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Greyhound question for Navy folks - no real spoilers
Posted on 8/9/20 at 9:18 pm
Posted on 8/9/20 at 9:18 pm
Now I'm just an ignorant dumbass with a few family members in the service, but Tom Hanks is Sixty-f-ing-Four... Let's say 63 when Greyhound was shot.
I know it's WWII and stuff was very different then, especially in wartime, but how does a Navy man at that age get his first command?
If he was a lifer, which It kind of seemed like, wouldn't he either be retired or at least a very long-tenured Captain by that point, not a Commander, and by that time, if he hadn't gotten a ship command yet, he's never getting one?
Just a few observations... Like when A 50 year old Bruce Willis was a Lt. in Tears of the Sun.
I know it's WWII and stuff was very different then, especially in wartime, but how does a Navy man at that age get his first command?
If he was a lifer, which It kind of seemed like, wouldn't he either be retired or at least a very long-tenured Captain by that point, not a Commander, and by that time, if he hadn't gotten a ship command yet, he's never getting one?
Just a few observations... Like when A 50 year old Bruce Willis was a Lt. in Tears of the Sun.
This post was edited on 8/9/20 at 9:19 pm
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Posted on 8/9/20 at 9:42 pm to Jack Ruby
quote:
t Tom Hanks is Sixty-f-ing-Four... Let's say 63 when Greyhound was shot.
I know it's WWII and stuff was very different then, especially in wartime, but how does a Navy man at that age get his first command?
Hollywood putting an actor they think fit the roll nothing more. At 63 he would be a Captain on his last look at Admiral or an Admiral. He would have had several commands at that age. Even in WWII that would be highly unlikely. He probably would have been forced retired by 60. Even joining in his 30's that's a 30 year career and unlikely except for the most senior officers and enlisted.
Posted on 8/10/20 at 10:32 am to Jack Ruby
Sixty-six year old Robert Mitchum played a destroyer captain in Winds of War.
Posted on 8/10/20 at 10:48 am to Navtiger1
quote:
Hollywood putting an actor they think fit the roll nothing more. At 63 he would be a Captain on his last look at Admiral or an Admiral.
Tom Hanks wrote and produced the movie. For himself. Hollywood decided nothing.
Tom Hanks was clearly playing younger than his real-life age. The Elizabeth Shue scene in the intro establishes that he's more middle aged. But of course, if he hasn't included that useless scene, we wouldn't have found out this was his first command, and the questions in this thread wouldn't have come up. Cut that scene and we assume he's a weathered vet who might be close to retirement but has stayed on because of the strong need for experienced captains.
Know nothing about the navy. Only answering from the perspective of storytelling.
Posted on 8/10/20 at 11:12 am to Jack Ruby
It's a stretch, but didn't the Navy pretty much recall anybody and everybody that was on the inactive reserve list after Pearl Harbor?
Posted on 8/10/20 at 11:48 am to Jack Ruby
Wait until you see a 60-year old fighter pilot in Top Gun 2, in a movie where the age of the character is anchored in a 35 year old movie.
Posted on 8/10/20 at 12:02 pm to Jack Ruby
At 63 he would at least be a Capt. But this was a passion project for Hanks so he was going to star in no matter how unrealistic the age thing was. In real life the Commander would be in his mid 40s probably.
Posted on 8/10/20 at 12:04 pm to AA77
And Elizabeth Shue wouldn't even commit to marriage
Posted on 8/10/20 at 12:59 pm to Jack Ruby
Rank was a lot harder to get back in those days. The army post ww1 was very small. I'm not saying the movie is realistic, but for instance. George S Patton entered the Army in 1909 as a second lieutenant of Cavalry. He wasn't promoted to colonel until 1938. Almost 30 years later, and I expect that was because of WW2 looming on the horizon. He was a Major from 1920 until 1934.
This post was edited on 8/10/20 at 1:10 pm
Posted on 8/10/20 at 1:11 pm to Jack Ruby
This has nothing to do with his age, but I love the fact that he captained a Fletcher class destroyer, same as the USS Kidd, and in the movie they even gave a shout out to the Kidd. It was fun watching a class of ship that I am so familiar with (spent the night on the Kidd many times as a Scout) wreck shop on the big screen. Those 5 inch guns were not to be fricked with. Most WW2 naval historians believe that the US' 5 inch gun was the best medium power gun in the war.
Posted on 8/10/20 at 1:15 pm to Jack Ruby
pretty sure the captain in the book it was based on is in his early 40s.
Posted on 8/10/20 at 2:35 pm to Jack Ruby
The character is probably in his early 40's. Not out of the question for a modern 63 yr old actor to play a 1940's era 40-something (early adulthood straight through the great depression, life long smoker, etc....).
Posted on 8/10/20 at 3:02 pm to nicholastiger
quote:
And Elizabeth Shue wouldn't even commit to marriage
She was so bad in that scene. Cringeworthy...
Posted on 8/10/20 at 5:32 pm to Jack Ruby
Duty on dd or de or convoy duty saw a lot of over the hill dudes near retirement or retired brought back for duty in the north Atlantic because of a shortage of seasoned seamen. Especially early on
This post was edited on 8/10/20 at 5:32 pm
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