PT 109 was the first commercial theatrical film about a sitting U.S. president released while he was still in office (although FDR was often depicted in small roles during his administration, most notably in Yankee Doodle Dandy). It was released domestically on June 19, 1963, five months before Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.[1]
Plot
In August 1942 the American forces are fighting the Japanese in the South Pacific during World War II. Fresh out of PT boat training school in Melville, Rhode Island, U.S. Navy Lieutenant, junior grade John F. Kennedy used his wealthy and powerful family's influence to get himself assigned to the fighting in the Solomon Islands, a hotbed in the Pacific Theater.
Once there he lobbies for command and is given the well worn PT 109. Initially, Tulagi's irascible boat maintenance officer Commander C. R. Ritchie is unimpressed with the young, untested Kennedy, but the lieutenant is undaunted. With a hodge-podge crew anchored by Ensign Leonard J. Thom as executive officer and initially skeptical sailors "Bucky" Harris and Edmund Drewitch he gets the 109 seaworthy again.
Without enough fuel for the return trip, the PT 109 is dispatched on an emergency mission to evacuate paramarines pinned down on a distant beach after disrupting the Japanese in the Raid on Choiseul. Under heavy fire Kennedy rescues the survivors, but barely gets out of range before his engines die. Drawn shoreward by an incoming tide, the boat and its passengers are saved from disaster when a tow arrives just in time.
The 109 is then relocated to a base on Rendova. While on patrol one dark, moonless night in August 1943, the radar-less boat is throttled down and searching for a Japanese convoy returning from a supply mission via "The Slot". Out of nowhere an Imperial Navy destroyer appears, and before Kennedy can react the PT 109 is rammed and sliced in half, killing two of her 13 crewmen.
Towing a badly burned crew member by a life jacket strap clenched in his teeth, Kennedy leads the survivors to Plum Pudding Island. The next day the abandoned wreckage is spotted by a reconnaissance plane, and the 109's crew is presumed lost with all hands. After dark, Kennedy swims out into the channel with a signal lantern, staying out all night in the hope of flagging down a passing U.S. vessel. The next night, he sends out a friend who tagged along on the mission, Ensign George Ross.
After several fruitless days morale drops and Kennedy is forced to quell an uprising determined to surrender. Hoping for better prospects of food and water on a nearby island, he leads the crew on another three-mile swim. There two rifle-armed natives show up in a canoe and hold the men at gunpoint, confused as to their identity and affiliation. As the pair do not understand English but appear receptive, Kennedy carves a message on a coconut requesting rescue and gives it to them. They take it to Australiancoastwatcher Lieutenant Reginald Evans. Evans notifies the U.S. Navy, and the men are rescued by PT boat without any further loss of life.
As a result of their ordeal Kennedy and his men are eligible for leave back in the U.S., but he and several loyal crewmembers elect to stay and continue the fight on a new combat-weathered boat.
George Takei as helmsman of the Japanese destroyer (uncredited)
Production
Kennedy's father, Joseph Kennedy Sr., had been the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain at the onset of World War II, as well as an influential Hollywood producer and former head of RKO studio. He negotiated the film rights to Donovan's 1961 biography of his son.[1] The film was made under the "personal supervision" of Warner's head of production, Jack L. Warner.[1] The White House sent former PT boat commander Alvin Cluster, a wartime buddy of President Kennedy[3] and his former commanding officer, to act as a liaison between Warner Bros. and the White House.
Though Robertson was stockier and 13 years older than Kennedy had been in the South Pacific, having served in the Merchant Marine as a third mate during World War II, he was chosen because (as Alvin Cluster told him), "The President picked you not only because you were a fine actor but because you're young looking, yet mature enough so that the world won't get the idea the President was being played by a parking lot attendant or something."[7] This was a reference to Edd Byrnes, who played "Kookie" in that role on the then hit television series 77 Sunset Strip.
The exteriors were filmed at Little Palm Island (formerly Little Munson Island), now a resort in the Florida Keys. Power and fresh water were run out to the island for the film, allowing the resort to be built years later. The construction of the sets and the presence of boats and other paraphernalia during filming gave rise to rumors of another U.S. invasion of Cuba.[1]
At the time the film was being planned it was found that the few surviving 80-foot Elco PT boats were not in operational condition. Though a further search was conducted it was determined that none could be located for use in the film, as almost all had been destroyed in-Theatre at the end of World War II. Former World War II-era United States Army Air Forces85-foot crash rescue boats were converted to resemble Elco PT boats. These were designed by Dair N. Long in 1944, and their use as movie props was ideal because they possessed performance and profiles similar to the Elcos.[9] American AT-6 Texan training planes stood in for Japanese Zeros.[1]
After seeing the film, Kennedy called PT 109 a "good product," but worried about the two hour, 20-minute length. "It's just a question of whether there's too much of it."[10]
Accuracy
In the film the PT 109 and all other PT boats are painted in the same standard gray paint scheme used by larger warships of the U.S. Navy. Although many Higgins and Elco PT boats were likely delivered from the manufacturer (to be shipped upon oceangoing navy cargo vessels) with such a paint scheme, historical records indicate that PT 109 and the other boats in its squadron were painted dark green once in the Solmons in order to better blend into jungle backdrops at forward operating bases.[11][12]
The film also depicts PT 109 as reported missing and a search is started. According to National Geographic and the original book, though the boat explosion was observed from other PT boats in the vicinity and the vessel was given up as lost, at least an air reconnaissance was later conducted. When it was unsuccessful, a memorial service was held at the motor torpedo boat squadron's forward operating base at Rendova while the crew was still marooned on the islands in the vicinity of Japanese-held Kolombagara Island.
