Hell Below

It's 1918. American submarine USS AL-14 arrives at the Allied naval base at Taranto, Italy. Lieutenant Thomas Knowlton (Robert Montgomery) is the acting captain after a deadly crossing. Lieutenant Commander T. J. Toler (Walter Huston) takes over as their new captain. Ptomaine (Jimmy Durante) and Mac Dougal (Eugene Pallette) are two of the crew.

The war situation is realistic more or less. There is some good submarine action with both miniatures and the real things. As long as the movie stays at sea, this is a very good war movie. I actually like the crew gallivanting at the carnival especially with the air raid. I cannot abide with the romantic melodrama and the over the top results. I'd rather skip all those parts and focus on the war movie.

I say it's an action film rather than a war film because it has a little bit of everything - battle scenes, love scenes, and even some comedy thrown in here and there. It also does something unusual for an MGM film of the era - it doesn't get hammy and it doesn't come up with a contrived happy ending for all involved.

Lt. Thomas Knowlton (Robert Montgomery) and Lt. Brick Walters (Robert Young) are the best of friends and also officers aboard a submarine during WWI. At the beginning of the film they get a new commanding officer - Lt. Cmdr. T.J. Toler (Walter Huston). Toler is a strictly by the book commander and seems to rub Knowlton and Walters the wrong way just a bit, though more from his very formal nature than by any unfairness in his command. Knowlton falls in love with Toler's daughter Joan (Madge Evans). The complicating factor here is that Joan is married - she tells him so upfront. This doesn't seem to bother Knowton too much until he finds out exactly why Joan let her foot slip.

Conflict between Toler and Knowlton builds not only because of Knowlton's romance with Toler's married daughter, but because Knowlton is unfortunately an officer who thinks sentiment has a place on board a submarine in wartime.

Comic relief is provided by long-time MGM contract comedian Jimmy Durante and Eugene Palette as two enlisted men on board the submarine. Sterling Holloway plays what at first seems like comic relief to the comic relief but ends up the centerpiece of a very nightmarish and unforgettable scene that reminds everyone that war truly is hell.

Highly recommended as a good action film and one that plays to the strengths of the entire cast.

The crew of an American submarine discover it's HELL BELOW while fighting in the Adriatic in 1918.

Although nearly forgotten, this excellent war film still delivers solid entertainment, thanks to a literate script, superior performances and highly believable action scenes.

Robert Montgomery & Walter Huston play submarine officers under the stress of war who quickly are at odds with each other, with dramatic and tragic results. Since Montgomery is in love with Huston's daughter, Madge Evans in a well-played role, the situation becomes even more complicated, both on shore and beneath the waves. The viewer is torn between the two strong characters, one of whom is governed by his heart and the other by the rules.

Robert Young makes an effective appearance as Montgomery's buddy. Sterling Holloway creates a brief, vivid, portrait of a doomed seaman.

Eugene Pallette as the torpedo master & Jimmy Durante as the sub's cook make for a very funny comedy team and provide the story with plenty of laughs. Durante's nose comes in for lots of ribbing and his obsession with amateur dentistry leads to some chaotic encounters with British tars.

Movie mavens will recognize Babe London as an obese Italian miss; Maude Eburne as the wife of a British admiral & Paul Porcasi as an Italian admiral - all uncredited.

MGM has given the film absolutely first-class production values, with the undersea sequences especially well produced. Both the claustrophobic compactness of the ship and the inevitable tension associated with submarine warfare are accurately portrayed. Other moments of unexpected drama (Montgomery & Miss Evans caught on top of a stalled Ferris wheel during an air raid) and hilarity (Durante boxing a kangaroo) are expertly threaded into the fabric of the movie to provide a totally satisfying viewing experience.

It Seems that MGM was Determined to give Audiences Their Moneys Worth when They Bought a Depression Era Ticket to this WWI War Movie. If You Look for the Kitchen Sink in this don't be Surprised if You find it.

The Most Impressive Elements of this Mostly Exciting Entertainment are the Battle Sequences that Play Realistic and Pack Quite a Wallop. There are Air Raids that Almost Destroy a City, Submarine Peril, Machine Gun Battles with Bi-Planes, Destroyers being Destroyed, Death, Poison Gas, and some Undersea Suspense that has become the Staple of Every Submarine Movie to Follow.

The Comedy Bits, mostly with Jimmy Durante, are OK but Overdone. But it is the Romantic Subplot that Keeps this from becoming Great Cinema. The Lovers Speeches are Badly Written and Delivered by the Actors even Worse. The Triangle is so Melodramatically put in Place for who knows what Reason, is a Show Stopper and not in a Good Way.

The Cast of Walter Huston, Robert Montgomery, and Robert Young, Among Others, do Their Best Work away from the Awful Acting of the Female (Madge Evans) Central to the Overwritten Plot. The Movie is just too Full of too Many Things to be a Coherent Whole. But the Best Parts are Outstanding and Manage to Compensate for all of the Extra Ingredients.

Note...Some prints (like the one on TCM) are Re-Release versions and have some dialog clipping to satisfy Hays Code requirements that is abrupt and intrusive at times.

The classic story of falling in love with the boss's daughter gets a fresh take with Hell Below. Robert Montgomery, Eugene Pallette, Jimmy Durante, Robert Young, and Sterling Holloway are all sailors under the command of the stern Walter Huston. The first Robert falls in love with Walter's daughter, Madge Evans, but that's not enough of an obstacle; she's also married.

Spliced in between romantic scenes are some pretty intense battle scenes. If you liked Devil and the Deep, this movie will be right up your alley. Both are submarine dramas with a stern captain and a forbidden love. You can tell this movie is pre-Code, because while on leave, Eugene is trying to pick up a girl, who's started to cozy up to Jimmy. He says a suggestive remark about Jimmy's nose that could only be allowed passed the censors when there weren't any censors.

What I like about these movies is that in general, it's really easy to see the "bad guy's" side and even take it. When Walter tries to intervene and save his daughter from hurting her husband, Robert tries to insult him by saying, "I can't see you apologizing for anything, sir." Walter holds up a glass and makes the perfect comeback and toast: "I don't plan on doing things I'll be sorry for. Here's to discipline. There's nothing like it, and nothing without it." Isn't he great?

Hell Below gives a warning with the title. This is gritty, violent, dramatic, and raw. It's not for the faint of heart, but those who do rent it are in for a great forgotten treat.