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good back-story, and good acting

A Masterpiece!

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Join the navy, see the world, or in the case of the crew of the John Paul Jones II, join the navy and deliver the mail. The fact that this battle ship was meant to see action and simply ended up playing Mr. Postman has upset its commander (Regis Toomey) and his two rival assistants (Edward G. Robinson and Glenn Ford) who differ in how the ship should be run. Robinson's a grizzled old fool who helped build the ship, having served on the original John Paul Jones and aided Toomey in going off to officer's school. He thinks he's entitled, pretty much like an old dog who refuses to learn new tricks, but unbeknownst to him, Ford has fallen in love with Robinson's pretty daughter (Marguerite Churchill).In actuality, their rivalry is really light-hearted, causing an almost comedic relationship between the two which just needs to come to some sort of compromise. Three quarters of the film is done as a comedy, almost inappropriately, between their not so serious rivalry and the presence of two portly crew members, Edgar Buchannan and Edward Brophy. Then, there's Leo Gorcey, pretty much playing his "Bowery Boys" character, given a question by a navy psychiatrist pre-dating "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", inquiring whether or not he likes girls. The comic element of the film is somewhat inappropriate, so when the film switches gears for a confrontation with Japananese planes attacking them, the mood swing seems very severe in spite of being extremely well filmed.With tons of films on the importance of the military during World War II having already been done (and many much better), this one is a slight disappointment because of the way it deals with its subject matter. It's not a complete, disaster, however, because it does provide enough entertainment and some patriotic flag-waving to stir up the hearts and minds of the war era movie going public. Robinson would have better war films, however, with the following year's "Tampico" and the light-hearted "Mr. Winkle Goes to War" which you knew just from the title alone was going to be a comedy with a patriotic twist.

Eddie Robinson is first rate in this film about an old school sailor having to deal with the new kids on the block. I enjoyed seeing the scenes of San Diego boot camp since I went through the now extinct station myself. Glenn Ford is good too. I lost favor with him as he became older but his younger days stuff is good. The only part of the movie I didn't like was that the daughter eloped with Ford. I still think they should have consulted dad. But I guess the writer was trying to say that girls end up marrying the same guy as their father. The scene where Robinson rallies the boys with the story of John Paul Jones is one of the greatest in cinema. It had me balling! All in all, solid.

First Rate for the period. A good patriotic Navy film, in the class with "Men of Honor" and Top Gun. Great depiction of sailors,Ships and the sea. As a U.S. Navy Veteran and "Tin-can-Sailor" an affectionate term for "Destroyer" Sailors, this shows the connection of the men and the Ship. The personality and the Valor of the Ship and her namesake and the men that make HER sail. To the sailor she is more than just steel that floats, she is Life; one lives, eats and sleeps the ship. If she don't float, we die. She takes us in harm's way and if we do it right, she brings us home. Home is the sailor, home from the sea. "Well done "Boli."

Edward G. Robinson and Glenn Ford star in Destroyer, a sentimental Navy tale of two different generations of Navy men. Though the film's World War II vintage somewhat dates it, the film is still good entertainment.The film begins with news of the USS John Paul Jones being sunk in the Pacific. That news is particularly hard for retired Navy chief Edward G. Robinson who now makes a living building ships in the navy yard. He gets to build the new John Paul Jones and decides that he ought to serve on her.But when he pulls some strings to get assigned to the JPJ II, someone gets displaced as the chief boatswain. That someone is Glenn Ford and that doesn't make for a harmonious ship. In addition Robinson's kind of behind the times in the newer improvements the US Navy has made since the last war. Complicating things is Marguerite Chapman, Robinson's daughter who Ford falls for. That really makes things bad on shore and off.Robinson's the show in this film. His portrayal of an old Navy fighting man who won't be beached in a second war is sentimental, but effective. His best moments are when he finally begins to win the crew's respect by telling them the story of the guy and the engagement that the guy fought for whom the ship is named after. In fact the final duel between the USS John Paul Jones and a Japanese submarine has a lot of similarity between what happened with the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis of the Royal Navy. Rounding out a nice supporting cast are Regis Toomey, Edward Brophy, Edgar Buchanan, and Leo Gorcey who gives us a bit of New York street smarts for the ship.Destroyer is a dated propaganda film from the World War II era, but still entertaining because of the two leads.