Submarine Alert (1943)

Nazi spies use a stolen shortwave transmitter prototype to broadcast top secret shipping info to an offshore Japanese sub. To nab the spy ring, the Government has the West Coast's top radio engineers fired and shadowed.

Director:

Frank McDonald

Writer:

Maxwell Shane (original screenplay)

Stars:

Richard Arlen, Wendy Barrie, Nils Asther

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Arlen	...	Lewis J. 'Lee' Deerhold
Wendy Barrie	...	Ann Patterson
Nils Asther	...	Dr. Arthur Huneker
Roger Pryor	...	G.B. Fleming
Abner Biberman	...	Cmdr. Toyo
Marc Lawrence	...	Vincent Bela
John Miljan	...	Mr. Bambridge / Capt. Haigas
Patsy Nash	...	Tina Deerhold
Ralph Sanford	...	Agent Freddie Grayson

Storyline

Nazi spies use a stolen shortwave transmitter prototype to broadcast top secret shipping info to an offshore Japanese sub. To nab the spy ring, the Government has the West Coast's top radio engineers fired and shadowed to see if the Nazis recruit them to complete work on the prototype radio. Radio engineer Lew Deerhold, a resident alien without a job to pay for his adorable little ward Gina's life-saving operation, falls prey to the spy ring, and is swept up in a maelstrom of deceit and danger.

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Plot Keywords:

world war two | steam room | spy gang | secret agent | murder | 

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Taglines:

Calling All Agents! STAND BY FOR THRILLS! ADVENTURE! ACTION! (original print ad - many caps)

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Genres:

Thriller | War

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.

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Goofs

When the bombers are scrambled, we see a squadron of single seat P-40s taking off. When the submarine is attacked, there are at least two crew in the aircraft.

User Reviews

okay WW II Thriller to catch foreign spies

Bergstrom, a radio engineer expert goes missing during WW II. Deerhold, a resident- alien radio engineer (Richard Arlen, Santa Fe Trail) helps Ann Patterson (Wendy Barrie, Love on a Bet, the "Falcon" movies) when her purse gets snatched. The viewer sees the FBI trying to track down where the enemy radio transmissions are originating, but so far, no luck. Arlen and Barrie get caught up in the search for the people behind the radio transmissions before more US ships get sunk. Maxwell Shane had written many of these military action films in the 1940s. It's all wrapped up neatly in the last minute of the film, and then the usual affirmation of US loyalty by Arlen to the viewing public. Some interesting scenery of downtown LA. Also some choppy edits, and long blackout pauses between scenes. This is one of the films in the "50 Action Classics" from Treeline/TCM. Some big Hollywood names might have added some zing.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 June 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Interceptor Command

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pine-Thomas Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

66 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1