Sabotage On The Docks!

Pat O'Brien Lays Haymakers On The Axis in Secret Command (1943)

Shipyard strife when enemy agents do sabotage on war-bound vessels. Star Pat O' Brien co-produced this under Torneen Productions banner, the name a merging of family monikers. He and partner Phil Ryan had seen the yarn in a Saturday Evening Post, source of so many programmers like Secret Command. O'Brien was regarded an action man despite acclaim in gentler parts, his move from Warners to RKO signaling a slip toward formula work, if not B's. Secret Command was a loan-out, Torneen and distributing Columbia picking up the tab for Pat's service. Others of the cast were versed in stories told in fist, rather than talk, terms: Chester Morris, Barton MacLane, Wally Ford. O'Brien is undercover to ferret the spies, which comes easy as they're so transparent at scheming. Domestic rentals of $873K must have been  happy surprise for a venture costing less than half that. War themes could be profitably plugged into virtually any genre during that gold rush that came post-Pearl Harbor, Axis baddies getting theirs on screen met with war whoops from delighted youngsters counting down days till they were old enough to enlist. Seen on TCM.