Hell and High Water (1954) User Reviews

Them Dastardly Reds

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 21 May 2005]

Hell and High Water is a great Fifties film with Richard Widmark and his handpicked crew of WWII veterans trying to foil a dastardly Communist plot to start WWIII.

Widmark is a former submarine commander who's been hired to check out a secret base that the Communist Chinese seem to be building in the islands north of Japan. The group that's hired him is some kind of consortium of western scientists who seem to be operating as a secret society. Like Captain Midnight or heaven forfend, the Tri-Lateral Commission.

Parts of the plot and definitely some of the footage is taken from another submarine picture that 20th Century Fox did, Crash Dive. It's so obvious, especially when you have Richard Widmark's voice with no closeups, over the footage from the previous film. That also concerned a secret Nazi base in the Atlantic and the submarine crew that went to clean them out.

Along for the ride in the submarine are scientists Victor Francen and his assistant Bella Darvi who was Darryl Zanuck's main squeeze at the time. Ms. Darvi had a short and tragic life and her story would make a real interesting picture.

Far more interesting than this, though I will say the submarine special effects are outstanding.

Serviceable time filler.

[hitchcockthelegend · 5/10 · 1 May 2009]

Richard Widmark {Capt. Adam Jones} stars in this Cold War thriller as the leader of a submarine expedition to the frozen depths of Alaska. His mission is to thwart the communist Chinese who are intent on kick starting World War 3.

Hell and High Water is one of the multitude of pictures that serve only as studio efforts made for made's sake. Take your leading actor, surround them with jobbing actors, and mold a picture together as best as you can. Sometimes a film can break free of its B and C movie roots to truly surprise, but others flounder to only serve as time fillers on terrestrial television. This film falls some where in between the two, not particularly bad exactly, but outside of a couple of tight sequences, not necessarily good either.

It was actually in premise, building up to be a promising film. Then we see a shapely pair of legs coming down the submarine stairs and we just know that this film will lose its edge, and sadly, where it's all going to end up. The insistence of many writers and film makers to shoe horn in a love interest in the grittiest of places rarely works, and here it most assuredly doesn't either. Not that Bella Darvi {owner of those shapely legs} is poor or is at fault for the film being average, it just takes the film in a direction that it didn't need to go. Tension is built up, with one face off submarine sequence being particularly hold your breath inducing, but the preposterous romantic angle on a submarine death mission is badly misplaced.

Tidy but unmemorable, and cribbing from Crash Dive released eleven years earlier, it's probably one for Widmark purists only. 5/10

Silly criticisms

[joe-1035 · 7/10 · 29 August 2006]

While I was earnestly waiting for some of the moments of hilarity one of the reviewers wrote about (which I never found), I thought it would be worthwhile to point out some of the sillier criticism also made.

First of all the bucket scene happened before the ramming scene - not after. Plus, submarines have buckets on them. Isn't that strange. It seems the makers of submarines sort of figured stuff like that out - sometimes subs take on water and it must be moved. And yes, they would have lots and lots of buckets. More than one sub in WWII was saved because of them. The reviewer may also not have seen the part where the buckets are being returned.

He also comments on if the sub was already underwater, where were they taking the water. Again, submariners got that one figured out too. They were taking it to a place where there was a working pump to pump the water off the sub.

Overall it was a decent diversion. But then I'm a fan or Richard Widmark so I may be biased.

Very enjoyable action film

[gstevens-2 · 23 August 2002]

I saw this movie when it was released in theatre. I still remember how much fun it was to watch a submarine crew try to bring down a big bomber carrying the Atomic bomb with every weapon they could muster, including handguns. It had plenty of action for the time, although those used to long periods of action may find themselves disappointed. There are a couple of fairly exciting firefights, not including the final desperate attempt to save the US from being blamed for dropping an A-bomb on Korea and starting WW3. I'd like to see it again but haven't seen it in a long time..Hope it can be repeated on TV .I would definitely buy it if I had the chance..

A good example of a movie that is very, very watchable despite its shortcomings.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 3 August 2009]

I wish sometimes that IMDb had two ratings for each review--one for the technical quality of a movie and one for its watchability. HELL AND HIGH WATER is very, very watchable and enjoyable, though the film has several big shortcomings.

HELL AND HIGH WATER begins when there is evidence of nuclear testing going on in the Pacific. Who and where exactly and why this is occurring is unknown. In an odd move, a group of scientists have formed their own private investigating organization to look into the mystery. So, they pay to have a WWII vintage sub rehabbed and buy a crew--led by Richard Widmark as the skipper. Now where this money and organization came from is never explained in the least in the film--a rather big shortcoming--especially because for all any of the crew knows, this shadow organization is behind the nuclear testing (which they weren't).