Solomon IslandersBiuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana are portrayed as random natives, when in fact they were dispatched by the coastwatcher, Reg Evans, to find the sailors. The film shows Ensign Ross first suggesting the idea of using a coconut for a message, using a knife to carve it. Gasa later claimed to have suggested the idea and to have sent Kumana to pluck a fresh coconut. The actors playing Gasa and Kumana were not credited, though the senior native is mentioned by name when the large canoe arrives.
The scene showing the rescue of ambushed Marines actually occurred after the sinking of the PT 109, when Kennedy had been given command of PT 59. It was an older model 77-foot Elco PT boat that had had its torpedo launchers removed and was reconfigured into a heavily armed gunboat at Kennedy's request, as U.S. Navy Mark 8 torpedoes of that era were notoriously inaccurate and Kennedy had already provisionally mounted a .37mm antitank gun on the bow of the 109 before its loss. It was the 59's exceptional firepower that allowed it to be successful in its rescue of Marines pinned down in close quarters on Choiseul.
Reception
PT 109 was released to lukewarm critical response, although Robertson received good reviews.[1]As of September2020[update], Rotten Tomatoes rates the film at 64% approval.[13] One review comments that "One of the screenplay's pluses ... is its concentration on the minor but still deadly activities that were undertaken by thousands of men during World War II. Not everyone was involved with the major assaults; many spent their time risking their lives in places and situations of which most people are totally unaware, and it's a nice change of pace to see this aspect of the war dramatized."[14]
During its initial run, prior to Kennedy's assassination, a theater marquee in Georgia showing the film declared "See how the Japs almost got Kennedy."[15]
The film earned theatrical rentals of $2.7 million in the United States and Canada before it was withdrawn following Kennedy's assassination.[16] They estimated it would go on to earn $3.5 million.[2]
Canadian release
In some Canadian cities, such as Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, PT 109 premiered in theaters on November 22, 1963, the day that Kennedy was assassinated.[17]
Home media
Warner Home Video released the film on VHS on February 9, 1983, as part of its "A Night At the Movies" series, featuring a Hearst Metrotone Newsreel, a Warner Bros. animated short and a coming-attractions trailer of films from 1963.[18] Warner Archives released the film on DVD in the United States on May 10, 2011.[19]
A PT boat was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the war by ineffective torpedoes, limited armament, and comparatively fragile construction that limited some of the variants to coastal waters. In the US Navy they were organized in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons (MTBRONs).
PT-109 was an 80-foot Elco PT boat last commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, future United States president, in the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific theater during World War II. Kennedy's actions in saving his surviving crew after PT-109 was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer earned him several commendations and made him a war hero. Back problems stemming from the incident required months of hospitalization at Chelsea Naval Hospital and plagued him the rest of his life. Kennedy's postwar campaigns for elected office referred often to his service on PT-109.
They Were Expendable is a 1945 American war film directed by John Ford, starring Robert Montgomery and John Wayne, and featuring Donna Reed. The film is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by William Lindsay White, relating the story of the exploits of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, a United States PT boat unit defending the Philippines against Japanese invasion during the Battle of the Philippines (1941–42) in World War II.
McHale's Navy is an American sitcom starring Ernest Borgnine that aired 138 half-hour episodes over four seasons, from October 11, 1962, to April 12, 1966, on the ABC television network. The series was filmed in black and white and originated from a one-hour drama titled "Seven Against the Sea", broadcast on April 3, 1962 as part of the Alcoa Premiere anthology series. The ABC series spawned three feature films: McHale's Navy (1964); a sequel, McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force (1965); and a 1997 sequel-remake of the original series.
Patrol torpedo boat PT-41 was a PT-20-class motor torpedo boat of the United States Navy, built by the Electric Launch Company of Bayonne, New Jersey. The boat was laid down as Motor Boat Submarine Chaser PTC-21, but was reclassified as PT-41 prior to its launch on 8 July 1941, and was completed on 23 July 1941. It was used to evacuate General Douglas MacArthur from Corregidor at the beginning of the war in the Pacific in World War II.
