"" When he accidentally tampered with the mechanism, some of the spiders fell free to the ground and on top of him.The plot of the film is about the strident efforts of a neurotic child to be liberated from repressive, matriarchal domination.It has been regarded as one of the finest, most-acclaimed combat films ever produced regarding he Vietnam War.He sailed from San Francisco and reported for duty at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.He was shocked when assigned to the dilapidated and battered WW II destroyer/minesweeper heD.M.S.Caine.Onboard, the naive and bright-eyed Keith met theCaine""scommunications officer Lieutenant Thomas Keefer (Fred MacMurray) - a sarcastic and aspiring novel-writer, and the ship""s steadfast and stalwart executive officer - a sober career officer and second-in-command Lieutenant Steve Maryk (Van Johnson).