Eight - Robert Montgomery, C. S. Forester, and Victory

Summary

Late in 1950, NBC was making its final decision about Salomon's “Navy-TV” proposal. NBC's management believed the Navy program would benefit from a recurring central-figure persona, as with Eisenhower and Crusade in Europe—even if Eisenhower himself hadn't done Crusade's narrating. In response, Salomon and Weaver selected as Victory's narrator neither a statesman nor a career military man, but a high-profile actor-director from NBC's roster: Robert Montgomery. Montgomery, in Salomon's mind, was as opportune and appropriate a choice as was Richard Rodgers for the music.

Montgomery (1904–81) would be yet another Navy veteran brought into NBC's documentary series. Following a few years on the New York stage in the 1920s he had ascended to Hollywood stardom by the late 1930s. In 1940, he briefly took a Red Cross position as ambulance driver around Beauvais as the Germans advanced on Paris, which preceded an April 1941 Naval Reserve commission. At first an American observer with the Royal Navy in the North Atlantic, he then spent much of 1942–43 in the South Pacific aboard Navy cruisers and destroyers. Montgomery eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and was aboard the destroyer USS Barton on D-Day.

His postwar activities broadened to include film directing and radio. A pivotal moment for Montgomery and the entertainment industry was his 1949 move to NBC, described by Billboard as “the first big-scale breaking down of major Hollywood film studios’ reluctance to collaborate with television.” The network had installed him as an executive producer, overseeing this drama series and serving as consultant to the television division. The decision to offer him Victory's narration role rested with Pat Weaver, as Salomon advised Sarnoff in early 1951:

I think it would be well if you spoke to Mr. Weaver regarding Robert Mont-gomery's services… . Should we use a man of Montgomery's caliber we ought to know well in advance as this will influence the format and treat-ment. Further, we should capitalize on his [wartime Navy] experience and knowledge… . I think Montgomery is the ideal choice for principal nar-ration, in addition to which his name would be of great value from a sales point of view.

However Sarnoff might have then responded to Weaver, a light-toned query to the actor-director quickly followed: “Bob Montgomery, Sir: We want you to narrate the official history of the U.S. Navy in World War II.