Crash Dive (1943)

Director:

Archie Mayo

Writers:

Jo Swerling (screenplay)
W.R. Burnett (story)

Release Date:

23 December 1943 (Australia)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance | Thriller | War

Tagline:

Tyrone Power -- Leading a reckless crew on the war's most daring mission! Battling death in a depth-bombed submarine! Blasting Nazis on a bold Commando raid! Finding love in precious, stolen moments! Crashing his way to unforgettable glory in...

Plot:

A submarine lieutenant and his commander fall in love with the same girl.

Plot Keywords:

Submarine | P.t. Boat | Commando Raid | Ship Sinking | German Navy

Awards:

Won Oscar.

Cast

Tyrone Power	...	Lt. Ward Stewart (as Tyrone Power U.S.M.C.R.)
Anne Baxter	...	Jean Hewlett
Dana Andrews	...	Lt. Cmdr. Dewey Connors
James Gleason	...	Chief Mike 'Mac' McDonnell
Dame May Whitty	...	Grandmother
Harry Morgan	...	Brownie (as Henry Morgan)
Ben Carter	...	Oliver Cromwell Jones
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fred Aldrich	...	German Seaman (uncredited)
Stanley Andrews	...	Shipwrecked Captain (uncredited)
John Archer	...	Curly Bowman (uncredited)
David Bacon	...	Lieutenant (uncredited)
Brooks Benedict	...	Angry Man at Hotel Registration Desk (uncredited)
Lulu Mae Bohrman	...	(uncredited)
Dorothy Brent	...	Schoolgirl (uncredited)
Frederic Brunn	...	Q Boat Lieutenant (uncredited)
Paul E. Burns	...	Simmons - Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Harry Carter	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Gene Collins	...	Boy in Lifeboat (uncredited)
James Conaty	...	Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Frank Conroy	...	Capt. Bryson (uncredited)
Frank Dawson	...	Henry the Butler (uncredited)
James Eagles	...	Officer (uncredited)
Edward Earle	...	Wreckage Victim (uncredited)
Steve Forrest	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Chester Gan	...	Lee Wong (uncredited)
Charley Grapewin	...	Pop (uncredited)
Thurston Hall	...	Senator from Texas (uncredited)
Sally Harper	...	Teenage Student (uncredited)
George Holmes	...	Crew Member (uncredited)
Kathleen Howard	...	Miss Bromley (uncredited)
Sue Jolley	...	Schoolgirl (uncredited)
Florence Lake	...	Doris - Jean's Roommate (uncredited)
Peter Leeds	...	Shore Police (uncredited)
Trudy Marshall	...	Telephone Operator (uncredited)
Leila McIntyre	...	Senator's Wife (uncredited)
Betty McKinney	...	Schoolgirl (uncredited)
Malcolm 'Bud' McTaggart	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Edward McWade	...	Crony (uncredited)
James Metcalf	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Hans Moebus	...	German Officer (uncredited)
Edmund Mortimer	...	Man at Hotel Registration Desk (uncredited)
John Mylong	...	Captain of Submarine (uncredited)
Netta Packer	...	Mother (uncredited)
Tom Quinn	...	Hotel Guest (uncredited)
Otto Reichow	...	German Signalman (uncredited)
Gene Rizzi	...	Seaman Rizzi (uncredited)
Lionel Royce	...	German Q-Boat Commander (uncredited)
Floyd Shackelford	...	Porter (uncredited)
Paul Stanton	...	Officer (uncredited)
Charles Tannen	...	Seaman Hammond (uncredited)
Ruth Thomas	...	Schoolgirl (uncredited)
Sigfrid Tor	...	German Soldier (uncredited)
Nicholas Vehr	...	Russian Officer (uncredited)
Hans von Morhart	...	Y Gun Operator (uncredited)
Minor Watson	...	Adm. Bob Stewart (uncredited)
Cecil Weston	...	Woman (uncredited)
Bruce Wong	...	First Waiter (uncredited)
William Yetter Sr.	...	Tanker Lieutenant (uncredited)

Directed by
Archie Mayo

Writing credits
Jo Swerling		(screenplay)
W.R. Burnett		(story)

Produced by
Milton Sperling	....	producer
William Goetz	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Lee S. Marcus	....	producer (uncredited)
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
David Buttolph

Cinematography by
Leon Shamroy		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ray Curtiss
Walter Thompson

Art Direction by
Richard Day
Wiard Ihnen		(as Wiard B. Ihnen)

Set Decoration by
Paul S. Fox
Thomas Little

Costume Design by
Earl Luick

Makeup Department
Guy Pearce	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Otto Brower	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Arthur Jacobson	....	assistant director (uncredited)
F.E. 'Johnny' Johnston	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
James Curtis Havens	....	location art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Bernard Freericks	....	sound
Roger Heman Sr.	....	sound (as Roger Heman)

Special Effects by
Fred Sersen	....	special photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
E. Truman Joiner	....	key grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
Emil Newman	....	musical director
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Arthur Morton	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Alfred Newman	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
George Parrish	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
David Raksin	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Conrad Salinger	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Henri Jaffa	....	associate technicolor director
Natalie Kalmus	....	technicolor director
M.K. Kirkpatrick	....	technical advisor (as M.K. Kirkpatrick Commander U.S.N.)
William Calkins	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Edward Ludwig	....	fill-in director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (presents) (as Twentieth Century-Fox)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1943) (USA) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release) (B&W)
• Central Motion Picture Exchange (1951) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Astra Cinema
• Fox Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• NovaStar Digital  post-production sound services
• Officers and Men of the U.S. Navy Submarine Base New London, Connecticut, The  the cooperation and assistance of, is gratefully acknowledged

Also Known As:

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | UK:U | USA:Approved (MPAA rating: certificate #8371) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

U.S. Navy Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

During normal, unhurried, dives a submarine floods the ballast tanks, the dive planes are set for minimum down angle and the sub then slowly submerges. A crash dive is used when the sub must dive quickly to escape danger. In this case the tanks are flooded. the dive planes are set for extreme down angle and propellers are used to actually drive the sub under. The difference in the angle of descent between the two can be as much as 20-25 degrees.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the raiding party lands the German guards are patrolling with bayonets fixed (which they shouldn't be doing anyway). The next time you see one of the guards moments later the bayonet has disappeared.

Quotes:

[Several submarine crewmen are preparing to go ashore on a commando raid]
Oliver Cromwell Jones:[Looks around at all the blackened faces and hands of the other crewmen] I'm the only born commando here!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Fejezetek a film történetéböl: Amerikai filmtípusok - Egyén és társadalom (#1.7)" (1989)

Soundtrack:

Anchors Aweigh

Propaganda movie with a love triangle thrown in

Fantastic special effects highlight this World War II submarine drama starring Tyrone Power, Dana Andrews, and Anne Baxter - Power's last before going into the Marines.

Power is charming as a man who captures the heart of Anne Baxter, who though he doesn't know it, just happens to be the girl of Dana Andrews, Power's new commanding officer.

Out on the submarine, there's some exciting action as the sub searches for a secret base set up by the Nazis. One interesting subplot is the friendship of Oliver, a black soldier, with Mac, portrayed by James Gleason. Ben Carter, who played Oliver, does a great job, and his role as a concerned friend and brave soldier is not the usual stereotypical one blacks were often forced to play.

The ending, of course, is pure propaganda as Power, supposedly talking to his uncle, talks about the fighting men, subs, PT boats, and the like all doing their job. I'm in no way trying to denigrate it - propaganda is a fascinating part of film history and at that time was deemed important to the war movement. It's all very interesting to view today. And Power is gorgeous.