRANT WILLIAMS Technicolor® Panavision® From the book by Robert J. Donovan 0% Screenplay by Richard L. Breen 5% Under the personal supervision of Jack L. Warner 25% Produced by Bryan Foy 15% CLIFF ROBERTSON Lt. (j.g.) John F. Kennedy TY HARDIN Ensign Leonard J. Thom JAMES GREGORY Commander C. R. Ritchie ROBERT CULP..Ensign “Barney” Ross GRANT WILLIAMS..Lt. Alvin Cluster Yeoman Rogers Benjamin Kevu Lt, Reginald Evans The Crew of the PT 109 Robert Blake “Bucky” Harris William Douglas Gerard Zinser Biff Elliott Edgar E. Mauer Norman Fell Edmund Drewitch Sam Gilman Raymond Starkey Clyde Howdy Buzz Martin Maurice Kowal James McCallion ..Patrick McMahon Evan McCord Harold Marney Sammy Reese Andrew Kirksey Glenn Sipes Leon Drawdy William Johnson Produced by Under the personal supervision of Jack L, Warner Directed by Leslie H. Martinson Screenplay by Richard L. Breen Adaptation by Howard Sheehan and Vincent X. Flaherty From the book by ..Robert J. Donovan Director of Photography Robert L. Surtees, A,S.C. Technical Advisor Capt. J. E. Gibbon, USN Assistant Director......William Kissel Second Unit Director Russell Saunders Second Unit Cameraman Mark Davis Art Director Leo K. Kuter Film Editor Sound by Music by Folmar Blangsted Francis M, Stahl William Lava and David Buttolph David Strech, Carl Brandt, Gus Levene Orchestrations by Set Decorator John P. Austin John Ward David Whorf Directed by Leslie H. Martinson (5% John Maguire Raymond Albert Makeup Supervisor The Synopsis (Not For Publication) An aerial bombing is Lt. (j.g.) John F. Kennedy’s (CLIFF ROBERTSON) welcome to the South Pacific when he arrives at the island of Tulagi. Lt. Alvin Cluster (GRANT WILLIAMS), Squadron Commander, introduces Kennedy to the PT 109, the battle-scarred boat he’ll command in the Solomon Islands. Commander C. R. Ritchie (JAMES GREGORY), the autocratic boat maintenance officer, informs Kennedy he has one week to make the 109 ship-shape. Ensign Leonard Thom (TY HARDIN), the executive officer, and the crew zealously carry out the face-lifting job and Ritchie pronounces the 109 ready for test runs. Kennedy is given his initial assignment—a rescue mission to save a Marine patrol trapped on Choiseul. He is forced to leave immediately without refueling. The PT 109 rescues the Marines but runs out of fuel and has to be towed back to the base. The 109 crew moves along with Commander Ritchie who will be the new boat maintenance officer on Rendova. The boats leave Rendova to stop the Japanese from landing troops and supplies at Vila on a dark early morning, August 2, 1943. Without radar Kennedy has no idea enemy ships are near. The speeding Japanese destroyer Amagiri cuts laterally into the fragile 109 hull. Ail the men are thrown into the water. Two are killed. Kennedy gathers his men together on the partial deck. Australian coast-watcher Lt. Reginald Evans (MICHAEL PATE) reports a PT destroyed and the possibility that some survivors might land on one of the islands. Kennedy decides the best bet is to swim to Plum Pudding Island three and one-half miles away. Nine of the men propel themselves in a group using some planking as a buoy. Kennedy takes the loose end of the severely burned Patrick McMahon's (JAMES McCALLION) kapok life-jacket between his teeth and tows him through the water doing the breast stroke. Soon after the weary men reach Plum Pudding, a PBY plane makes a long pass over the wreckage, but Kennedy and his crew can't attract the attention of the pilots. Kennedy swims out to Ferguson Passage at night with a signal lantern in the hope of attracting the attention of a PT boat on patrol. The next morning a haggard Kennedy returns. No PT boats came through Ferguson Passage. Ritchie refuses to abandon the hope of rescuing the 109 crew, though others have given up. Kennedy moves his men to the nearby island of Olasana because it’s closer to Ferguson Passage. Meanwhile, two friendly natives discover the men on Olasana. Kennedy writes a message on a cocoanut for the natives to take to Rendova: “Native knows posit. He can pilot. Eleven alive. Need small boat. Kennedy.” A long canoe returns to Olasana to pick up Kennedy. He lies down in the canoe, covered with palm fronds. Japanese planes swoop down to inspect the canoe but are satisfied when the natives wave in friendly fashion. Kennedy is brought to Coast-Watcher Evans at Gomu. He insists on personally piloting the rescue party to his men. He directs PT boats to Olasana beach where the 109 crew races into the water towards its rescuers. Kennedy is eligible for transfer home, but declares, “I'd like to stay for a few more innings.” He is assigned to the PT 59, a boat in need of much work. Ritchie roars at Kennedy. “You've got three days to scrub, polish and get that deck in the open ocean. On the double.” (Running Time: 140 Minutes) PAGE za = 7 : © 1963, Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. Gordon Bau,S.M.A.