Hommes sans femmes

Apparently, the full sound English language version of this movie no longer exists...but a hybrid version was just posted on The Criterion Channel..and this is the one I just saw. When I say hybrid, this is a film where music, some singing and sound effects were added...but the rest is essentially a silent film. This was the case with the supposed first full-length sound movie, "The Jazz Singer"...though it only had bits and pieces of sound within anotherwise silent film. It is odd to see a hybrid from 1930, as hybrid films mostly came out in 1927-29. By 1930 nearly all American productions had full sound. Perhaps Fox Studio held this one from release...and that would explain why Ford's first all-sound film actually came out a year before "Men Without Women".

There is a plot about a guy assuming a new identity following an accident in the navy. Well, this really isn't very important to the film. What is important is that the submarine he is on ends up colliding with another ship and sinking...and NOT in a normal or good way! What follows is a tense, harrowing and claustophobia-inducing portion of the film....exceptionally realistic and well made. In fact, I think this hybrid film is MUCH better than his earlier all sound movie, "The Black Watch". The best parts of the film are the direction and sets...they really are top notch.

By the way, if you do watch, keep a sharp eye out for John Wayne in a tiny role as a radio operator on the surface. Blink and you just might miss it!

....don't do it! Although, I do get it was done in ignorance on this occasion. Kenneth MacKenna (Burke) did it whilst captaining a submarine and this led to his submarine's destruction with all life on board lost at sea. Apart from his. He stood trial and was sentenced to death for his misdemeanor. His friend and prosecuting judge Charles Gerrard (Weymouth) put the blame on MacKenna as opposed to the woman (?) and this film begins with both MacKenna and Gerrard turning up in Shanghai. MacKenna is supposed to be dead and Gerrard thinks he has seen a ghost. However, before Gerrard can confirm his sighting, MacKenna sets sail on the China Sea on his next mission. However, things don't go well and the submarine sinks. Gerrard turns up in charge of the rescue mission...

Don't be fooled by the title as there are plenty of women in this film, especially in the beginning sections of shore leave in Shanghai. They sing, dance and entertain the sailors for a price. The majority of the film takes place on the submarine after it sinks and the cast have to battle with mental strength, poisonous fumes, a slight case of water ingress given they are at the bottom of the sea and they only have one oxygen tank which can support them for a few hours. They need divers to find them but they also have a torpedo chute which gets used rather ingeniously. They don't all make it.

The film has the added interest of being in that crossover period to sound and so we get speech title cards, occasional dialogue, silent patches and soundtracked scenes. It's a crazy mix, especially those scenes where a character starts speaking, then we get a title card only to return to the character to finish his dialogue with different words to what we have just been reading. It is always the same gist and it doesn't really matter but it is entertaining to watch. The only point which I couldn't get over was the non-sensical devotion that MacKenna has to this duplicitous woman with whom he had a dalliance. His notion of being a gentleman is rather annoying nonsense.

This film is of interest since it is in a period of transition between silent and sound pictures. The version shown on AMC has limited sound dialogue as well as title cards, and a few scenes have both! You hear John Wayne's voice before you see him in a small part.

John Ford was taking some hesitant steps in his feature films from 1928 to 1931 with the advent of the talking motion picture. In Men Without Women there are bits of dialog, a lot of sound effects, some singing, but it is still mostly a silent picture. It's also a pretty good one, despite the suggestive title. Men Without Women refers to the crew on a US submarine between the World Wars and in this case the sub is on duty in the China Seas.

An accident at sea sends the submarine to the bottom with the only survivors the slightly more than a dozen men who are in the forward area of the ship. Command is now in the hands of the only surviving officer, Ensign Frank Albertson who just reported for duty in Shanghai on his first assignment. He's green and not really experienced for the job.

The one who holds the crew together is Kenneth McKenna the chief torpedoman who has a past. During the first World War McKenna was a British submarine commander who in some pillow talk with his enemy agent girl friend divulged he was taking a British Field Marshal on a secret mission. The submarine sank, but he survived and he never reported back. In fact the commander of the rescue ship which is British thought he recognized McKenna. All that could be rescued are rescued, but some don't make it, a lot like the Poseidon Adventure.

This has to be the most claustrophobic film John Ford ever did. Most of the last 60% of the movie is in that submarine forward room and Ford does a great job with his ensemble cast. I find it ironic though because Ford is identified with photographing those wide open spaces in Monument Valley for his westerns. This shows he could handle a closed in environment. Those submarines back then didn't even have the capacity to submerge as long World War II vessels did let alone modern subs.

There are some fine scenes of the sea rescue and you can even catch a glimpse of John Wayne as the radio operator on the rescue vessel. The Duke had one fine head of hair in those salad days, but he's unmistakable.

All in all one of the best early sound films from John Ford.

A sailors-trapped-in-a-sinking-submarine drama: Will they drown? Will the oxygen run out? Will they suffocate from chlorine gas? Will divers get to them in time? And what about that religious fanatic on board? John Ford skillfully ratchets up the tension, but some shaky special effects, unlikely characterizations and broad acting give an uneven effect, compared to later and slicker entertainments like RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP. However, this production has genuine historical value because it shows the difficulties in changing over from silent to sound,: sometimes it's a silent film with sound effects and [tinny] music. Other scenes have dialogue with one character actually speaking while another answers in silent intertitles. Most oddly, sometimes a character starts speaking, then an intertitle shows noticeably different lines, then the character finishes speaking. Not many movies have such a variety of expression.