McHale's Navy - WikiHQ

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.

"Seven Against the Sea" (1962)

Academy Award–winning dramatic actor Ernest Borgnine first appeared as Quinton McHale in an hour-long PT boat drama called "Seven Against the Sea", which aired as an episode of Alcoa Premiere in 1962, an ABC dramatic anthology also known as Fred Astaire's Premiere Theatre and hosted by Fred Astaire, who introduced television audiences to the Quinton McHale character. It is considered the pilot show for the series although it is an hour-long drama instead of a half-hour situation comedy and is starkly different in tone.

Plot

thumb|Ron Foster as Lieutenant Durham and Ernest Borgnine as McHale from "Seven Against the Sea", 1962

During World War II, Lieutenant Commander Quinton McHale (Borgnine) is the commanding officer of the U.S. Navy PT boat PT-73, stationed at the fictional Pacific island base of Taratupa. In the late spring of 1942, the Japanese heavily bomb the island, destroying the base. Only 18 of 150 naval aviators and Marines on the base survive. With Japanese patrols in the region too heavy for a Navy rescue mission, McHale and his men survive by hiding on the island. Assisted by the native tribes whom they befriend, the sailors live a pleasant island existence. After months of leisurely life, strait-laced, by-the-book Annapolis graduate Lieutenant Durham (Ron Foster) parachutes onto the island. His job is to assume duties as McHale's executive officer and help him get the base on Taratupa back into action.

Durham faces an uphill battle: the men have gone native. One man has started a native laundry service, and McHale operates a still, making moonshine for the men and the natives. In addition, McHale is friendly with the native chief; the two even bathe in the same room, attended to by one of the chief's wives. When Durham informs McHale of his orders, McHale refuses to follow them. It is clear that while McHale is as loyal as any American, following the devastation caused by the Japanese on the island, he is reluctant to risk losing more men. His concern now is for their survival until they can be rescued, which creates friction between Durham and McHale.

When they get word that a Marine battalion is pinned on a beach and an enemy cruiser is planning to attack the beachhead in the morning, McHale's attitude changes. McHale is ordered to use all his boats to protect the beachhead and the Marines, but he has no boats, since the Japanese sank them all. However, McHale and his men manage to capture a Japanese PT boat that arrives at the island. Surprising the men and Durham, McHale does not plan to use the boat to evacuate his men or the Marine battalion. Instead, he will attack and destroy the Japanese cruiser. He estimates that since they are on a Japanese boat, flying a Japanese flag, they can move in and torpedo the cruiser twice and send it to the bottom.

With just two torpedoes, McHale, Durham, and a crew set out in darkness aboard the acquired PT boat to find and engage the cruiser. By patrolling the only water deep enough for the cruiser to reach the beach, they spot it about two hours before dawn. McHale pilots the PT boat at maximum speed directly towards the cruiser, allowing the crew to fire both torpedoes, the second of which impacts the bow of the cruiser and causes a very large explosion, implying its destruction. The PT boat is last seen, apparently returning to Taratupa, now flying an American flag.

Cast

The cast of "Seven Against the Sea" was:

Ernest Borgnine as Captain Quentin McHale
Ron Foster as Lieutenant Robert Durham
William Bramley as Bosun Ward Gallagher
John Wright as Willy Moss
Gary Vinson as Christy Christopher
Steve Harris as Plumber Harris
Brian Eliot as Jenkins
Bob Okazaki as Japanese Officer
Michael Dugan as Seaman Number One
Juano Hernandez as Chief Mamora

Response

This episode of an early dramatic anthology series received respectable ratings and ABC ordered a series. The series requested by the network was significantly different in tone from the pilot. In an interview in Cinema Retro magazine, Borgnine said the show was meant as a vehicle for Ron Foster, who was to be contracted to Universal Pictures, but that did not work out. Producer Jennings Lang recalled the 1953 film Destination Gobi inspiring a half-hour comedy with the Borgnine character's PT boat. The lead character in Destination Gobi, played by Richard Widmark, was named McHale.

"Seven Against the Sea" is available for public viewing at the Paley Center for Media (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio) in New York City and Los Angeles. , it can also be found on YouTube.

