Hell Below

As I type these comments I'm watching a DVD of this movie that I just got from a mail-order dealer, and I'm finding that it holds up extremely well, with strong characterizations, believable situations, and well-staged action scenes.

It's been a good 45 years, maybe 50, since I saw HELL BELOW, but the one scene that made an extremely deep impression on me was Sterling Holloway's death scene, which several other commenters have mentioned here. I haven't gotten to that scene yet on this viewing, but I can vouch for what other comments have said: once you see Sterling Holloway's death scene in this movie, you will absolutely never, ever forget it. Judging from how strong the film so far is holding up, I fully expect that scene to live up to the memory of it -- as unquestionably one of the greatest death scenes in movie history. The movie's worth seeing for that moment alone, but even without it, it would be a first-rate early submarine drama.

Everyone jumps to the conclusion that since this is a World War I picture the enemy the Americans are fighting must be the Germans. However, since the setting of this movie is the Adriatic, the enemy is actually the Austrians (or to be more exact, the Austro-Hungarians). You can just make out the Austrian Naval Flag on the sterns of the enemy ships in several scenes. The climactic battle is an attack on Durazzo (Durres in Albania) which was a major Austro-Hungarian naval base in WWI and the site of two battles in that war, the second battle in 1918 being a major allied victory which undoubtedly served as the historical basis for the battle shown in this movie. Some may be thrown by the "Iron Cross" type markings on the attacking enemy airplanes, but these were in fact the markings used on WWI Austrian aircraft. I only gave this movie a 5 because frankly I found the part about the romance between Montgomery and Evans poorly written and overly melodramatic. But I was impressed by Walter Huston's performance, which gave dimension to a character who could have been played as only a martinet. The real standout of this film were the battle scenes. As some have noted, actual WW I footage was woven into some scene, though others were obviously done using models. The battle scenes were uniformly quite grim and therefore realistic, equal or better to similar scenes in WW II films. Others have mentioned the memorable scene with Sterling Holloway (I was afraid it would give me nightmares) but I also was struck by the cries for help from sailors diving into the sea in a panic from torpedoed and sinking ships. In this movie, the combatants were neither extraordinary heroes nor snide villains, but just ordinary men doing their jobs in a nasty, nasty business.

Good footage of World War I-era ships and planes supplement this excellent war drama set in the Adriatic. Walter Huston is excellent as the commanding officer who knows his place and his place has no room for personal feelings. The safety of the ship and the mission must always come first. Robert Montgomery is the Lieutenant who has not yet mastered the role that a leader must play in combat. He makes bad decisions, endangering the submarine and its crew but finally becomes a "real man" after he is court martialed and dismissed from the Navy. Robert Young plays a lieutenant junior grade and Jimmy Durante as a cook. Paralleling the war drama is an equally important wartime love triangle between Montgomery and Madge Evans who plays Huston's daughter and the wife of a tragically injured aviator. Recommended.

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.

Robert Montgomery and Robert Young are outstanding as a duo of young submarine officers stationed in Italy during World War I. The dialog is highly entertaining, and Jimmy Durante is hilarious as the ship's cook, "Ptomaine". Walter Huston's character is inspiring as the captain of the submarine, a stellar example of an officer and a gentleman. One of the most interesting aspects of this movie was the level of technology displayed in the battle scenes. I was surprised at how similar the technology of World War I was to the technology displayed 25 years later in World War II. Basic human nature was portrayed as very similar to modern times, and far from the conservativism I thought existed in the so-called "innocent" past. All in all I felt that the cast, characters, action scenes, and view of history depicted in this movie were first-rate.