The Sharkfighters (1956) User Reviews

Playing tag with the sharks

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 6 December 2012]

Nice on scene location cinematography in Batista's Cuba is the main asset of The Sharkfighters about a wartime naval experiment trying to find a proper shark repellent for sailors in the water after a battle where their ship came out on the losing end. Whether we win or the Japanese win, sunken ships mean only one thing for the sharks, one hardy feast.

Victor Mature who lost several people to sharks in the water after his ship was sunk is assigned to this project. Other on it are the man in charge Philip Coolidge who is an ichthyologist and ensign James Olson and CPO Claude Akins. They're stationed on a small island off Cuba where young Rafael Campos hangs around and makes himself useful to the navy people.

The storyline conflict between Mature and Coolidge is very forced. The writers were trying to create something that should not exist. Mature is a career navy guy and Coolidge a scientist, they both had their own turf and shouldn't have been at loggerheads. After all no one here as a rooting interest for the sharks.

Some tension toward the end as Mature makes the test himself of the repellent as a human subject, but we kind of know it's going to work out.

Nice for the water and the scenes of Havana before Castro, but a slightly below average B film is how I would rate it.

I lost her in a crap game in Havana

[kapelusznik18 · 5/10 · 27 November 2015]

****SPOILERS**** Beautifully tanned with a set of sparkling white teeth-like the sharks in the movie- hunk of a man Victor Mature is US Navy Lt. Cammander Ben Staves who risks his life to develop a shark repellent that can keep sharks away from their prey until help arrives. It was Staves who in fact survived a shark attack when he and his fellow shipmates were stuck on a leaking life boat that was attacked by a school of sharks in the Pacific who ended up killing and eating most of them. Now in pre-Castro 1943 Cuba he's determined to get his act together in formulating a shark repellent that can saves lives from shark attacks and is more then willing to use himself as a guinea pig to do it.

It takes a while to get his crew of navy men to go along with his idea but in him always being right on target as his second in command Lt. Commander Loenard Evans grudgingly admits Staves ends up getting his way but only after one of his crew members the cocky and possibly high on pot local beach boy Carlos played by Rafael Compos,in a very similar role he played in "The Blackbord Jungle" the year before,ends up jumping off the shark hunting boat and ending up as shark bait! It's after that incident that Staves goes full blast into proving that the shark repellent he developed is worth looking into in it being mass produced for the US Navy.

***SPOILERS*** Nerve wracking final with Staves in the water using himself as bait for the some dozen man eating sharks that are trying to take a bite out of him to prove him right or ending up as their main course. It's not until the repellent starts to dissipates that things get really spicy for Staves as he's forced to fight the sharks off with his knife that leads to many more sharks, smelling blood, start to join in on the feeding frenzy. In a way much better the the movie "Jaws" which just had a giant but phony looking mechanical shark in it the movie "The Sharkhunters" was far more realistic with the sharks in it being the real thing. There's also in the movie the pretty blond Karen Steele as Staves wife Martha whom he keeps out of the loop, in what he's doing, in making her think that she's only on a vacation to the Caribbean with him not in her husband risking his life for his country! P.S There's also actor James Olsen as Ensign Harold Duncan in his movie debut.

no Jaws

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 15 July 2022]

It's early 1943. Navy scientists have come to a remote Cuban island to research on a shark repellent. Lt. Cmdr. Ben Staves (Victor Mature) arrives to lead the team. His personal history forces him to zealously push the experiment.

The sharks need to be scarier. The tropics need to be more tropics. This may be a real story but it's not a thrilling story. It lays there like so much dead bait with a few exceptions. At least, they could do more underwater filming and give more a magical colorful experience. This is no Jaws except for a couple of scenes. It's a little funny with Mature saying "Go go girl" while an island lady is twerking. At the end of the day, there is not enough intensity and the drama falls flat. It's too stiff.

Pre-Castro, Cuba deals with another enemy to mankind.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 5 April 2019]

This colorful B Movie, produced by Samuel Goldwyn Jr., is disturbing in several ways but completely engrossing because of its subject matter. It's 19 years before "Jaws", and the island paradise of Cuba is dealing with dangerous man eating sharks which prey on the fisherman. The American military stationed there during World War II decides to test various types of shark repellent to protect American soldiers in case they are trapped in shark infested waters. But a hungry shark is difficult to fool, and it takes some clever human beings much practice to try to fool them, at the price of human lives at risk.