McHale's Navy (1962–1966)

thumb|right|[[Ernest Borgnine in McHale's Navy]]

This military service comedy series was set in the Pacific theatre of World War II—for the last season, the setting changed to the European theater in Italy—and focused on antics of the misfit crew of PT-73 led by Lieutenant Commander Quinton McHale, played by Borgnine. The producer, Edward Montagne, had enjoyed success with The Phil Silvers Show—often referred to as Sergeant Bilko, after the series' protagonist—a military comedy that ran from 1955 to 1959 about an opportunistic non-commissioned officer and his loyal platoon putting loony things over on the camp commander. While the pilot had been dramatic, with overtones of Henry Fonda's introspective Mister Roberts, Montagne turned the "McHale" project into "Bilko in the Navy" and recruited Sergeant Bilko actors and writers.

However, unlike Sergeant Bilko, which was set in peacetime, McHale's Navy was set during World War II, although much of what takes place is, in some ways, as if it were peacetime with the crew permanently stationed in one location and concerned about peacetime duties rather than fighting a war. At the time of the series, then-President John F. Kennedy was known as the decorated wartime commander of PT-109. A popular book, PT-109: John F. Kennedy in World War II by Robert J. Donovan, came out the previous year, and a feature film based on the book, PT 109, a year after the series’ debut. was referenced in the episode "Send Us A Hero".

Plot

The basic plot is that McHale's crew schemes to make money, attract women and enjoy themselves, and the efforts of Captain Binghamton (McHale's superior) to rid himself of the PT-73 crew for good, either by transfer or court-martial. Although they often get into trouble, they typically manage to get out of it. Despite their scheming, conniving, and often lazy and unmilitary ways, McHale's crew is always successful in combat in the end. This bears close resemblance to the British radio programme The Navy Lark, broadcast around the same period.

The first episode, titled "An Ensign for McHale", sets the tone for the entire series. It involves Ensign Parker's assignment to McHale's crew after they already had gone through several ensigns who could not put up with their unmilitary, slovenly, and insubordinate ways. One of them even suffered a nervous breakdown. Parker is given one week by Binghamton to reform the crew or be given the worst reassignment possible. At first, the crew treats Parker as badly as they treated the other ensigns, but after McHale sees Parker has integrity, he decides to help Parker out by having his crew be much more like regular Navy.

Sometimes, the crewmen wear disguises to carry out elaborate schemes, such as when McHale needs to stage a phony Japanese attack and several of the crew dress up in Japanese uniforms. At other times, the crew dresses up to look like "native savages". When a situation calls for a disguise as a woman, one of the crew dresses in drag. When they are in Italy, several of the crewmen disguise themselves in German uniforms.

Settings

The entire show is based in only two locations: in the South Pacific at a fictional base called Taratupa, and later in an equally fictional town in Italy called Voltafiore.

The first few episodes merely indicate that Taratupa is "somewhere in the South Pacific 1943." The implied location (per the first episode) is islands north of New Zealand. While in the South Pacific, McHale's crew lives on "McHale's Island", across the bay from Taratupa. It keeps them away from the main base, where they are free to carry out their antics and even fight the war.

The final season has a total change of scenery as Binghamton, Carpenter and the entire PT-73 crew, along with Fuji (who hid in the boat as it was being transported), move to the liberated Italian theater in "late 1944" to the coastal town of Voltafiore in "Southern Italy", where Binghamton becomes the military governor and they become members of PT Boat Squadron 19. Moneymaking schemes of the wacky and somewhat crooked Mayor Mario Lugatto (Jay Novello) and the looney antics of the citizens introduce many more plot twists and gags. For instance, when McHale and his crew first arrive in Voltafiore, they are greeted by the newly liberated citizens with cries of Sieg Heil! While Binghamton and Carpenter live nicely in the city hall, McHale and his men are forced by Binghamton to bivouac in tents near the beach. However, they stumble on an abandoned wine cellar, which becomes their secret underground hideout where they hide Fuji (and of course Binghamton nearly discovers it several times). They later add a submarine-style periscope and fancy furnishings.

Episodes

McHale's Navy came to an end in 1966, due to low ratings and repetitive storylines.

Regular characters

Lieutenant Commander McHale

thumb|180px|Ernest Borgnine as Commander McHale.

Lieutenant Commander Quinton McHale (Ernest Borgnine) – A principal character of the series, he is also a former captain of a tramp steamer who is familiar with the South Pacific and is especially knowledgeable about the islands and natives around Taratupa, which often helps him in combat situations and makes him a favorite with the admirals. Like his crew, he is unmilitary in many ways, but always a strong and competent leader who is very protective of his crew. Also like his crew, McHale likes to wear Hawaiian-style clothing when off duty and to use the PT-73 to go deep-sea fishing and water skiing. As Gruber says in the 1964 film, "That's no officer, that's our skipper".

Gruff but lovable, he often calls his crew "schlockmeisters" and goofballs. He is called "Skip" by his crew. Although he very often bellows at them and tries to put his foot down, he loves his crew too much to be all that hard on them. McHale's catchphrases are "Knock it off, you eight-balls" and when trying to come up with an excuse, a rapid "Well-a, well-a, well-a." He speaks Japanese, Italian and local island dialects. In the 1964 film, he briefly speaks fluent French. When the crew is in Italy, McHale's knowledge of Italian serves him quite well and his mother is Italian (both of Borgnine's parents were from Italy). In a dual role, Borgnine played his lookalike Italian cousin, Giuseppe, who does not speak English in "Giuseppe McHale" and "The Return of Giuseppe."

Ensign Parker

right|thumb|Ernest Borgnine, [[Tim Conway, Gary Vinson and Carl Ballantine]]

Ensign Charles Beaumont Parker (Tim Conway) – McHale's likable, but goofy second-in-command, he is referred to by McHale as "Chuck" and by the crew as "Mister Parker" (in the United States Navy, officers ranking from warrant officer to lieutenant commander were referred to as "Mister" until 1973). Conway's bashful, unassertive, naïve, mildly gung-ho bungler often succeeds in spite of clownish ineptitude (a theme that was career-defining). Like Conway, Ensign Parker is from Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Parker was born between about 1916 and 1920 and worked for the Chagrin Falls Gazette.

Although he tries to be military, he is too dimwitted to command I much respect and many of the episodes involve Parker getting into trouble because of his bumbling and ineptitude such as accidentally firing depth charges or shooting down Allied aircraft. Even before becoming a member of McHale's crew, Ensign Parker's personnel file is a laundry list of major foul-ups, including crashing a destroyer escort into a dock, doing something unspecified in heavy fog to the heavy cruiser USS Minneapolis and calling in a naval airstrike on a Marine gasoline dump.

Because of his considerable bumbling, the crew tries to protect Parker, who they feel will not survive as an officer without their help. Also, he is very slow to catch on and does not know when to keep his mouth closed. McHale usually gives Parker a discreet kick or stomp on the foot to get him to shut up. For instance, when Binghamton says "the cat is out of the bag," Parker says, "I'm sure it's around here somewhere, Sir. Here, kitty, kitty." Parker's catchphrase is "Gee, I love that kind of talk" and he loves to cite naval regulations which he knows by heart, but somehow can never remember his serial number correctly.

In the episode titled "The Great Impersonation", Ensign Parker impersonates British General Smythe-Pelly (Conway in a dual role) in Nouméa, New Caledonia, where he dodges assassins while the actual general leads an invasion against Japanese forces. In another Conway dual role, Parker impersonates Admiral Chester "Rockpile" Beaty in "The Seven Faces of Ensign Parker." In "H.M.S. 73", Parker poses as a phony British rear admiral, Sir Reggie Grother-Smyth and impersonates British Admiral Clivedon Sommers in "The British Also Have Ensigns." From time to time, Parker is called upon to fool Captain Binghamton with a voice impersonation of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Parker also does an impersonation of Roosevelt in McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force).

