AllMovie

Tom Brown and Richard Cromwell, who'd previously played military-academy classmates in Tom Brown of Culver (1932), were reunited in Paramount's Annapolis Farewell. Brown plays Click Haley, a wise-guy naval cadet who learns the hard way to tow the line and honor the traditions of the academy. Cromwell is cast as Click's more serious roommate Boyce Avery, and it perhaps goes without saying that the two heroes have a falling out over the affections of heroine Madeline Deming (Rosalind Keith). The film's most compelling character is Manila Bay veteran Commander Fitzhugh (Guy Standing), who spends much of his time basking in past glories. In a climactic scene that will either move the viewer to uncontrolled laughter or copious tears, Commander Fitzhugh, distressed that his former ship will be used for target practice, stoically dons his old uniform and gallantly goes down with the doomed vessel!