Hellcats of the Navy (1957)

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This movie has a great introduction by Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz who directly addresses the audience in this movie's prologue. Not often seen speaking in public, Navy buffs will enjoy seeing the Admiral introduce this film. He talks for about two minutes, explaining how he approved the orders for this real life event in World War II. As Commander of the American Fleet in the Pacific region, Nimitz authorized the plan to break the supply chain between the Asian mainland and Japan. The Hellcat submarines were critical to the US Navy achieving this strategy. Nimitz said of this mission: "This is the story of one of the most daring operations in the history of Navy warfare!" According to the 'Hollywood Reporter' of December 1956, the Chester W. Nimitz footage for this movie was filmed in Berkeley, California in late December 1956 and early January 1957. In an uncredited part, Selmer Jackson portrays Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz in the rest of this movie outside of the introduction.
The 'Los Angeles Times' in June 1956 reported that Edmund H. North worked on this movie's screenplay but as he is not billed as being a writer in the credits for this picture it is not known the extent to which his work may have been included in the final shooting script.
The name Hellcats of this movie's title refers to the US Navy vessels which took part in Operation Barney and traveled through the mine-ridden waters that lead to the Sea of Japan. The Hellcats term is derived from the US Navy's slang word for mines belonging to the Imperial Japanese Navy: Hell Pots.
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