Captain Binghamton

thumb|250px|Joe Flynn as Captain Wally Binghamton

Captain Wallace "Wally" Burton Binghamton USNR (Joe Flynn) – McHale's perpetually frustrated commanding officer, referred to as "Old Leadbottom" (usually behind his back—a nickname he received from a bullet wound to the posterior). He is a married naval reservist and his job before the war was as the commodore of a yacht club on Long Island and the editor of a yachting magazine. John Fujioka, and Mako (who starred in the movie The Sand Pebbles, for which MacLeod left the series).

Guest stars

thumb|180px|A publicity photo for "McHale's Paradise Hotel" – ([[Barbara Lyon and Tim Conway)]]

In "The Missing Link", Marlo Thomas played Binghamton's niece, Cynthia Prentice, who takes an interest in Ensign Parker, although it turns out entirely for anthropological reasons. In "Camera, Action, Panic", Arte Johnson played the bumbling Cameraman Sweeney who is making a movie of the PT-73 crew in action. In "Is There a Doctor in the Hut", Bernie Kopell (who starred with MacLeod on The Love Boat) played Colonel Pryer, who is the obnoxious manager of movie star Rita Howard, played by Lisa Seagram. In "Hello McHale? Colonna!" McHale finagles to have comic Jerry Colonna do an unscheduled Special Services show. Pat Harrington Jr. played the thieving Guido Panzini in "McHale's Country Club Caper".

Steve Franken played the snooty Lt. Jason Whitworth III in "Birth of a Salesman", whom Binghamton hopes will give him a job selling insurance after the war. George Furth played the self-centered Roger Whitfield III, who tries to take advantage of Binghamton's hopes to get his old job back at the yacht club owned by Whitfield's father in "Dart Gun Wedding". Marvin Kaplan played the MIT electronics genius Ensign Eugene J. Kwazniak in "All Ahead, Empty", in which the PT-73 is wired for remote control. Bernard Fox played the clumsy Sub-Lieutenant Cedric Clivedon in "The British Also Have Ensigns." Susan Silo played Virgil's stowaway girlfriend Babette in "Babette, Go Home". Jesse Pearson played singing idol Harley Hatfield in "The Rage of Taratupa".

In "Make Room for Orvie", Michael Burns played 18-year-old Seaman Orvie Tuttle, who is the newest member of the PT-73 crew, but who does not go with the crew when they move to Italy in the next episode. Ann McCrea was cast as Carol Kimberly in "Beauty and the Beast" (1963). In "The Comrades of 73", in which the PT-73 is slated to be sent to the Soviet Union as part of Lend Lease, Sue Ane Langdon played Russian commander Krasni and Cliff Norton played Russian admiral Gurevitch (Norton also played an Australian sergeant major in the 1964 movie and Major Bill Grady in McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force).

PT-73 crew love life

thumb|180px|"McHale's Paradise Hotel", Barbara Lyon, Ernest Borgnine and [[Jane Dulo]]

McHale's always hopeful love interest while the show is in the South Pacific is Navy Nurse Molly Turner (Jane Dulo from Sergeant Bilko), a New Jersey gal who is always trying to corner the ever romantically elusive McHale. Another love interest of the reluctant McHale is an old friend and a bit of a wildcat Kate O'Hara (Joyce Jameson). At first, his crew tries to get McHale interested in her, then Kate tries to blackmail McHale into marrying her and then Binghamton tries to blackmail her into marrying McHale when she tries to back out herself. Yet another love interest of the always reluctant McHale is Maggie Monohan (Jean Willes) in "The Return of Maggie", the owner of a gambling joint in New Caledonia and an old flame of McHale's who wants him back, but he does not want her back. Willes played a very similar role as Margot Monet in the 1964 movie. Willes also played Congresswoman Clara Carter Clarke in "Send Us a Hero."

Though painfully shy around women, Ensign Parker's love interest in the South Pacific is Yvette Gerard, a lovely French girl from a nearby island played by Claudine Longet (who also played an almost identical character, Andrea Bouchard of New Caledonia, in the 1964 movie). In "A Medal for Parker", his girlfriend back home in Chagrin Falls is Mary (Kathleen Gately), who is more interested in dating a war hero than Parker.

