Hell and High Water (1954)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Samuel Fuller

Writers:

Jesse Lasky Jr. (screenplay) and
Samuel Fuller (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 February 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A privately-financed scientist and his colleagues hire an ex-Navy officer to conduct an Alaskan submarine...

Plot Keywords:

Submarine | Scientist | Cold War | Soldier Of Fortune | Nuclear Weapon

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Richard Widmark	...	Capt. Adam Jones
Bella Darvi	...	Denise Montel
Victor Francen	...	Prof. Montel
Cameron Mitchell	...	'Ski' Brodski
Gene Evans	...	Chief Holter
David Wayne	...	Tugboat Walker
Stephen Bekassy	...	Neuman
Richard Loo	...	Hakada Fujimori

Runtime:

103 min | USA:99 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #16624, General Audience)

Filming Locations:

Arc de Triomphe, Paris 8, Paris, France

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

This was Twentieth Century-Fox's fifth CinemaScope production.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the landing party is making its escape from the second island, Captain Jones' hat falls off as they are getting in the dingy. The actor is clearly a dark-haired double for Richard Widmark.

Quotes:

[Capt. Jones is forced to sail before his submarine is fully ready for sea]
Captain Adam Jones: What about the "running dive test"?
Prof. Montel: As an amateur, might I suggest that we try the "running test" *while* we are running?
Captain Adam Jones: Doctor, there are about a hundred ways of losing a submarine, and *you've* just come up with one of the *best*! We haven't even checked the torpedo tubes yet! You know what that means if we have to 'call on fish'? *It means we're dead!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Typewriter, the Rifle & the Movie Camera (1996)

A solid but unremarkable schoolboy level wartime action drama

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.