NR | 1 h 31 mins | Drama, Romance | 1947
“For lack of vision, people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). Although viewed in different ways, the most obvious interpretation of this verse, that people lose the will to live without a purpose in life, is true, especially during hard times.
A War Story
Navy pilot Alec Brooke (Van Johnson) commands a PBY Catalina, known as a flying boat. His ship, the High Barbaree, is shot down during a bombing mission in the Pacific. He and Lt. Joe Moore (Cameron Mitchell) are the only survivors. The damaged airplane can float, so they try to stretch their limited water supply until they are rescued. Alec realizes they are only a few miles from the coordinates of a legendary island that his seafaring uncle, Thad (Thomas Mitchell), said he once visited, also known as the High Barbaree. With no way to contact anyone, they decide to rig up a sail on their ship, and head toward the island.
As the two make their way, Alec tells Joe about his life before the war, which we see in a series of flashbacks. He comes from a small town in Iowa, where his father (Henry Hull) was a country doctor. His best friend was Nancy Frazier (June Allyson), a neighborhood girl, who had a crush on him from childhood. As young children, Alec planned to be a doctor, and Nancy promised to be his nurse. They shared a great fondness for his tippling yet lovable uncle, Thad, who enchanted them with stories about his voyages, especially to the High Barbaree.
Sadly, Nancy’s family moves away, so she and Alec lose contact. Alec drops out of medical school and becomes a pilot at an aviation company. Working at Case Aviation, he rises to the rank of vice-president and becomes engaged to the boss’s daughter (Marilyn Maxwell). However, when Nancy pays him a visit, he regrets deviating from his boyhood dreams, especially when he learns Nancy had become a nurse, as planned. A terrible tornado creates a local emergency which forces him to use his medical training, and he realizes he’s headed down the wrong path.
Forgetting Your Dreams
Alec Brooke is an excellent example of someone who gets sidetracked from his dreams by life. Alec’s childhood dream of becoming a doctor was more than juvenile whimsy. It was a serious goal based on his desire to help others. He didn’t base this dream on fantasy; he had a very clear understanding of what being a doctor meant because of his father. We even see him gently treating animals as a boy with Nurse Nancy at his side.
Once he’s a grown man, however, Alec forgets his childhood dream of helping people. Instead, he gets caught up in the materialistic concerns of life. From a worldly standpoint, he seems very successful. He’s got a great job, and he’s moving up in the company, even if it is because he’s marrying into the family. Nancy can see through the phoniness of his life, and she helps get him back on the right path.
“High Barbaree” was the third of six movies that paired Johnson and Allyson. These two talented actors lead an amazing cast, including two younger versions each of Alec and Nancy. If you’re only a casual classic film fan, watching “High Barbaree” could transform you into an old movie devotee. Most of the actors aren’t household names anymore, but they all have impressive résumés of meaningful movies.
This film could appeal to devotees of many genres; it’s a war film, a romance, a drama, a family story, a comedy, and a fairytale. It seems impossible that this 91-minute movie could cohesively contain all those elements, but “High Barbaree” manages it because life contains all those elements.
This slice of life transports us back to the mid-20th century, when Americans were thrust into World War II. However, its messages are just as fresh today.