While the very bashful Parker is shy around women, women are not always shy around Parker, such as in "The Happy Sleepwalker" when Lt. Nancy Culpepper (Sheila James) finds Parker irresistible. In "The Vampire of Taratupa", Parker dates Lt. Melba Benson (Ann Elder), who is as big a klutz as he is. In the episode entitled "36-24-73", situated in Italy, hints are given of a relationship developing between Parker and by-the-book female Ensign Sandra Collins (Maura McGiveney) after he sternly corrects her about in what sections certain regulations are (they then talk about what regulations are their favorites).

Along with other WAVES clad in bathing suits, they provide valuable (albeit totally unwitting) assistance in capturing a German U-boat when its captain runs the U-boat aground trying to get a better look. McGiveney also played the part of Judy in "The Stool Parrot" episode. Although the crew (especially the lover-boy Virgil) is forever chasing women (Navy nurses, native island girls or local Italian women), certain women gain their interest more than others. After receiving a "Dear John letter", shy and broken-hearted Willy's love interest becomes Southern belle Nurse Cindy Bates (Brenda Wright). Tinker tries to impress and win over fickle Nurse Betsy Gordonlove (Barbara Werle) in "Scuttlebutt."

Happy's love interest in "The Happy Sleepwalker" is Lt. Anne Wright (Lois Roberts). When Gruber's girlfriend Ginger (Jean Hale) shows up to surprise him in "Lester, the Skipper", McHale is talked into letting Gruber pretend he is the commander of the PT-73 while she is there. In "Fuji's Big Romance", the lonely prisoner of war falls for lovely Sulani (Yvonne Ribuca), the daughter of a Polynesian chief, when the crew sympathetically takes him along on one of their social outings to a luau with the native islanders. Other than Binghamton and Christy, none of the regular characters on the show is married and only Christy has any children.

Cast

The cast of the half-hour sitcom series was as listed below. Except where noted, the actors appeared on the show in every season.

thumb|180px|[[Carl Ballantine as Lester Gruber]]

Ernest Borgnine as Lieutenant Commander Quinton McHale
Tim Conway as Ensign Charles Parker
Joe Flynn as Captain Wallace Burton Binghamton ("Old Leadbottom")
Bob Hastings as Lieutenant Elroy Carpenter
Gary Vinson as George "Christy" Christopher, quartermaster
John Wright as Willy Moss, radioman
Carl Ballantine as Lester Gruber, torpedoman's mate
Billy Sands as Harrison "Tinker" Bell, engineman and motor machinist's mate
Edson Stroll as Virgil Edwards, gunner's mate
Gavin MacLeod as Joseph "Happy" Haines, seaman (1962–1964)
Yoshio Yoda as Fuji Kobiaji, cook, seaman 3rd class, Japanese POW

The real-life PT-73

The real-life PT-73 was finished on August 12, 1942, by Higgins Industries, in New Orleans. It was long, weighed 56 tons and had a top speed of 40 knots. It was assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 13 under the command of Commander James B. Denny, USN. The squadron participated in the Aleutian Islands Campaign from March 1943 to May 1944. The squadron was then transferred to the Southwest Pacific, where it saw action at Mios Woendi, Dutch New Guinea; Mindoro, Philippine Islands; and Brunei Bay, Borneo.

The squadron was also based for a time at Dreger Harbor, New Guinea, and San Pedro Bay, Philippine Islands, but saw no action from these bases. Overall, the real PT-73 did not have the kind of illustrious combat record depicted in the series. On January 15, 1945, it ran aground off Lubang Island in the Philippine Islands after delivering supplies to Filipino guerrillas and was destroyed by the crew to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. was used for shots at sea; and two World War II air-sea rescue boats were reconfigured above-deck to resemble the reconfigured Vosper and based at Universal Studios.

The war had ended in August 1945 before the Vosper, hull number PT-694, could be sent to the Soviet Union. It was purchased by Howard Hughes for a chase boat for the only flight of his Spruce Goose aircraft.

No record of the final fate of either converted 63-foot air-sea rescue boat has been found.

