Action in the North Atlantic (1943)

Directed by: Lloyd Bacon

This review contains an implied Kitty Carnage Warning!

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: A group of sailors who formerly were attacked at sea are assigned to a ship that is to join a convoy taking supplies to England through the U-boat infested waters of the North Atlantic.

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer) Number One: One of the crew of the original cargo ship is named Whitey Lara (Peter Whitney). In the mess hall he is seen feeding a tiny, multi-colored tabby kitten named Peaches some cream under the table.

Action in the North Atlantic - Whitey Peter Whitney feeding tabby kitten Peaches under table

Action in the North Atlantic - close up of tabby kitten Peaches drinking cream from saucer

Action in the North Atlantic - Whitey Peter Whitney feeding tabby kitten Peaches under table animated gif

A young officer enters and accidentally steps on the saucer of cream, spilling it. Whitey is quick to rescue both the saucer and kitten and place them up high.

Action in the North Atlantic - foot upsetting saucer of cream which tabby kitten Peaches is drinking from under table

Action in the North Atlantic - Whitey Peter Whitney with tabby kitten Peaches on top of refrigerator

When the ship is attacked and starts to explode and sink, Whitey desperately returns to the mess looking for Peaches. He finds her cowering in a corner.

Action in the North Atlantic - wet tabby kitten Peaches cowering in corner

Whitey is quick to rescue Peaches and runs for safety, unfortunately closing the door and trapping a fellow sailor.

Action in the North Atlantic - hand rescuing wet tabby kitten Peaches cowering in corner

Action in the North Atlantic - Whitey Peter Whitney rescuing wet tabby kitten Peaches cowering in corner animated gif

In the lifeboat, Whitey checks on Peaches.

Action in the North Atlantic - Whitey Peter Whitney pulling wet tabby kitten Peaches from his coat

Implied Kitty Carnage Warning! Unfortunately moments later the lifeboat is rammed by a German submarine. Whitey surfaces and calls for Peaches, but she is gone.

Action in the North Atlantic - close up of wet tabby kitten Peaches inside coat

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer) Number Two: When much of the same crew is later assigned to a liberty ship, the men hear a meowing beneath Whitey’s bunk. Whitey draws a box from under his bunk and pulls out another adorable kitten (it appears to be a gray kitten with white markings).

Action in the North Atlantic - Whitey Peter Whitney with tabby kitten Thomas on bunk

His fellow crew Abrams (Sam Levene), Pulaski (Dane Clark) and Cherub (Dick Wessel) question his wisdom in taking another cat to sea after what happened to Peaches. Whitey quickly assures the men that this kitten (whom Whitey first calls Chief and refers to as a she but then a he when Whitey explains he’s given the kitten the name Thomas) is ready. “I’ve been educatin’ him. Each day I dunk him in a tub of water, shove him around a bit. And I’m not kiddin’, he can swim like a fish. Besides, he’s got nine lives, hasn’t he?” “How do you know he ain’t used up eight already?” Pulaski asks.

Action in the North Atlantic - Whitey Peter Whitney with tabby kitten Thomas on bunk with Abrams Sam Levene Pulaski Dane Clark and Cherub Dick Wessel

Later when O’Hara (Alan Hale) comes to tell them all hands on deck, Whitey puts Thomas back in the box.

Action in the North Atlantic - Whitey Peter Whitney with tabby kitten Thomas on bunk with O'Hara Alan Hale Abrams Sam Levene Pulaski Dane Clark and Cherub Dick Wessel

As the ship makes its way through the dangerous waters it becomes separated from the convoy and is being stalked by a U-boat. In an attempt to lose the submarine in the dark and fog Lt. Rossi (Humphrey Bogart) orders the ship to cease all sound. Whitey has taken Thomas into the hold and placed him on a blanket with a tin of food, telling the cat to make no sound. Oddly enough the kitten appears to have grown into a Bengal tabby!

Action in the North Atlantic - Whitey Peter Whitney placing tabby kitten Thomas on blanket in hold

Action in the North Atlantic - Whitey Peter Whitney placing tabby kitten Thomas on blanket in hold animated gif

At the height of the tense standoff, the crew can hear the cat meowing. They look down in the hold to see Thomas below.

Action in the North Atlantic - tabby kitten Thomas in hold

Pulaski threatens to tie a knot in the cat’s neck and throw it overboard. Whitey angrily pushes Pulaski away, causing him to fall against a chain which slips and crashes into the water, potentially alerting the U-boat to their location. The cat is not seen again after this.

Action in the North Atlantic - tabby kitten Thomas meowing in hold

While Whitey’s devotion to cats might be appreciated in today’s world, a reviewer for the Nebraska State Journal was not so sympathetic. They wrote “Most overdone part of the film is Peter Whitney’s fanatic devotion to a ship’s cat. One instance of such asininity would suffice for the average film, but not this time – Whitey falls in love with two cats and risks his fat neck to save each one of them. If U.S. merchant seamen are such blinking idiots, we prefer not to know about it.”