If You Met a Movie Star, Would You Take a Photo or Ask for an Autograph?

These photos were taken by an amateur photographer during the filming of They Were Expendable (1945), truly candid shots, not the posed "candids" taken by the studios.  Bob in real life ... wearing a coat and tie, signing autographs and hanging out with navy brass.  I said real life, definitely not a normal life.  By the way, that's damage to the photo, not Bob wearing messy pants! 

There were several filming locations for the movie.  I'm guessing these were taken in Miami, but it could have been Key Biscayne.  This location was used at the beginning of the movie.  It is the scene wherein the boats return to the base as part of a review by the big brass, and then Brick and Rusty walk with the brass while the crew are lined up along the road between the wharf and the base housing.  (The road looks more like a sidewalk from the perspective of the picture below.) 

I have enlarged part of the above photo to get a good look at Bob.  Notice that the sailor is not offering him assistance in getting into the boat.  By this time, Bob has had a bit of experience with boats.  Expendable is definitely one of my favorite movies, not just because Bob is in it (although that doesn't hurt), but it's a great movie with Bob giving one of his best performances.