By Richard Harland Smith
Annapolis Salute
Brief Synopsis
A naval cadet clashes with his father and his best friend over his love of the commander's daughter.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Christy Cabanne
Director
James Ellison
Bill J. Martin
Marsha Hunt
Julia Clemens
Harry Carey
Chief Martin
Van Heflin
Clay V. Parker
Ann Hovey
Bunny Oliver
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Classic Hollywood
Release Date
Sep
10,
1937
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 5m
Sound
Mono (RCA Victor System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7 reels
Synopsis
Bill Martin, the son of a career enlisted Navy man, earns high marks in his first year at Annapolis, shining in both academics and crew. His only rival, the well-to-do Clay Parker, scorns Bill's ambitions and ridicules the Navy, claiming that he entered the academy just to escape his grandfather's tyranny. As midshipmen, Bill and Clay, who uses the rivalry as an excuse to stay at the academy, find themselves competing for the same woman, Julia Clemens, the attractive sister of thick-headed cadet Cuthbert A. "Tex" Clemens, whom they meet at the June Week hop. After a shaky start, Julia and Bill quickly fall in love, much to Clay's disappointment. Although Bill has promised his father that he will be a "red mike," or woman hater, and attend school for the required five years, he contemplates marrying Julia, which he cannot do without quitting his assignment. When Julia meets Bill's father at the dress parade and finds out about the sacrifices he made to get Bill into the academy, however, she sacrifices her love and sends Bill a curt rejection letter. Distraught, Bill violates his curfew and rushes to Julia's hotel room just as Clay is calling on her. Julia, aware of the penalties that Bill will suffer if he is found, forces him to leave, but he is caught while escaping. Because his cap is found in the wrecked car of Bunny Oliver, a frustrated cadet chaser, Bill is implicated in the crash, which has sent Bunny to the hospital with head injuries. To protect Julia's reputation, Clay refuses to say that Bill was in her room at the time of the crash, but when Bill tells him that he is resigning his assignment, he runs to the hospital and extracts a career-saving admission from Bunny. Julia then promises Bill that she will wait for him.
Director
Christy Cabanne
Director
Cast
James Ellison
Bill J. Martin
Marsha Hunt
Julia Clemens
Harry Carey
Chief Martin
Van Heflin
Clay V. Parker
Ann Hovey
Bunny Oliver
Arthur Lake
Cuthbert A. "Tex" Clemens
Dick Hogan
Bob D. Wilson
Marilyn Vernon
Mary Lou
John Griggs
Dwight Moore
Crew
Samuel J. Briskin
Executive Producer
Christy Cabanne
Story
Ted Cheesman
Editing
Feild M. Gray
Art Director Associate
Russell Metty
Photography
Van Nest Polglase
Art Director
Renié
Dresses by
Robert Sisk
Producer
Dewey Starkey
Assistant Director
John Twist
Screenwriter
Vernon L. Walker
Special Effects
Earl A. Wolcott
Recording
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Classic Hollywood
Release Date
Sep
10,
1937
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 5m
Sound
Mono (RCA Victor System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7 reels
Articles
Annapolis Salute
Prolific Hollywood director Christy Cabanne relied on his own experiences in the United States Navy for Annapolis Salute (1937), a tale of romance, honor, sacrifice, and camaraderie on the grounds of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. Enjoying a rare role out of cowboy duds, western actor James Ellison plays a promising recruit whose love for civilian Marsha Hunt (on loan to RKO from Paramount) threatens to disrupt the career path laid out by his father (Harry Carey). Complicating matters is the attention paid to Hunt by Ellison's fellow midshipman Van Heflin (in his third film). Taylor Hackford's Academy Award-winning An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) would add little to a formula that Cabanne had laid out fifty years earlier, to the point of introducing a leggy cadet chaser (Ann Hovey) whose heartless ambition has a devastating effect on the lives of others. Van Heflin was pointed here to a long and rewarding career while costar Ellison went on to key roles in Fox's The Undying Monster (1942) and RKO's I Walked with a Zombie (1943). Leading lady Marsha Hunt's liberal politics got her into trouble with the House on Un-American Activities Committee while sixth-billed Arthur Lake was next cast as Dagwood Bumstead in Columbia's long-running Blondie film series.
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
Annapolis Salute
Prolific Hollywood director Christy Cabanne relied on his own experiences in the United States Navy for Annapolis Salute (1937), a tale of romance, honor, sacrifice, and camaraderie on the grounds of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. Enjoying a rare role out of cowboy duds, western actor James Ellison plays a promising recruit whose love for civilian Marsha Hunt (on loan to RKO from Paramount) threatens to disrupt the career path laid out by his father (Harry Carey). Complicating matters is the attention paid to Hunt by Ellison's fellow midshipman Van Heflin (in his third film). Taylor Hackford's Academy Award-winning An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) would add little to a formula that Cabanne had laid out fifty years earlier, to the point of introducing a leggy cadet chaser (Ann Hovey) whose heartless ambition has a devastating effect on the lives of others. Van Heflin was pointed here to a long and rewarding career while costar Ellison went on to key roles in Fox's The Undying Monster (1942) and RKO's I Walked with a Zombie (1943). Leading lady Marsha Hunt's liberal politics got her into trouble with the House on Un-American Activities Committee while sixth-billed Arthur Lake was next cast as Dagwood Bumstead in Columbia's long-running Blondie film series.
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Christy Cabanne, who attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, got permission from the Navy to shoot scenes there. According to Motion Picture Herald's "In the Cutting Room," all but a "few" interior scenes were shot "in and around" the Naval Academy. Marsha Hunt was borrowed from Paramount for this production, and James Ellison, from Harry Sherman's company. Cabanne also directed a 1933 Navy story for RKO called Midshipman Jack (see below), which had a very similar plot line to Annapolis Salute. According to modern sources, the film grossed $272,000.
