Hellboats - Grüße aus der Hölle

Superficially it's a war drama of the tiny motor torpedo boats which did much unsung work in WW2, but the naval battles merely provide an exciting story in which an even more special romantic drama is wrapped up. The difficult love triangle involves the stuffy, awkward Brit and his unhappy wife, complicated by the arrival of the flamboyant American. The three play their parts beautifully as the tension rises; husband suspects wife, she is agonisingly torn between the two, lover tries to win her over.

Additionally there is an element of professional respect between the officers, which only serves to frustrate their base instincts, as the competent yet uncertain Brit tries to hold onto both a command and a wife he knows he doesn't deserve, and the daring yet sensitive American (a divorcée?) starts to see some semblance of bravery fighting to break out from the Brit's inhibited facade. Very like real life, the path of love does not run true, and the result is thus more realistic than one would expect from a movie. The madcap plans to outwit the enemy mimic perhaps, the deceptions played out in the romance.

This may not be a totally memorable film, but it has some finely understated beauty, which quietly avoids using hackneyed stereotypes, and mawkish efforts at pathos.

You'd have thought with the concept of total war it might have given film producers more scope to make a film that doesn't revolve around this cliché: a British woman is romantically involved with an American serviceman and a Brit and both male characters have to work together on an extremely dangerous mission in which either only one of them or neither of them will come back . Stop me if you've seen this type of movie before . In the film producers defence they can claim that women won't instinctively feel the need to watch war films hence they need an angle , usually a love triangle , to sell a film to the widest possible audience

HELL BOATS continues this cliché and brings many other clichés to the party . Being a film that features the Royal Navy it means they have to be led by an American in order to boost its box office stateside . As can be expected the best looking member of the cast is the American as well as being the bravest member on the suicide mission . Guns when fired by the good guys never run out of ammo while Germans never seem to be able to shoot straight etc etc

In it self there's nothing fundamentally bad about HELL BOATS . The problem lies that it's a victim of film studios churning out one war film after another which all use the same type of premise and plotting and nothing in this movie sets it apart from its peers . It's not helped either that channel 5 broadcast this movie then followed it up with the brilliantly cynical THE BRIDGE AT REMAGEN immediately afterwards

The usual uninspired rehash of 60's war movies like 'The Guns of Navarone' and '633 Squadron' detailing the usual raid on an impregnable fortress with lousy special effects and lots of preliminary talk before the climactic gunplay against the backdrop of the island of Malta.

As usual the hero is American (we're told his mother was English). Although it's set in 1942, a wholly wasted Elizabeth Shepherd wears her hair swept back in an elegant sixties mane as the unhappily married chainsmoking commanding officer's wife who dallies with blond hunk James Franciscus before he sets off to kill a few Nazis. (When I saw Ms Shepherd interviewed on stage five years ago Franciscus was one of only two co-stars of whom she spoke ill, citing his obsession with how he looked in their big love scene.)

This movie clearly didn't have much of a budget, but what it lacks in effects it makes up for in the personal elements of the story.

There are no big stars in the cast, but they all do a good job with their roles, letting us see how the war affects people differently.

The plot is fairly straightforward, to blow up U-Boat pens in Sicily. The pens are storing glider bombs that the Nazis were using to sink allied shipping in the Med.

It's an enjoyable movie, all things considered, and my only complaint is that they couldn't do a better job of mocking up the very distinctive shape of a German E-Boat.

Apart from that, not a bad way to spend 90 minutes!

Passable warlike movie with two brave officers : James Franciscus/Jeffords and Ronald Allen/Ashurst who must lead a mission in a risked attack on Sicily coast , as well as a loving triangle takes place between Jeffords and Alison -Elizabeth Shepherd- , Comdr. Ashurst's wife . This exciting film contains cold war heroics , non stop excitement , and full of tension and intrigue . It starts in English Channel 1942 where a British Convoy is sailing and the German Nazis are deployed in the Mediterranean theater in WWII . An American Lt. Comdr. Jeffords , R.N.V.R. (James Franciscus) , serving under the British Royal Navy in 1942 , is assigned along with Comdr. Ashurst, R.N. (Ronald Allen) to blockade the island of Malta and told to formulate a plan to destroy the Nazi arsenal in Sicily . Their job : hit it head-on , their target hell-one-earth ¡ . As they have to destroy the "glider bombs" there to be used against Allied shipping , as the Nazis have such destructive weapons , the world's first smart bombs . At the end happens the British attack on the heavily defended dry dock at Sicily in German-occupied Italy during the Second World War .

James Franciscus and Ronald Allen play WWII commando leaders who lead a group of soldiers on a suicide mission to destroy a Nazi naval arsenal on the Sicilian coast by means of dead ships turned into a live bombs . As the valiant soldiers sailed it down the throat of the enemy . They carry out their risked assignment while keeping their activities hidden from outsiders and German boats and airplanes . The movie title "hell boat" comes from a term used by the Nazis for their motor torpedo E-boat . At the ending , they arrive in the enemy port , being a strongly defended position and commanded by stiff Nazi officers . The Germans had a number of reinforced submarines , planes and boats , but the target of the actual attack was the dry dock facilities and the bomb-shelters . The yarn utilizes an often-used plot line of the war movie genre which has two brave soldiers in love with the same woman , such as : ¨Day-D the sixth of June¨(1956) by Henry Koster , ¨Kings go forth¨(1958) by Delmer Daves , ¨Mosquito Squadron¨ by Boris Sagal and ¨633 Squadron¨ by Walter Grauman , among others . The movie actually comes to life by decently realized action shots , they were fairly well-staged ; however , it also contains some stock-shot footage . The intriguing premise gets to satisfy completely , though it was reminiscent of other wartime films by that time , as it has breathtaking moments , including an explosive climax with bombs , rockets and ammo exploding in the depot . It mixes a twisted tale with intrigue , noisy action , bombings , explosion and a triangular love story . It results to be a sustained and predictable story , although partially based on true deeds , upon the Operation Ruthless planned by Ian Fleming . Acceptable acting from James Franciscus and Ronald Allen as two commanders who take on a strong battle of wits , as for the dangerous operation as a woman . The film progresses with Lt. Comdr. Jeffords/James Franciscus training the crews of the ships , even though the crew lacks faith in his command abilities and he must overcome tensions with his antagonist Comdr. Ashurst/Ronald Allen . The highlights of the movie are the violent as well as exciting fights of the crews against Nazis , who successfully fend off an final attack at Sicily port . And moving scenes at the final when the ships penetrate the highly armored stronghold , nets in the port , and explosives blow up under the dry dock . It includes stock WWII , especially when show up some airplanes , and dog-fighting . Atmospheric cinematography by Paul Beeson , Walt Disney's usual cameraman , though an alright remastering is necessary . Being filmed on location , it was shot entirely on location in Malta including the 'Sicily' scenes . Good and enjoyable musical score by Frank Cordell .

The film was financed by Oakmont production , a company exclusively dedicated to warfare films (Submarine X1 , Hell boats , Mosquito Squadron , Thousand plane raid , Last escape) which was a production arm of Walter Mirisch Films. The motion picture was compellingly produced by Lewis J. Rachmil and professionally realized by Paul Wendkos who was imported from Hollywood to helm this English Wartime movie , displaying enough spectacular images to keep things interesting . Apparently , director worked on the film's original screen story with writers Anthony Spinner , Donald Ford , Derek Ford , being based on a story written by S.S. Schweitzer , but Wendkos is uncredited for such . Wendkos whose works remain undervalued in USA directed various TV series and some films as ¨Guns of the Magnificent Seven¨ , ¨Cannon for Cordoba¨, ¨Gidget¨, ¨The Flight¨, ¨The legend of Lizzie Borden¨ and ¨Attack on the Iron Coast¨