Operation Pacific, George Waggner (1951)

Absolutely ridiculous. John Wayne is tough as nails, which seems to have ruined his marriage, but then why does he win his ex-wife back by being . . . tough as nails? And the story’s far too tidy — what are the chances that the two rivals for the girl would meet up by chance in the middle of the Pacific Ocean — and the good guys win too often. Still, a decent submarine picture with a half-decent love story between John Wayne and Patricia Neal for good measure. Though I’ve long had a thing for submarine pictures; I think this is the first one I’ve seen where the crew watches a submarine movie, namely Destination Tokyo with Cary Grant. They mock it for being unrealistic — pretty funny, considering.