Eventually, the sub is able to locate a secret base that is run by the Chinese Communists. On it, a fake B-29 bomber is waiting to take off--and drop a nuclear bomb in Korea or Manchuria in order to make the US look bad and start a new war. The final scene where the sub takes out the bomber is pretty exciting and possible as the bomber would be very vulnerable at take-off.

Let's talk about a few problems with the film. When Widmark is ready to take the ship out there is a GIANT cliché thrown into the plot. A top nuclear scientist and his young, sexy and brilliant assistant (Bella Darvi) accompanies him. The idea of a hot female scientist is such a bad cliché from the 1950s (in such films as THIS ISLAND EARTH). First, why couldn't it have been a man or an unattractive or unattached woman. Second, while this COULD have been a big step for feminism, in the end she is really just a piece of meat (albeit a very sexy one). Third, because it is a cliché, the entire crew behave like the wolf from a Tex Avery cartoon--even though they are just going to sea. Now if they'd been on duty for six months or longer, I might understand the panting wolf routine, but not in the case of this film.

Another problem about the film is one that might not be a serious one. Last time I checked, I was not a submariner or specialist in underwater warfare, but the idea of a ship without torpedoes fighting and sinking another sub by repeatedly ramming it seemed,...well,...stupid. It was tense and cool...but stupid. However, I actually am pretty good when it comes to aircraft and was surprised at how wrong the B-29 bomber looked in the film--like a model made by someone who had only briefly seen a B-29 and made it from memory. But, having a B-29 as a weapons delivery platform for a nuclear bomb DID make sense, as the Soviets "appropriated" several that landed in their territory during the later days of WWII and the Russians DID make their own knock-off (an exact copy) of this bomber. So the idea of the Chinese using such a bomber is plausible--just very unlikely.

The final silly cliché involves the nuclear scientist selflessly giving up his life to sneak onto the island with the bomber. He seemed to do this more because it was a cliché (thus allowing Widmark to live and supposedly have Darvi for his very own) than because it made logical sense. That's because only a few minutes earlier, the Doctor had argued against taking out the bomber--he wanted to rush back and report on what they'd seen. Now, he volunteers to be a commando! And, what really makes no sense is the idea of sending an old guy (with no military training) on such a super-duper important mission. Everything hinges on this old thumbless guy! Now although the story is very tough to believe and Darvi really has no reason to be in the film (apart from her boobs), the film is still well worth watching. It's one of these cases where you can really enjoy the film if you suspend your sense of disbelief. That's because the action is very good, there is a lot of tension and because although it's implausible, it's exciting and a wonderful "what if" scenario. Widmark, as usual, is great and the direction by Sam Fuller is excellent--though he is usually not a man for so many clichés.

good movie

[rdjj22 · 7/10 · 20 May 2007]

I thought the movie was good for it's era. Much better than some of the other fiction movies of it's time. The submarine scenes were very good. Especially the detail of water trickling down the periscope cylinder when they were submerged.

I too wondered where they were disposing of the buckets of water when they were supposed to be running silent. Again the scene was out of sequence.

Also the scene where Richard yells periscope up to look for the enemy sub, and they are surfacing. I thought it looked funny seeing the sub on top of the water and Richard is looking out the periscope.

Again good movie for it's time.

Submarine spectacle , nuclear war , intrigue and underwater scenarios by the great Samuel Fuller

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 1 September 2016]

This exciting film contains cold war heroics , non stop excitement , and full of tension and intrigue . Pure entertainment from Fuller , it is set during the Cold War , a privately-financed scientist Prof. Montel (Victor Francen , though Charles Boyer was originally cast for this role) , his assistant (Bella Darvi) and colleagues hire an ex-Navy officer (Richard Widmark) to conduct an Alaskan submarine (Sub used was WW2 ex Japanese sub) expedition (including familiar faces , as sailors appear the followings : Cameron Mitchell , David Wayne and Gene Evans who helped Bella Darvi with her dialogue) in order to prevent a Red Chinese anti-American battle , as well as a deviously plotted plan that could trigger WW3 . As they fit a Japanese submarine to lead them to Arctic Circle . Along the way , they are pursued by a Chinese submarine , stalking each other , and intent on ramming the other .

