PT 109

Director: Leslie H. Martinson, Leslie Martinson Leslie H. Martinson

Overview

This WW II adventure chronicles the real-life courage of President John F. Kennedy when he was a Navy lieutenant in charge of the illustrious PT 109. Among the adventures they had was the courageous rescue of Marines stranded upon the isle of Choiseul. As they flee, their little boat is split in half by a Japanese destroyer. The survivors then make a long, dangerous swim to an island. One of them is too badly injured to do it, so Kennedy helps him. Later, the future leader braves many dangers to get to another island to radio for help. This video also contains a newsreel chronicling the President's assassination and a cartoon short featuring Foghorn Leghorn.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/10/2011
UPC:	0883316231982
Original Release:	1963
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	2:20:00
Sales rank:	4,565

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Cliff Robertson	Lt. John F. Kennedy
Ty Hardin	Ens. Leonard J. Thom
James Gregory	Cmdr. C.R. Ritchie
Robert Culp	Ens. George 'Barney' Ross
Grant Williams	Lt. Alvin Cluster
Lew Gallo	Yeoman Rogers
Errol John	Benjamin Kevu
Michael Pate	Lt. Reginald Evans
Robert Blake	`Bucky' Harris
William O. Douglas	Gerard E. Zinser
Biff Elliot	Edgar E. Mauer
Norman Fell	Edmund Drewitch
Sam Gilman	Raymond Starkey
Clyde Howdy	Leon Drawdy
Buzz Martin	Maurice Kowal
James McCallion	Patrick McMahon
Evan McCord	Harold Marney
Sammy Reese	Andrew Kirksey
Glenn Sipes	William Johnston
John Ward	John Maguire
David Whorf	Raymond Albert
William Lava	Composer
David Buttolph	Composer

Technical Credits

Richard L. Breen

Vincent X. Flaherty

Howard Sheehan

Leslie H. Martinson	Director,Director
Richard L. Breen	Screenwriter
Bryan Foy	Producer
Ralph Webb	Special Effects
Vincent X. Flaherty	Screenwriter
Marvin Willens	Stunts
Howard Sheehan	Screenwriter

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Disc #1 -- PT 109
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Editorial Reviews

PT 109 cannot possibly have as much of an impact on modern audiences as it did when released in 1963, five months before the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Clearly, having a personal connection to the Kennedy era -- whether positive or negative -- will make PT more meaningful. But looking at it objectively, PT is a moderately entertaining war picture, albeit an overlong one. At some two hours and twenty minutes, it tends to drag and gets repetitive; one wishes director Leslie Martinson had cut it down by half an hour or so. The character of Kennedy is also painted a bit too positively and as a bit too much of a take charge hero, although this is something that is often a problem with films of this sort. One of the screenplay's plusses, however, is its concentration on the minor but still deadly activities that were undertaken by thousands of men during World War II. Not everyone was involved with the major assaults; many spent their time risking their lives in places and situations of which most people are totally unaware, and it's a nice change of pace to see this aspect of the war dramatized. Cliff Robertson does well as Kennedy, wisely eschewing a Boston accent, and he gets good support from James Gregory, Ty Hardin and a bunch of ffaces soon to be familiar to TV viewers.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler