Hell and High Water

Although she didn't make but three major Hollywood motion pictures, Bella Darvi had magnificent screen magnetism that made a man's pulse beat red hot. In this campy picture (her first film), she does a fine job in her first effort as a film actress, displaying good technique cinematically. She was, as they say, a natural.

The French accent, the smooth skin, the sharp facial bone structure, those arched eyebrows, that smoldering stare, and that oh-so-sexy slightly cross-eyed look just made a guy want and wonder. Her voice was strong and yet soft at the right moments. There was something about her that made a man want scoop her up into his arms and say, "Hey, baby, it's gonna be okay!"

It's too bad that she was perhaps a victim of her own sexuality as it is rumored that Mrs. Darryl Zanuck discovered there might have been some hanky-panky with Mr. 20th Century Fox.

Richard Widmark is fittingly commanding and cantankerous as the sub skipper, and Cameron Mitchell does what he did so well in playing the comic relief sidekick sonar guy.

The script and it's dialog is something straight out of a comic book, but you've got to love it. It's got all of the marbles in one bag: submarines, underwater battles complete with ramming full speed ahead, a silent running sweatout, crash dives, commando shore raids, evil Commies, a spy guy named Chin Lee, a B-29 bomber, and just to put the cherry on the Boston cream pie, the obligatory nuclear explosion.

Check Bella Darvi out opposite Kirk Douglas in "The Racers". There again, the lady is smokin' hot!

So, if you want a good time, pop some corn, pull up a chair, and watch "Hell and High Water"!!!

When yet another atomic scientist goes missing behind the Iron Curtain, a private submarine expedition is put together to trail a freighter suspected of being able to lead the crew to what is believed to be the place where the Chinese are conducting nuclear research in preparation for a war. Former submarine commander Jones is contracted to lead the exhibition with a ragtag crew and a submarine in need of maintenance time that is not available to him. With Professor Montel technically in charge with his (female) assistant Professor Gerard by his side, the boat sets out on the mission of observation but with the ever present threat of danger in the hostile waters.

A bit of a romp this one as it revels more in the gaudy sweep of the telling rather than the tension from narrative detail. The plot doesn't really matter so much as it is a simple device for the voyage. Along the way we get personal conflicts, crew tensions and underwater stand-offs as well as some fire-fights. At no point was I hooked but it is rather entertaining in the way that school-boy adventure stories are – full of tough men, sacrifice and action. In this regard it suits the people making it and Fuller directs with simple but bright colours – easy to understand and engage with even if they are too simple to be real. So it is with the characters and plot but it still works. The romantic side of the story is a flop and I didn't see why a female character couldn't just be a character and had to be a love interest (well, obviously I understand why this decision is made, but I didn't see the value of it in the story).

The headlining of Richard Widmark is rarely a bad thing and he fits this tough action drama with his stern delivery and commanding presence. There is no doubting that Darvi is sexy and a good presence when it comes to being coy and flirtatious however when more is asked of her she is found wanting as she lacks the range. The rest of the cast fit in well around them – nobody brilliant of course but everyone able to be at the level required by the material.

Not that intelligent or complex a film but a solid enough wartime action film which will do the job if that's all you're looking for.

Yeah, it telegraphs all of the big "reveals", it has some overly dramatic acting, the major plot points are easy to see coming, the "red shirts" are obvious, the scenes are kinda cheesy, the characters are all one-dimensional, the plot motivators are simple ("he needs fresh air" or "we didn't have time to test the torpedo tubes") but dang I loved it! It was almost like a bond movie without the gadgets, the unbelievable stunts, or the bad double entendres. It is an instant classic in my book; it is just on the edge of something that you can take seriously. If you go in not expecting much and you realize that this was made many years ago before all of the methods used in it became trite due to overuse, then you will walk away with a smile. There are many worse submarine movies, some of which consist of "I'm in charge!"..."No I'm in charge", while this one has some strategy, some minor humor, some action, and some larger-than-life threats, and some explosions.. all in all worth the rental.

Richard Widmark {Capt. Adam Jones} stars in this Cold War thriller as the leader of a submarine expedition to the frozen depths of Alaska. His mission is to thwart the communist Chinese who are intent on kick starting World War 3.

Hell and High Water is one of the multitude of pictures that serve only as studio efforts made for made's sake. Take your leading actor, surround them with jobbing actors, and mold a picture together as best as you can. Sometimes a film can break free of its B and C movie roots to truly surprise, but others flounder to only serve as time fillers on terrestrial television. This film falls some where in between the two, not particularly bad exactly, but outside of a couple of tight sequences, not necessarily good either.

It was actually in premise, building up to be a promising film. Then we see a shapely pair of legs coming down the submarine stairs and we just know that this film will lose its edge, and sadly, where it's all going to end up. The insistence of many writers and film makers to shoe horn in a love interest in the grittiest of places rarely works, and here it most assuredly doesn't either. Not that Bella Darvi {owner of those shapely legs} is poor or is at fault for the film being average, it just takes the film in a direction that it didn't need to go. Tension is built up, with one face off submarine sequence being particularly hold your breath inducing, but the preposterous romantic angle on a submarine death mission is badly misplaced.

Tidy but unmemorable, and cribbing from Crash Dive released eleven years earlier, it's probably one for Widmark purists only. 5/10

This exciting film contains cold war heroics , non stop excitement , and full of tension and intrigue . Pure entertainment from Fuller , it is set during the Cold War , a privately-financed scientist Prof. Montel (Victor Francen , though Charles Boyer was originally cast for this role) , his assistant (Bella Darvi) and colleagues hire an ex-Navy officer (Richard Widmark) to conduct an Alaskan submarine (Sub used was WW2 ex Japanese sub) expedition (including familiar faces , as sailors appear the followings : Cameron Mitchell , David Wayne and Gene Evans who helped Bella Darvi with her dialogue) in order to prevent a Red Chinese anti-American battle , as well as a deviously plotted plan that could trigger WW3 . As they fit a Japanese submarine to lead them to Arctic Circle . Along the way , they are pursued by a Chinese submarine , stalking each other , and intent on ramming the other .

The intriguing premise gets to satisfy completely , as it has breathtaking moments , including an explosive climax and as when two submarines stalk each other through the depths . It mixes a twisted tale with intrigue and schoolboy science-fiction about a scheme that may lead to World War III . This sometimes little objective film lacks a sense of definitive character undermining its important message . This picture is more a submarine movie than a Warlike or Cold war film . The scene from the attack on the first island was taken from the movie ¨Crash Dive¨ (1943) , particularly the ammo exploding in the depot and the burning fuel cascading over the short cliff into the sea . Nice acting by Richard Widmark as an ex-Navy officer assigned to a dangerous mission : to find a secret Chinese atomic island base . Victor Francen plays well the obstinate scientific who designs the risked operation to prevent a Communist plot . And the gorgeous Bella Darvi , this marked the feature film debut of Darryl F. Zanuck's muse Bella Darvi, whose stage surname was a combination of the first names of Zanuck and his wife Virginia . Darvi became a 50s symbol for one of the many movie "Cinderellas" playing ¨Sinuhe the Egyptian¨ , ¨The racers¨ and whose bright and beautiful Hollywood fairy tale would come crashing down, ending in bitterness and tragedy . Bella finally committed suicide in 1971 after turning on the gas stove in her apartment, she was only 42.

The movie displays a colorful cinematography in CinemaScope by Joseph MacDonald . This was Twentieth Century-Fox's fifth CinemaScope production . Thrilling and stirring musical score by the prolific Alfred Newman . In this picture Samuel Fuller proved his talent of vision and intelligence . Fuller being especially known as filmmaker of such exploitation films as ¨Shock corridor¨ and ¨The naked kiss¨ . Fuller made various Western as ¨I shot Jesse James(49)¨, ¨The baron of Arizona (50)¨, ¨Run of the arrow¨ (56) , ¨Forty guns(58)¨, and ¨The meanest men in the West (76)¨ , but his most fluid and strongest work lies in his war films as ¨Steel helmet(51)¨ , ¨Fixed bayonets(52)¨, ¨Hell and high water (55)¨, ¨China gate (57)¨ , ¨Merrill's Marauders (62)¨ and ¨The Big Red One (80)¨. Being his best films : ¨Pick up on South Street¨(53) , ¨Underworld Usa¨(60) and ¨White Dog¨(82) . Rating : Better than average . Worthwhile watching .