The intriguing premise gets to satisfy completely , as it has breathtaking moments , including an explosive climax and as when two submarines stalk each other through the depths . It mixes a twisted tale with intrigue and schoolboy science-fiction about a scheme that may lead to World War III . This sometimes little objective film lacks a sense of definitive character undermining its important message . This picture is more a submarine movie than a Warlike or Cold war film . The scene from the attack on the first island was taken from the movie ¨Crash Dive¨ (1943) , particularly the ammo exploding in the depot and the burning fuel cascading over the short cliff into the sea . Nice acting by Richard Widmark as an ex-Navy officer assigned to a dangerous mission : to find a secret Chinese atomic island base . Victor Francen plays well the obstinate scientific who designs the risked operation to prevent a Communist plot . And the gorgeous Bella Darvi , this marked the feature film debut of Darryl F. Zanuck's muse Bella Darvi, whose stage surname was a combination of the first names of Zanuck and his wife Virginia . Darvi became a 50s symbol for one of the many movie "Cinderellas" playing ¨Sinuhe the Egyptian¨ , ¨The racers¨ and whose bright and beautiful Hollywood fairy tale would come crashing down, ending in bitterness and tragedy . Bella finally committed suicide in 1971 after turning on the gas stove in her apartment, she was only 42.

The movie displays a colorful cinematography in CinemaScope by Joseph MacDonald . This was Twentieth Century-Fox's fifth CinemaScope production . Thrilling and stirring musical score by the prolific Alfred Newman . In this picture Samuel Fuller proved his talent of vision and intelligence . Fuller being especially known as filmmaker of such exploitation films as ¨Shock corridor¨ and ¨The naked kiss¨ . Fuller made various Western as ¨I shot Jesse James(49)¨, ¨The baron of Arizona (50)¨, ¨Run of the arrow¨ (56) , ¨Forty guns(58)¨, and ¨The meanest men in the West (76)¨ , but his most fluid and strongest work lies in his war films as ¨Steel helmet(51)¨ , ¨Fixed bayonets(52)¨, ¨Hell and high water (55)¨, ¨China gate (57)¨ , ¨Merrill's Marauders (62)¨ and ¨The Big Red One (80)¨. Being his best films : ¨Pick up on South Street¨(53) , ¨Underworld Usa¨(60) and ¨White Dog¨(82) . Rating : Better than average . Worthwhile watching .

Run of the mill post war stuff

[ed_two_o_nine · 6/10 · 13 July 2008]

This is an average post World War II movie that is by no means bad but also a very long way from being great. The film is the story of a group of international privately funded scientist who are on a humanitarian mission to discover if some unnamed communists are conducting nuclear tests in a remote area of the Artic. As a means to their end the scientists recruit Richard Widmark as Captain Jones to captain a sub-marine manned by mercenaries and a two scientists the lead scientist Professor Montell and his glamorous assistant Denise Gerrard (played by the doomed Bella Darvi). Things plod along nicely and for the time the are some tense submarine duel scenes once they engage the enemy. Denise Gerrard and Proffesor Montaell clash with Captain Jones as they have to enter his world though the female character really needed fleshing out. We have some battle as the tension mounts and the enemy base is located leading up to the final battle which works quite well. A few twists along the way add to the mix and some nice morals add to the ending. Worth a go.

Average submarine picture with some solid action to lift it from the depths

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 11 November 2016]

HELL AND HIGH WATER is one in a run of war and western pictures put out by director Samuel Fuller during the 1950s. This one's a very average sort of story in which Richard Widmark leads an unorthodox crew on a secret mission up to the Arctic Circle where the Red Chinese are up to no good with nuclear weapons.

It's a submarine film making liberal use of stock footage from previous movies. Now, while I enjoyed the premise and set-up of this movie - it's nice to see the crew a little more relaxed than they would be in a wartime thriller - the execution is strictly pedestrian and this feels more like a B-movie than an A-list picture. Part of the reason it's so watchable is Widmark himself, who delivers a solid leading performance that brings out some of the nuance of his character.

The rest of the cast don't fare so well, particularly female scientist Bella Darvi who has been shoehorned into the picture and doesn't really fit; rumour has it she was only in the film as she was the producer's girlfriend at the time. I was delighted to see Cameron Mitchell in an early role but he does play a pretty minor character in this film. Victor Francen is more interesting as the nuclear scientist who comes along for the ride.

HELL AND HIGH WATER isn't a bad film per se, and the action sequences are adroitly staged by sure-hand director Fuller. A run-in with a rival Chinese submarine is a highlight of the undersea action, and there's a surprisingly gruesome accident which works well in a shocking, vivid way. The last third of the film descends into stereotypical gung-ho antics but I had no problem with that as it helps breathe life into the picture. The special effects are quite wonky but passable for the era.

Bella and The Bomb

[tomsview · 7/10 · 7 October 2016]

This unusual Cold War adventure features a star whose life off-screen was far more fascinating than her roles on-screen.

Ex-submarine commander, Adam Jones (Richard Widmark), is hired by an international consortium of scientists, statesmen and concerned citizens to command an old WW2 Japanese sub to track down a group of nuclear scientists who have disappeared in a remote area north of Japan.

