McHale's Navy: Season One [5 Discs]

Ernest Borgnine

Overview

Silly antics of a World War II PT-boat commander and his crew in the South Pacific and Italy. It's basically Sgt. Bilko on the water, for like Phil Silvers' beloved character, Lt. Cdr. Quinton McHale (played with farcical skill by Oscar winner Ernest Borgnine) is a consummate, always-take-a-shortcut con man, incessantly driving the exasperated Capt. Binghampton to declare, `I could just scream.'

Product Details

Release Date:	03/20/2007
UPC:	0826663104189
Original Release:	2007
Source:	Shout Factory
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	15:30:00
Sales rank:	37,567

Editorial Reviews

On April 3, 1962, the anthology series Fred Astaire's Premiere Theatre aired a one-hour drama entitled Seven Against the Sea, featuring Ernest Borgnine as Quinton McHale, commander of a Navy PT boat whose island base is bombed by the Japanese during World War II. In spite of orders to reconstruct the base, McHale and his surviving men go native, building a still, relaxing with the islanders, and waiting for their chance of rescue. The Japanese reappear, however, and McHale and his men must battle valiantly to keep the island. Based on that dramatic premise, ABC commissioned a series -- albeit a comedy -- that began on October 11, 1962. Borgnine returned from the original drama as Lt. Commander McHale of PT-73, as did Gary Vinson as quartermaster George "Christy" Christopher. Also featured in the series were McHale's superiors, Capt. Wallace Binghamton (Joe Flynn) and Lt. Elroy Carpenter (Bob Hastings), the officers who always sought to put an end to McHale's non-regulation way of life. McHale's crew included second-in-command Ensign Charles Parker (Tim Conway, in a breakout role); Lester Gruber (Carl Ballantine); Harrison "Tinker" Bell (Billy Sands); Virgil Edwards (Edson Stroll); Joseph "Happy" Haines (The Love Boat's Gavin MacLeod); and Fuji Kobiaji (Yoshio Yoda), a Japanese deserter who dressed in POW clothes just in case anyone came looking for him. Others included McHale's love interest, nurse Molly Turner (Jane Dulo), and Polynesian chief Urulu (Jacques Aubuchon), who delighted in taking advantage of whoever came into his village. Included on this set are all 36 episodes from the first season, along with a featurette, "The Crew Reunion," in which the crew of the PT-73 reunite after 40 years.