George Payne and Jack Wrangler pair up as a couple of gobs in NAVY BLUE, a tongue-in-cheek porn film by the Amero Bros.
In-jokes begin at the outset, as they both earn a 24-hour pass after finding missing strawberries to avert a mutiny on the S.S. Caine, with apologies to Humphrey Bogart.
Gimmick, handled in voice-over, is that both guys are closet queers, putting up a false front to fool their best buddy. That telegraphs a final reel clinch when both come clean, but a diverting hour of antics in Manhattan kills time effectively.
Jack is named Jack Whiting, an homage to his real-life wife-to-be Margaret Whiting. He fantasizes getting Payne all wrapped up as a Christmas present, in an early softcore scene.
Payne humps a sidewalk Santa, who under his costume is a thin stud, played by mustachioed Brian Ray. Jack responds to a flyer (handed out in front of the George M. Cohan statue on Times Square) to take a helicopter ride with The Flying Co*ksuckers. This results in a photogenic aerial blow job.
Guest star Erica Havens appears as a prostie who services Payne in a hot heterosexual scene, not the usual content for gay porn at all. Jack sees this happen and flees but returns for the inevitable hook-up with Payne, scored to Ravel's "Bolero" -not exactly the novelty pre-Blake Edwards "10" I once assumed -it's been used in countless porn films as romantic accompaniment.
Bittersweet ending has Jack staring longingly after George, when he receives transfer papers (dated 5/5/79) from the S.S. Caine to the S.S. Rosebud stationed at New London, Connecticut, separating him from his loving shipmate.
This is well-crafted low-budget porn, with enough sex to satisfy the fans, then and (perhaps) now. Cinematography is by one of Gotham's finest, Larry Revene, who also lensed Wrangler in a straight assignment in Chuck Vincent's JACK + JILL.
