Froschmänner (1951)

Froschmänner: Directed by Lloyd Bacon. With Richard Widmark, Dana Andrews, Gary Merrill, Jeffrey Hunter. The new commander of a Navy Underwater Demolition Team–nicknamed “Frogmen”–must earn the respect of the men in his unit, who are still grieving over the death of their former commander and resentful of the new one.

“The Frogmen is a film based on the exploits of the U.S. Navyu0026#39;s Underwater Demolition Teams during World War II. The primary task of these guys was to go in ahead of any island landing and clear away any obstacles put up by the enemy in the water. That meant going in ahead of the Marines as the Frogmen point out. Today that function is now that of the Navy Seals.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe plot is similar to Flying Leathernecks. Richard Widmark is the new commanding officer of the team assigned to Gary Merrillu0026#39;s ship and heu0026#39;s taking the place of a popular commander who was recently killed. He meets with a lot of resentment from the men, some of that resentment fueled by Dana Andrews who is the CPO of the team and very popular also with the crew. How Widmark and Andrews deal with their personal issues as well as get the job done is the basis of the film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNice underwater photography highlights the dangerous mission of these men. Both Widmark and Andrews despite their differences do get their assignments accomplished, not always in the most expeditious manner. These guys and their team are professionals in the real and the cinematic sense.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWar films usually arenu0026#39;t chick flicks, but I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of female fans saw this one for a glimpse of some 20th Century Foxu0026#39;s top young talent topless like Robert Wagner and Jeffrey Hunter. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGood an excuse as any to see a well made war film.”