The sea-going PT-73 (the ex-Howard Hughes PT-694 Vesper boat) was sold in 1966 to a private owner, and converted to a sport-fishing boat. In 1992, the boat was destroyed when it broke from its mooring near Santa Barbara and washed up on the beach during a storm.

Spinoff

Producer Edward Montagne set up a female version of McHale's Navy entitled Broadside, which ran for 32 episodes on ABC during the 1964–65 television season. In place of the PT crew were a group of WAVES led by Lt. Anne Morgan (Kathleen Nolan). She and her motor pool personnel Joan Staley, Sheila James, Lois Roberts. and Jimmy Boyd (as a male with a female name), were up against base commander Edward Andrews and his nervous adjutant George Furth, who guest-starred in an episode of McHale's Navy entitled "Dart Gun Wedding." Dick Sargent provided a love interest for Nolan.

Edward Andrews (as "Eddie Andrews") had appeared in Edward Montagne's military sitcom The Phil Silvers Show (Sergeant Bilko). Montagne remembered him and co-starred him in Broadside. "The amusing thing is that Ed Montagne first offered me the Captain Binghamton role in his McHale's Navy and I turned him down," said Andrews in 1965. "After seeing what a wonderful job Joe Flynn is doing with the role, I keep kicking myself for what was apparently a stupid decision. [Broadside] is roughly a distaff version of McHale's Navy."

Although not an actual spinoff, Tim Conway and Joe Flynn teamed up playing characters with similar personalities in The Tim Conway Show, which lasted only 13 episodes in 1970.

Merchandise and other media

Dell Comics published three issues of a comic adaptation in 1963. There was also a Dell comic adaptation of the first film in 1964.

A board game, McHale's Navy Game, was published by Transogram in 1962. A trading card set was published by Fleer in 1965.

Years after the show ended, Borgnine and Conway played the SpongeBob SquarePants superhero team Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.

Theatrical films

thumb|right|250px|Joe Flynn as Captain Binghamton

Two feature film spin-offs were based on the series: McHale's Navy (1964) and McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force (1965). The ensemble cast appeared in both films, but Borgnine and Ballantine were absent from the second film; Borgnine was not available due to schedule conflicts with the filming of The Flight of the Phoenix; why Ballantine was missing is not known. To beef up the crew, MacLeod, who had left the series, returned for this appearance. In a Cinema Retro interview, Borgnine said that Montagne wanted to make the film cheaply, without him, and would not show him the script. McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force took in $1,500,000 .

In 1997, a sequel was released, also named McHale's Navy. It starred Tom Arnold as McHale's son, a United States Naval Academy graduate. The film showed the PT-73 and its crew operating in a modern, post-World War II setting in the Caribbean. Borgnine has a cameo appearance as the senior McHale, commanding rear admiral of what appears to be the United States Naval Special Warfare Command and going by the code name "Cobra."

Home media

Shout! Factory has released all four seasons of McHale's Navy on DVD in Region 1. In November 2015, Shout! released McHale's Navy – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1. The 21-disc set contained all 138 episodes and both theatrical films in special collectible packaging. In Australia, Madman Entertainment released all four seasons on DVD. Madman released the first three seasons in Australia in August 2009, in Slimline packaging, replacing the original releases, which were box sets. In June 2011, a Slimline-packaged set of season 4 was seen in Big W stores in Australia in Region 4, however, no details indicate the item being available elsewhere. All full episodes are now available on YouTube.

{| class="wikitable"

! rowspan="2"|DVD Name

! rowspan="2"|Ep #

! colspan="2"|Release dates

! Region 1

! Region 4

| Season 1

| align="center"|36

| March 20, 2007

| August 16, 2007

| Season 2

| align="center"|36

| September 11, 2007

| November 8, 2007

| Season 3

| Align="center"|36

| March 18, 2008

| August 6, 2008

| Season 4

| Align="center"|30

| November 18, 2008

| May 20, 2009

| Complete Series

| Align="center"|138

| November 17, 2015

| N/A

Notes

References

External links

McHale's Navy at Hulu
History of the real PT-73 at uboat.net