CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

Brightlyme i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Infamousta brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

BasicLogic I don't care if this movie is great or not like lot of those deep deep viewers' reviews like they could see something meaningful out of meaningless nothing! Those viewers' said it's a historical lesson, a war film without any battle scene. Well, you think i care? The only thing I noticed from the very beginning is the stupid, annoying, funeral-held-in-church male chorus, wooooooo~~~wooooo~~~~~wooooo....trying so hard to make this movie so sublime, so heavenly, so purified, so reverse osmosis clean, so American Navy self-glorify, so self-indulgent and so self-intoxicated by themselves. What we saw from the very beginning is a bunch of navy soldiers standing like mummies on a battleship's decks, wearing white uniforms, stood like cardboard cut-out figures, then in that exact moment when such dumb image shown, the male chorus started, woooooo~~woooooo~woooooo....like all these navy grunts attending a sea-burial funeral ceremony. Then the old farts showed up one by one, with no-big-deal dialog floated around in the cabin, then, the drive-you-nuts chorus kept singing in the background, woooooowooooowooooo.....How it possible you could force me to watch along, dude? I've viewed all the old reviews and there was just one viewer screamed his head off wanting to shut off that woooooooowoooooooowoooooo background soundtrack. My God(if there's really a gender-less being here), you expect me to pretend myself as the deafest person on the planet? Besides, this movie really sucks big time! What we saw was just a bunch of American navy guys and Japanese navy guys in pure white uniforms and ranks blah blah this, or blah blah that, supporting by the unique yet utmost stupid and meaningless male chorus.I would also suggest those viewers who gave this god-awful film such a high rating. I know you guys are very deep and I am shallow, but one thing I have to point out, my hearing seems much much better than you guys.

digger-58-693439 As a retired Marine Colonel, I have to say this movie contains one of the best lessons in leadership a movie could ever offer. Richard Jaeckel as (LCDR Webb) comes to ADM Halsey's (Cagney) state room to tell him he doesn't want command of his squadron because of the planes shot down that day and the men killed including its' commanding officer because he doesn't want the responsibility. Halsey explains as commander, he lost the same C.O. plus two destroyers and several hundred other men and he's not resigning. Along with the movie "Twelve O'Clock High" - "The Gallant Hours" is a great lesson in leadership because the commanders fore the men under their command to take stock of both the situation as well as their responsibilities.

Jonny_B_Lately My first viewing was a surprise. I had no idea that serious documentary style film-making occurred before the 1970s. The second surprise was during the credits. James Gagney provided funding for this film.Despite Admiral Halsey's reputation, this film paints him as a reasoned thoughtful man who respected his subordinate officers and their men. Highly accurate the film paints the struggle to hold Guadalcanal against almost impossible odds.If you, as a film lover, are looking for a high action film, you might want to pass. This is more the study of the man who won the battle of Guadalcanal with thought, foresight, and more than a touch of daring. In fact there is not one single battle scene with the only real violence taking place when "Washing Machine Charlie" bombs a land base that Halsey happens to be on.The film chronicles the short span of time (five weeks) between Halsey taking over the command of South Pacific forces and the victory over Yamamoto at Guadalcanal.The film is also interesting in that Halsey is never once depicted as bloodthirsty or violent, only that he is determined to rise to the challenge of the Japanese Navy's superior numbers and hold a hard won beachhead on the aforementioned island.Admiral Halsey is quoted as saying: "There are no great men, only great challenges that ordinary men are forced by circumstances to meet." This film matches that sentiment in its script, direction, and production values.The only thing I found the least bit annoying about the film was the chorus in the background. Beyond that this film stands up well even today, some fifty years after it was made.A must see for anyone interested in Halsey, the U.S. Navy during World War II, logistics, and/or strategy.

bkoganbing Helped in fact by an astonishing physical resemblance to Admiral William F. Halsey that audiences today can't appreciate, James Cagney in his next to last film before retirement makes a very believable and strained Bull Halsey recollecting those harrowing weeks during the seesaw battle for Guadalcanal. If one is looking for battle scenes and lots of blood and gore skip this film. If one however would like to see a study about the strain of command than this film is ideal. Cagney drops all of the mannerisms that we normally associate with him in playing Admiral Halsey. It's a restrained and mature performance.The Gallant Hours is also a tribute to the men of our fighting forces in the Pacific who took and held on to the key island of Guadalcanal in the Solomons and halted the Japanese in the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations. Director Robert Montgomery did the film in documentary style and at times you feel like you're in the brain of Admiral Halsey, weighing each decision he makes with him. The familiar voice you hear narrating is that of Montgomery who was no longer acting and now was mostly concerned with production and with political work for the Republican National Committee.The Gallant Hours is a fine character study of one of America's greatest naval heroes and should not be missed.