High Barbaree

Year: 1947

Runtime: 91 mins

Language: English

Director: Jack Conway

WarActionDrama

Six Great Stars! A Thousand Unforgettable Moments! After his plane is downed in the South Pacific, a Navy flier recounts his life to a co-pilot while awaiting rescue.

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High Barbaree (1947) – Full Plot Summary & Ending Explained

Read the complete plot breakdown of High Barbaree (1947), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.

In Hawaii, during World War II, U.S. Navy pilot Alec Brooke (Van Johnson) commands the flying boat High Barbaree. During a bombing mission against a Japanese submarine, his PBY Catalina is shot down, and only two crew survive, adrift far from Allied territory. As the damaged airframe drifts, the two survivors hear the taunting voice of Tokyo Rose, stirring memories of their past. Alec shares these recollections with fellow survivor, Lt. Joe Moore (Cameron Mitchell). His memories focus on his boyhood sweetheart in a small Iowa town, Nancy Fraser (June Allyson), who is now a Navy nurse serving on a Pacific-bound ship commanded by his uncle, Capt. Thad Vail (Thomas Mitchell).

They lash parachutes to the hull to fashion makeshift sails and convert the wreck into a small craft, heading for a fabled island called High Barbaree that his uncle once claimed to have seen. With dwindling water and the toll of exposure, Alec’s memories broaden from romance to the choices shaping his life. He recalls a dream of becoming a doctor like his father, Dr. William G. Brooke (Henry Hull); after two years of medical training, he pivots to aviation and rises to vice-president of Case Aviation, even winning the hand of the boss’s daughter, Diana Case (Marilyn Maxwell).

When Nancy visits again, a tornado devastates the town and the company’s operations; with his father losing an arm, Alec takes on emergency medical duties for the wounded in the town auditorium. Nancy, unsettled by his engagement to another and by his career turn, leaves as soon as the airport reopens, and he cannot reveal that he has reconsidered both decisions. The war pushes Alec deeper into the role of a PBY pilot harassing Japanese fleets, where he proves exceptionally capable until his last mission. After Joe dies and Alec slips into a coma, High Barbaree seems more dream than reality until rescue arrives when his uncle steers toward the location he had once charted, bringing them aboard. In the end, Nancy and the recovering Alec are reunited.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 11:04

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The narrative follows two lovers whose relationship is interrupted by war. The story explores their individual struggles during the separation, often highlighting themes of duty, sacrifice, and fidelity. The central conflict is the external force of war against their internal hope, building anticipation for their eventual, hard-won reunion which provides the emotional payoff.

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These films are united by their core theme of love persevering through the trials of war. They share a fundamentally hopeful tone, even when dealing with loss and sadness, and a moderate emotional weight that balances wartime drama with heartfelt romance. The pacing often varies between the action of war and the quieter moments of longing and memory.

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