This goes back and forth from being stale and stiff to enjoyable and interesting. I'd say that it's about an even split. It is at all times saccharine and so dripping with sentiment that its framing device is straight out of Goodbye, Mr Chips.

This is a short slice of a larger tail, told around the events Guadalcanal. James Cagney as the sometimes flawed Adm. Halsey. A nice touch in this is the introduction of the fighting men with follow-up information, telling you whether they survived the war, or even the next few hours.