Toward the end of Republic Pictures existence with the demise of the B western and the departure of their number one asset John Wayne, the studio did produce some quality if low budget films. The Eternal Sea is one such film and the studio made good use of naval combat footage from World War II and Korea to integrate them into the story.
Which is the true story of Admiral John Hoskins who lost a leg during the battle of Leyte Gulf, but fought to stay on in the Navy on active duty and doing more than desk duty. As the story unfolds Hoskins fought to have our aircraft carriers adapted to jet airplanes, a difficult task indeed because naval aviation itself was only slightly over 25 years old and just getting settled into propeller planes.
Sterling Hayden plays the courageous and far seeing admiral Hawkins and Alexis Smith his supportive wife who would dearly like to see her man take an honorable retirement. Alexis Smith always had trouble getting cast because she was a tall girl, a first baseman as Bing Crosby said in Here Comes The Groom. No worries here because Sterling Hayden was 6'5" to Alexis's 5'9".
Dean Jagger does a nice job in the role of Hayden's superior and mentor. The Eternal Sea is a real inspirational story and was worthy of a bigger studio and budget than Republic Pictures and the money allocated.
