PT 109 (Warner Bros.) (1963)

Love Of The Sea Changed Whole Course | Of Cliff Robertson's Life, Acting Career Star of New Warner Bros. Film PT 109, Brings Personal Experiences To Naval Role From sailing a boat himself while still a boy, to screen-portraying the wartime skipper of a small craft who was destined to be U. S. President, Cliff Robertson’s love of the sea has affected the course of his life. The star of “PT 109,” big Warner Bros. adventure drama in Technicolor and Panavision which opens ............SP Wee cs hearse are Theatre, began his identification with the sea at 15. By delivering newspapers, he saved enough to buy a sailboat. A year later he was a full-fledged sailor on a transport bombed by the Japanese off the Phillipines. Not daunted, Robertson then tried to enlist in the Navy, was rejected for an eye defect. He practised Sea Pursues Movie Photog Though he’s not doing so, it could look as though Robert Surtees is qualifying for a Navy pension as a seagoing cameraman. Right after two rugged years of sea duty lensing “Mutiny on the Bounty,” the Academy Award-winning cinematographer reported for work on “PT 109,” the big-scale Warner Bros. action-drama in Technicolor and Panavision which deals with the wartime exploits of Pres. Kennedy. of ‘PT 109’ Resc eee eye exercises daily uatil he could pass the test, but was unable to repeat the feat. Frustrated in his hope of flying for the Navy, he turned to the surface fleet. When his merchant marine background was noted, he was induced to join the Maritime Service instead. He arrived on a merchant ship in the Solomon Islands in August, 1943. Oddly, the man he would some day impersonate in a major film was serving in the same area at the same time as commander of a PT. Takes Up Acting Emerging with the same rank as Kennedy, lieutenant, junior grade, Robertson came to New York to crack the Broadway stage. His first job, in a summer resort theatrical troupe, paid him $5.00 a week plus room and board. After that, he kept alive by work as a waiter, taxi driver, parking-lot attendant and private detective. Then his luck changed. He obtained a good role—and the sea returned to his life. It was a part in a touring company of “Mr. Roberts” —a play about men of the sea. Since then, Cliff Robertson has become a prize-winning performer on television, has appeared in top roles in Broadway dramatic vehicles, and had his debut in films. “Each year has been a little bit better for me than the last,” he says. “I think by this steady progression I have been able to build a sound foundation as an actor.” Beats Out 100 Warner Bros. agreed. More than 100 aspirants tried for the coveted role of Lt. J. F. Kennedy in “PT 109,” to be made under the personal supervision of Jack L. Warner, president of the film company. Cliff Robertson got the part—and returned to the sea. In the movies, this time. Lives of Kennedy, Star of ‘PT 109’, Have Odd Parallels A lot of similarities and coincidences contributed their share to qualifying Cliff Robertson for the top starring role in “PT 109,” the new action-drama in Technicolor and Panavision about the wartime exploits of John F. Kennedy, which comes to the Theatre OTS oe ween ee Of course, Warner Bros., making “PT 109” under the personal supervision of Jack L. Warner, believed Robertson—as an actor—to be the man most right for the part in the face of competition from more than 100 other performers. But there were some odd parallels in the lives of Cliff Robertson andtthe President of the United States, which may have had some bearing: Both learned to sail as boys. Both had their own sailboats. Both were subjected to, and survived, Japanese aerial bombing soon after they first reached the Pacific during the war. Both had physical defects—Kennedy a weak back, Robertson weak eyes— which each by dogged daily exercise overcame enough to be accepted for service. Both chose the Navy as the branch of the armed forces in which to serve. Both actually served at the same time in the same area, the Solomon Islands, Kennedy as commander of a PT boat, Robertson as a merchant seaman helping to supply the islands. And both attained the same rank, lieutenant, junior grade. PAGE 6 Set For Sea War Starring as Lt. (j.g.) John F. Kennedy, Cliff Robertson relaxes aboard the young lieutenant’s first command in this scene from “PT 109,” the Warner Bros. World War II sea drama opening atvthe: (osu. oc: Theatr>. Robertson was selected for the focal role after more than 109 actors were interviewed and iested. “PT 109,” lensed in Technicolor and Panavision was filmed under the personal supervision of Jack L. Warner. Ty Hardin, James Gregory, Robert Culp and Grant Williams are co-starred in the drama of naval action. Mat 1-B_ Still No. 870/14 That assignment added a full year to Surtees’ sea record, but he had a chance to switch his filming from the tight confines of 18th Century vessels to the decks of reconstructed PTs. Cliff Robertson stars in “PT 109,” which was made under the personal supervision of Jack L. Warner. Ty Hardin, Robert Culp, James Gregory and Grant Williams are co-starred. The film opens at the Rote ene Theatre. eee eresceeesece Friendly South Pacific islanders who had brought him from the atoll where he and his crew were hiding watch as Cliff Robertson, starring as Lt. (j-g-) John F. Kennedy, greets Michael Pate, poriraying an Australian coast-watcher, in this scene from “PT 109,” the Warner Bros. adventure drama opening at the ..... ... Theatre. Australian Reginald Evans was instrumental in effecting the rescue of Kennedy and the survivors of his crew after their PT boat had been rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer in enemy waters. Ty Hardin, James Gregory, Robert Calp and Grant Williams are co-starred in the Technicolor-Panavision production, filmed under the personal supervision of Jack L. Warner. Mat 2-E_ Still No. 870/52 2 ie ek Or woe Action, The Essence of Motion Pictures, Returns To Screen in PT 109’, Power-Packed Saga of JFK Director of ‘PT 109° Used Own Memories For Combat Realism Director Leslie H. Martinson did not find it necessary to imagine the realistic battle scenes of the new Warner Bros. action-drama “PT 109,” opening ...... at the ...... Theatre, which