Like his colleague and friend John Ford, Budd Boetticher took an active part in shooting combat actions by the United States Navy and especially by the U.S. Marine Corps. In 1945, he made several documentary propaganda films, including The Fleet That Came To Stay, which tells of “Kamikaze” actions against U.S. troops in the South Pacific. Being a bullfighter himself, Boetticher was perhaps a bit too impressed by the fatalism of kamikaze pilots, which led to internal censorship problems for the film within the Navy. The film was distributed commercially in 1946. It was also distributed to allied countries after WW II, thus explaining how this print arrived at the Jugoslovenska kinoteka. The film, which withstands comparison with Boetticher’s best work, also ranks highly among propaganda documentary production of the period.

Dinko Tucakovic