The intro copy of this epic 20-minute original 1944-era Jack Warner technicolor film on PT-boats, dubbed Devil Boats, is just great.
She’s a patrol torpedo– a PT to the Navy and I guess only another boat to a landlubber. But to the guys who take her out, she is a high-stepping sweet-singing lulu. She’s built for speed and rough weather and dangerous far waters. She’s a power-packin’ mama with a thunderbolt punch in either hand and her foaming wake has marked the grave of many an enemy ship. She’s got the temperament of a tornado and the personality of a wildcat. And boy, do we love her!
It also includes amazing period footage of the Elco factory in Bayonne, New Jersey– where CDR John D. Bulkley’s 77-year-old dad is a QC guy!– and the Packard line in Detriot before finishing with an overview of the eight-week training course for PT boat officers and some dramatized action.
Enjoy.