Fighting Coast Guard

Fighting Coast Guard is a 1951 American adventure film directed by Joseph Kane and written by Kenneth Gamet. The film stars Brian Donlevy, Forrest Tucker, Ella Raines, John Russell, Richard Jaeckel, William Murphy and Martin Milner. The film was released on June 1, 1951, by Republic Pictures.

Plot
Shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor, shipyard foreman Bill Rourk is feuding with a former football star, Barney Walker, who now works there. He is romantically attracted to Louise Ryan, an admiral's daughter working as a wartime welder, but she is dating Ian McFarland, a naval commander.

McFarland launches an officers training course once America becomes active in World War II. Bill signs up, but his record is tainted by lies told by Walker. He is also caught out after curfew by the military police, while trying to romance Louise.

Walker is fatally injured in battle and confesses his lies about Bill before dying. When a former shipyard colleague, young Tony Jessup, is stranded and endangered, Bill disobeys orders and heroically tries to save Tony, who dies while being rescued. McFarland commends his bravery, then confides to that his sweetheart, Louise, has fallen in love with Bill.

Cast

 * Brian Donlevy as Commander McFarland
 * Forrest Tucker as Bill Rourk
 * Ella Raines as Louise Ryan
 * John Russell as Barney Walker
 * Richard Jaeckel as Tony Jessup
 * William Murphy as Sandy Jessup
 * Martin Milner as Al Prescott
 * Steve Brodie as 'Red' Toon
 * Hugh O'Brian as Tom Peterson
 * Tom Powers as Admiral Ryan
 * Jack Pennick as Coast Guardsman
 * Olin Howland as Desk Clerk
 * Damian O'Flynn as Captain Adair
 * Morris Ankrum as Navy Captain
 * James Flavin as Commander Rogers
 * Roy Roberts as Captain Gibbs
 * Sandra Spence as Muriel
 * Eric Pedersen as Civilian Wrestler
 * Sons of the Pioneers as Musicians

Reception
Bosley Crowther, critic for The New York Times, wrote, "Directed and played in a florid fashion, this story falls flatly in the class of low-grade adventure fiction that makes neither point nor sense."