Patrol torpedo boat PT-34 was a PT-20-class motor torpedo boat of the United States Navy, built by the Electric Launch Company of Bayonne, New Jersey. The boat was laid down as Motor boat submarine chaser PTC-14, but was reclassified as PT-34 prior to its launch on 14 June 1941, and was commissioned on 12 July 1941.
The Coastwatchers, also known as the Coast Watch Organisation, Combined Field Intelligence Service or Section C, Allied Intelligence Bureau, were Allied military intelligence operatives stationed on remote Pacific islands during World War II to observe enemy movements and rescue stranded Allied personnel. They played a significant role in the Pacific Ocean theatre and South West Pacific theatre, particularly as an early warning network during the Guadalcanal campaign.
Kennedy Island, is a 1.17 hectares, uninhabited island in Solomon Islands that was named after John F. Kennedy, following an incident involving Kennedy during his World War II naval career. Kennedy Island lies 15 minutes by boat from Gizo, the provincial capital of the Western Province of Solomon Islands.
Blackett Strait is a waterway in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. It lies between the islands of Kolombangara to the north, and Arundel Island (Kohinggo) to the south. It connects Vella Gulf to the west with Kula Gulf to the east. It is almost certainly named after Lt. Frederick Arthur Blackett (1846-1880), the youngest son of Sir Edward Blackett 6th Bt., who served on HMS Thalia as part of the China Station from 1872 to 1873.
Rendova is an island in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, east of Papua New Guinea.
Arthur Reginald Evans, DSC was an Australian coastwatcher in the Pacific Ocean theatre in World War II. He is chiefly remembered for having played a significant part in the rescue of future US President John F. Kennedy and his surviving crew after their motor torpedo boat, PT-109, was sunk by the Japanese in August 1943.
Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana were Solomon Islanders of Melanesian descent who found John F. Kennedy and his surviving PT-109 crew following the boat's collision with the Japanese destroyer Amagiri near Plum Pudding Island on 1 August 1943. They were from the Western Province of the Solomon Islands.
"PT-109" is a 1962 song by Jimmy Dean about the combat service of John F. Kennedy and the crew of the PT-109 in World War II. The boat was famous even before Kennedy ran for office, because Kennedy and most of the crew had survived after it was rammed and cut in two by a Japanese destroyer. After several days on a tiny uninhabited island, Kennedy and the crew were rescued by two native Solomon Islanders—Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, part of an allied Coastwatchers team led by Australian Reg Evans—although the islanders are not mentioned in the song.
The Search for Kennedy's PT 109 is a National Geographic television special and video on DVD, directed by Peter Getzels. It documents the true story of John F. Kennedy's PT-109 from World War II, and the successful search for the ship by Dr. Robert Ballard.
PT-59 / PTGB-1 was an S-Class Patrol Torpedo boat of the United States Navy, built by the Electric Launch Company of Bayonne, New Jersey. The boat was laid down as Motor Boat Submarine Chaser PTC-27, and was reclassified as BPT-11 when assigned to transfer to Britain under Lend-Lease. However, this was cancelled, and she was reclassified as PT-59 prior to launch on 8 October 1941, and was completed on 5 March 1942.
The Electric Launch Company, later renamed Elco Motor Yachts ("Elco"), is an American boat building and electric motor company that has operated from 1893 to 1949 and from 1987 to the present.
PT-346 was an 80 ft Electric Launch Company (Elco) motor torpedo boat which suffered the worst PT-boat friendly-fire casualties of World War II, with nine men killed and nine wounded by airstrike.
Crash Rescue Boat is a name used in the United States to describe military high-speed offshore rescue boats, similar in size and performance to motor torpedo boats, used to rescue pilots and aircrews of crashed aircraft. During World War II these rescue boats, armed with light anti-aircraft guns for self-defense, saw extensive service with the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).
Olasana Island is a 7.93 hectare, uninhabited island in the New Georgia Islands of the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. The island is primarily notable for its role in the events after the sinking of PT-109 involving future American president John F. Kennedy.
PT 109: An American Epic of War, Survival, and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy is a non-fiction book by best-selling author William Doyle released by Harper-Collins in 2015 that describes the ramming and sinking of future President John F. Kennedy's Patrol Torpedo Boat 109 by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri off the coast of Kolombangara Island in the Solomon Island Chain on August 2, 1943. The book also chronicles the crew's difficult three mile swim to Plum Pudding Island and the subsequent week of living there and on adjacent Olasana Island until Patrol Torpedo Boat PT-157 rescued them on August 8. The novel also discusses the considerable impact the experience had in helping to launch Kennedy's political career, beginning with his election to the House of Representatives in 1946. JFK's aid David Powers has written, "without PT 109, there never would have been a President John F. Kennedy".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
