A corvette, I learned from this picture, is a type of small warship. Randolph Scott is captain of such a ship, assigned by the Canadian navy to escort a convoy of ships and war supplies headed across the Atlantic.
The journey is fraught with dangers that include both storms and Nazi submarines. Like other action movies made right during the war, this one is full of patriotism and adventure; Randy Scott and crew demonstrate courage, loyalty, and determination in the face of brutal difficulties.
The first half of the picture features Ella Raines as the sister of two young officers—one just commissioned, one recently killed in action. She and Scott strike up a friendship that begins with her expressing bitterness toward his apparent hard-heartedness but develops into a mutual respect—and possibly something more—for the challenges each of them faces. Raines is appealing in her film debut...she's certainly the sister or girlfriend you'd love to have waiting back home.
James Brown is fine as the brother on his first mission. It's a fairly routine role—he chafes under Scott's demanding leadership but eventually toughens up—but fits unobtrusively into the overall story. The rest of the crew includes familiar character actors like Barry Fitzgerald, Fuzzy Knight, Noah Beery, Jr....solid and good-humored, as you'd expect. A young Robert Mitchum has a small role as a sailor (and gets the film's best line, right at the end).
The exciting battle scenes are quite impressive. It's a top-notch production that does a fine job of fulfilling its mission: it entertains while paying tribute to those fighting a war whose outcome was still very much in doubt.
