Any idea what this exchange from They Were Expendable (1945) means?
Lt. John Brickley: Oh, Snuffy… how about getting some torpedoes from you?
Submarine commander: For those cracker boxes of yours? No telling when we’ll see a mother ship again.
Lt. John Brickley: How long have you been on patrol?
Submarine commander: Since the day the war started.
Lt. ‘Rusty’ Ryan: What did you get?
Submarine commander: Two small freighters. We had hard luck.
Lt. John Brickley: Well, while you’ve been cruising around the Pacific, those ‘cracker boxes’ have sunk two converted cruisers, an auxiliary aircraft carrier, a 10,000-ton tanker, a large freighter, a flock of barges and numerous sons of Nippon!
Lt. ‘Rusty’ Ryan: And also in our brief career, we’ve carried more messages than Western Union!
Submarine commander: Well, if…
Lt. John Brickley: **Snuffy… who played the leading lady in “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” in 1932 at the Academy?
Lt. ‘Rusty’ Ryan: And does your crew know about it? **
Submarine commander: [after a long pause] How many do you want?
Lt. John Brickley: You’ve got sixteen?
Lt. ‘Rusty’ Ryan: We’ll take eight.
Lt. John Brickley: And we’ll try and put 'em where they belong.
Submarine commander: Thanks.
Haven’t seen the movie, but it sounds like Lt. Brickley is blackmailing Snuffy (presumably the submarine commander) with the knowledge that he played Tess – a female character – in a production of Tess of the D’Urbervilles back at the Naval Acadamy. I gather that the officer having been in drag would be an embarrassing tidbit to reveal, especially to a crew of tough guys.
(I could be wrong and maybe this is special wartime code/lingo.)
That makes perfect sense. thank you!