Distracted by a pointless romantic storyline involving Karen Sharpe and Lt. Commander Victor Mature, this film is at its best when out at sea. But that means danger, and a shocking scene involving the enthusiastic native Rafael Campos ends in tragedy. The scene is disturbing because Campos is presented as a fool and when in danger, the first thing that the Americans do is try to film what is going on rather than get rid of the sharks. Later on, Mature is surrounded by sharks as well as the repellent, and the tension is very high.

It's no surprise as to what happens earlier, but Campos, so desperate to make a positive impression on the American officers, instantly creates fear with his suddenly bizarre behavior and what happens as a result. The audience will be in great suspense when Mature literally finds a school of sharks swimming around him. This isn't a great movie by any means, highly predictable, but the color photography and Intrigue will keep the audiences interested.

Victor Mature spends more time drinking beer than fighting sharks.

[JRT-3 · 1/10 · 13 November 1998]

Victor Mature spends more time drinking beer than fighting sharks in this shamefully bad film about a U.S. military shark-fighting operation in Cuba. It looks like it was shot with only camera (which has a hard time staying in focus). The film was probably just an excuse to take a vacation in Cuba.

Story Fails to Deliver Much Bite(1956)

[cshep · 1/10 · 6 August 2013]

The Big Victor(Victor Mature) in a film about the evolution of shark repellent 1950's style, before "Jaws". Shot with one camera adds o the one-dimensional aspect. Philip Coolidge is the "Icthyologist" being aided and is always interesting to watch. Film score does help but not enough to make people care . Most interesting is Cuba before Castro aspect. Mostly for the curious. 1 star out of 10, hard to argue for more... Check other reviews for more details. Look for Claude Akins and introducing James Olson. I think film is more propaganda than entertainment.

Color print I saw was poor, and camera out of focus.

Awesomely titled film with an even better film poster.

[robfollower · 7/10 · 15 July 2022]

Now I now here Spielberg got the Idea for his shot in JAWS.

''THE SHARKFIGHTERS'' (1956) has been virtually UNSEEN-- except for an occasional RARE showing on TCM! 'THE SHARKFIGHTERS'' also boasts a beautifully unique, and early music score from JEROME MOROSS (before ''THE BIG COUNTRY''.) ALSO a PLUS being in 'Cinemascope and TECHNICOLOR.

It was based on actual events involving the creation of the Navy's shark repellent, "Shark Chaser", a cake combining copper acetate to mimic putrefied shark tissue, black dye as a camouflage agent, and a water-soluble wax binder as described in the script, which some sources attribute to efforts of Julia Child while working for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II.

"Shark Chaser" was announced as a successful repellent as early as May 7, 1943. A patent application was made in October 1944 and granted in 1949 to four scientists who also designed the packet, and the product was issued by the Navy until 1973. However its effectiveness is now judged dubious.

The always dependable Claude Akins.

Lobby Cards , I wish they still handed these out today.

Victor Mature in The Sharkfighters (1956)

Death during production Special effects artist Russell Shearman died from a shark attack while filming underwater scenes for The Sharkfighters in the Caribbean Sea off Cuba.

The Sharkfighters is a surprisingly effective and sensible adventure story that holds one's interest with great live shark footage, excellent location photography, action scenes with sharks are exciting and tight script. It is only 1:14 minutes easy watch !!! You can also find this hidden gem on Prime Video. 7/10.

Great Score!

[billsanantonio · 8/10 · 31 December 2009]

This movie is really pushed by the phenomenal score, conceived by Jerome Moross. Victor Mature gives a solid, quite cool performance as the stereotype hero. The story is a bit thin, the finish could have been better and the supporting cast has not much space, but nevertheless it's enough to be good entertainment. Directing is handsome and the locations are pretty, the style looks sometimes a bit like documentary and that's indeed quite interesting. The scene, when the shark gets one of Matures companions is quite convincing and anyway there have been a lot of movies, where the effects around blood-thirsty animals have been much worse. As a not fully developed precursor of Spielbergs 'Jaws' this movie is definitely a recommendation.

Good underrated action picture

[liscarkat-2 · 8/10 · 18 September 2013]

Victor Mature was self-deprecating about his acting ability, which has led to the myth that he wasn't very good. However, he's terrific in this interesting, entertaining movie about a World War II U.S. Navy commander who loses some of his crew to a shark attack and is then assigned to a research team in the Caribbean to develop an effective shark repellent. The whole cast, especially Karen Steele as Mature's wife, is excellent, and the location photography, which includes pre-Castro Havana, is beautiful. The action scenes with sharks are exciting and the outcome, given the fate of several of Mature's characters in other movies, is not certain. To top it off, Jerome Moross, perhaps the greatest of all film composers, wrote the music score. "The Sharkfighters" is well worth seeing.