Lots to like about this one! O'Brien doesn't get to do as much as I might've liked, but Cagney sure does, playing a hothead who becomes a reluctant hero. An interesting and slightly unusual story, impressive sea and aerial footage and some good laughs (including the end!) make this a really fun package.

James Cagney does his best to be as obnoxious as William Haines as the cocky Navy recruit. At least he treats his girl better ten Haines ever would! I enjoyed parts of this. The rivalry between Cagney and Pat O'Brien has it's moments, but gets old fairly quickly, especially in the latter stages of the movie when it becomes all random. Frank McHugh had some good lame jokes. So it passes the time even if it's far from any of these guys best efforts. Oddly enough this earned a Academy nomination for Best Picture!

Not even Jimmy Cagney can save this one. The only thing even remotely interesting about "Here Comes the Navy" is that two vessels which were famously lost (the battleship USS Arizona and the airship USS Macon) feature prominently in the story.

Otherwise it's just another weak entry in a weak year of a weak decade of Best Picture nominees.

Found after combing YouTube, it's barely funny to begin with, but when the uneducated black sailor is connived into swapping liberty so Cagney can cover his body in shoe polish all for a piece of tail? I checked out. Cagney's Chesty O'Conner turns heroic, but I can't bring myself to care about his character's shift when he does blackface, not only on screen, but in front of other black sailors.

Eh. Cagney's enjoyable in this, and it does have a kinda thrilling (though clearly fake) finale but this is quite a mystifying choice for a Best Picture nomination. Just imagine if this had won.

D: Lloyd Bacon. James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, Gloria Stuart, Dorothy Tree, Frank McHugh. Enjoyable but standard tale of cocky Cagney who becomes Navy hero; nothing new, but well done.

james cagney makes anything watchable

Here Comes the Navy is weakly directed and focusing on many navy scenes which are less interesting than the romantic ones, but still its inherent charm carried it through to a solid status as it's a very enjoyable flick with likable characters and a charismatic performance from James Cagney.

Found after combing YouTube, it's barely funny to begin with, but when the uneducated black sailor is connived into swapping liberty so Cagney can cover his body in shoe polish all for a piece of tail? I checked out. Cagney's Chesty O'Conner turns heroic, but I can't bring myself to care about his character's shift when he does blackface, not only on screen, but in front of other black sailors.

First: Before this film I watched, on TV, the TV movie COLUMBO: A CANDIDATE FOR CRIME (1973).
Second: The ship used in this picture, the USS Arizona I believe, was one of the ships attacked and sunk by the Japanese during their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The ship was the only one not raised and indeed it is now part of the memorial to that dreadful event. x

Eh. Cagney's enjoyable in this, and it does have a kinda thrilling (though clearly fake) finale but this is quite a mystifying choice for a Best Picture nomination. Just imagine if this had won.

Chesty (James Cagney) joins the Navy, gets into trouble, falls in love and becomes a hero in this more than unbelievable film. Not sure how it managed to get an Oscar best picture nomination, perhaps it was felt to be patriotic?