recounts the wartime heroism of Pres. Kennedy. To get the right touch, Martinson had only to recall his own experiences as an Army sergeant on Guadalcanal, an island just a few miles off from Tulagi where Kennedy commanded a PT boat in the great Solomon Islands fight. Big-scale adventure, depicting the wartime heroism of a man who became President of the United States, makes “PT 109” one of the most spectacular, action-filled films ever to reach the screen. The Warner Bros. drama, in Technicolor and Panavision, opening Be ikea se ceases ss ale Theatre, stars Cliff Robertson meaningful fragment of the vast battle which exactly 20 years ago swirled across the Pacific for control of the key Solomon Islands. As Kennedy, Cliff Robertson survives aerial bombings on land and at sea, braves Jap Nothing Pinched In Crab Treatment PrizeWinning Cameraman Forced To Watch Star's Angles In PT 109° When a face has achieved the international renown of President Kennedy’s, audiences are going to watch very closely the face of any actor who portrays him. And that, exactly, was one of the big problems of Robert Surtees, cameraman of Warner Bros. stirring new adventure drama “PT 109” which opens ...... at the Theatre. “PT 109” recounts the wartime exploits of the president when he was just another seagoing shavetail. Cliff Robertson is starred in the role of Lt. (j-g.) J. F. Kennedy, commander of a small fighting craft in the great Solomon Islands engagement. The Technicolor-Panavision production, made under the personal supervision of Jack L. Warner, president of Warner Bros., re-creates for the screen the heroic actions by which Kennedy in 1943 distinguished himself. For Robert Surtees, a director of cinematography whose work has won him no less than three Academy Awards, photographing the face of Cliff Robertson involved much careful thought and subtle judgement because “PT 109” audiences would promptly identify the actor with the actual man and every expression, every movement of any facial muscle, would be watched, noticed, given response pro or con. Hence, every frame of the film where Robertson appears was important. “Pobertcon has an extremely young side, but the other side appears a bit older. This was an advantage in his portrayal of Lt. John F. Kennedy. I made it a point to favor the more youthful side in the scenes before the 109 was sunk. The older profile was effective in the scenes where he had been swimming thirty hours and spent days on two tiny islands without food or water,” says Surtees. “T always try to give audiences the impression they are seeing real incidents as they occur. So the camerawork must be kept simple, and the lighting natural, almost documentary. A cameraman can ham up a scene as badly as an actor by doing too much with his camera. Particularly in the case of ‘PT 109’, which is the story of a man’s life, I tried to use the camera as a recorder.” Crabs generally get about on the numerous legs Nature has furnished them, but two of the species received the full star-treatment in the way of movement during the shooting of “PT 109,” new Technicolor-Panavision adventure drama which opens .......-. at the Theatre. To match certain scenes in the Warner Bros. film, director Leslie H. Martinson ordered that two Florida land crabs be caught and rushed from Key West to Hollywood. The crustacean to-be thespians were jet-planed across the country, picked up by a studio limousine and brought to Stage 8 just in time to go before the cameras with star Cliff Robertson, portraying Lt. J. F. Kennedy during World War H, and co-star Ty Hardin, playing a PT boat crewman. eee eeersee Exhausted after spending the entire night in the water in an unsuccessful attempt to signal for help for his stranded crew, Cliff Robertson, as Lt. (j.g.) John F. Kennedy, is helped ashore by two of his officers in this scene from “PT 109,” the Warner Bros. actiondrama opening at the Theatre. Robert Culp, as George “Barney” Ross, and Ty Hardin as Leonard Thom, who are shown helping him from the water, co-star with James Gregory and Grant Williams in the Technicolor-Panavision production. Kennedy and his crew made their way to the uninhabited island after their PT boat had been rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer. Mat 2-4 Still No. 870/45 anese gunfire to relieve a group of trapped Marines, skippers his PT boat against enemy ships, saves drowning men and eventually works out a mass rescue of his crew. Behind-the-scenes Hero But the unsung hero of the film, made under the personal supervision of Jack L. Warner, is Ralph Webb, special effects expert who, over the past two decades, has for the movie screen re-fought World Wars I and II, the Civil War, the Crimean War and others. Webb broke out all his wizardry to make the battle-actions of “PT 109” realistic, vivid and authentic. “A motion picture battle must be planned as carefully and timed as precisely as real warfare,” says Webb. “Faulty planning for an actual invasion can mean tremendous loss of life. For a screen invasion, it means a costly reshooting of the scene. The fact that you must worry about camera angles can make a film battle even more complicated than the real thing.” An example of the complications facing Webb and his assistants was the task of planting—by hand—explosives to be set off electrically in split-second order so as to coordinate the explosions with the movements of the many actors in the scenes, yet take account of the camera as well as the personal safety of the actors. Action Makes Movies Director Leslie H. Martinson gave Webb’s efforts complete backing. “Action is what movies are for,” says Martinson, himself a man of action who was an Army sergeant at Guadalcanal. “Action was the theme of the earliest motion pictures and is still the basis of the most successful films today. ‘PT 109 is a picture where the actors build their characterizations as much through action as dialogue. Action includes the projection from within.” “PT 109” was produced by Bryan Foy from Richard L. Breen’s screenplay, based on a book by newspaperman Robert J. Donovan. U. S. Navy Capt. J. E. Gibson was technical adviser with the assistance of Alvin Cluster, now a civilian, who com banded the whole PT squadron.