Eyes of the Navy

1940 0h 20m EN

👍

7.4

SOLID

⭐

5.7

IMDB

★7.4TMDB · 10★5.7IMDB · 219

Documentary

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Produced by MGM in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, this short film follows U.S. naval aviators through their basic training in Florida and advanced training in California.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Cast

Frank Whitbeck
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Charles Middleton
Farmer (uncredited)
Warren McCollum
Farmer's Son John Smith (uncredited)
Russell Wade
Young Man in Automobile (uncredited)
James Conaty
Officer at Briefing

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Walt Disney
Writers: Herman Hoffman
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 20-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

86 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Roy Brickner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Frank Whitbeck and Charles Middleton and Warren McCollum carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0032449 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

Only 10 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Walt Disney directs. Roy Brickner cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 20-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
286 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Editor Roy Brickner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Frank Whitbeck and Charles Middleton and Warren McCollum carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt0032449 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Only 10 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
8Classified under 11 themes, including "u.s. navy", "aviation", "aviator", "us military".

The technical file

Editing: Roy Brickner
Runtime: 20 min · 0h 20m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Eyes of the Navy (1940)
IMDB rating: 5.7/10 · 219 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 1 nomination total

Also by

Walt Disney

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-07-27
★ 6/10
With the war already firmly established in Europe (to which this film doesn’t really refer), this is one of the earliest examples I’ve seen of the American nation starting to realise that it, too, might be facing a threat and so it had better start preparing. The purpose of this rather dry feature is to attract flyers. A young farmer is watching the planes overhead with his dad (Charles Middleton at his less merciless!) when he decides that he has the wits to pass the exams and take to the skies. The training regime is set out before us - a combination of theory, exams, air hours and pretty claustrophobic looking simulators. Once they secure their wings, they must learn more on the job with air-to-air combat practice and most important, that of landing on a tossing and turning aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean. The narration is a bit flatly descriptive and there is something of the factory production line to the presentation. I always thought these worked better if we had a character to focus on - an actor or a real kid, and we have neither here. Still, it was bound to strike a chord with many a young American man with little to hope for on the ground, and is perfectly watchable as a recruitment film. Did Walt Disney direct it? The version I saw looked like it had had it’s “directed by” slide at the start removed!

Production companies