Like Cagney before him, Widmark always seemed to be shaping up to the world, and so it is with his Commander Jones who assembles a crew straight out of the Hollywood Submariner Stereotypes Manual. He also takes along a professor and his assistant, Denise Gerard (Bella Darvi).

The action doesn't stray too far from the Twentieth Century Fox sound stages, but does have a couple of exciting sequences with pretty good special effects - even if the atomic explosion at the end doesn't look like it had the scale to disrupt peak hour traffic.

Over the 60 years since it was made, I have learnt more about the stars and the filmmakers, and a reason for revisiting the film was to see Bella Darvi in another movie other than "The Egyptian".

She was Darryl Zanuck's mistress back in the day and he was besotted with her. Much of this is detailed in Leonard Moseley's "Zanuck: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Last Tycoon", but there is plenty of information on the Internet.

Zanuck put her in three movies but the public did not take to her. The critics shredded her performance as Nefer in "The Egyptian" claiming that her acting was wooden. I didn't mind it at all, although she was fairly unanimated. "Nefer was" was the bitchy comment from one co-star - being topped-off with a red fright-wig also didn't help.

But in "Hell and High Water", made before "The Egyptian", she is completely different. Warm and radiant, she displays a range of emotions as well as a sexy French accent; it is here that you can see the charm of the women who caused such turbulence in Darryl Zanuck's life. No doubt, the difference in the performances had a lot to do with the directors, Sam Fuller in this case.

Like other tragic stars, it is sad knowing that aged 42 she turned on the gas in her Paris apartment and exited a life that had probably always been on a downward spiral.

"Hell and High Water" is a competent piece of filmmaking from the Silver Age, but knowing a little about the stars and how it was made makes it far more compelling.

actually surprisingly good

[j_chy · 8/10 · 21 May 2008]

Yeah, it telegraphs all of the big "reveals", it has some overly dramatic acting, the major plot points are easy to see coming, the "red shirts" are obvious, the scenes are kinda cheesy, the characters are all one-dimensional, the plot motivators are simple ("he needs fresh air" or "we didn't have time to test the torpedo tubes") but dang I loved it! It was almost like a bond movie without the gadgets, the unbelievable stunts, or the bad double entendres. It is an instant classic in my book; it is just on the edge of something that you can take seriously. If you go in not expecting much and you realize that this was made many years ago before all of the methods used in it became trite due to overuse, then you will walk away with a smile. There are many worse submarine movies, some of which consist of "I'm in charge!"..."No I'm in charge", while this one has some strategy, some minor humor, some action, and some larger-than-life threats, and some explosions.. all in all worth the rental.

Diving Bella

[writers_reign · 6/10 · 26 February 2009]

This is little more than a programmer designed for the undemanding and very much a product of its time. Take the casting, for example, Fox knew they had a good thing in Widmark and seemed bent on keeping him working - this was his nineteenth movie in eight years - as long as he was solid marquee product. He was a much finer actor than that but this was the tail-end of the Studio System. As for the female lead, Darryl Zanuck was a noted swordsman with a penchant for putting his girlfriends in his productions (next up would be Juliette Greco) and who knows, in Polish born Bella Darvi he may have been thinking of a brunette version of Kim Novak though why anyone would want a brunette non-actress as well as a blonde non-actress is one for the Professors. The next factor is the period, this was the era of The Woman On Pier 13, I Was A Communist For The FBI and so on, the Reds under the bed syndrome. Here we have a gang of Reds bent on dropping an atomic bomb on Korea from a B29 thus leaving America with egg on its face. Not to worry, Widmark and his merry men SHOOT it out of the sky from a sub. Say no more.

Script simplicity scratching dangerously along dullness

[chnutscher · 4/10 · 29 July 2019]

Script simplicity scratching dangerously along dullness

Well. Mission: search the nuke and destroy it. That's also the hole script with exactly one additional twist. Cinematography and special effects are decent for 1954. But still uncleared, if the bad guys were chinese or just north koreans.

A kiss of the obligate hottie avec accent français as the first climax at around 55mins, u-boat crew able to breath again at 70mins seemed to be the most thrilling events. The short take of two seals making their way probably was the culmination of originality of the whole movie. Frankly speaking of quite torturing boringness. Makes you wonder today how such filmmaking was able to fill up cinemas back then ...

A solid but unremarkable schoolboy level wartime action drama

[bob the moo · 28 October 2007]

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.

Cold-War Fodder

[screenman · 7/10 · 4 July 2010]

I actually saw this at the cinema as a young kid and it left quite an impression on me. Subsequent viewings on television have perhaps inevitably modified my enthusiasm.

Widmark was such an iconic actor that it's hard not to keep watching any movie in which he features. And it's his amazing charisma, with the ambiguous mix of amoral detachment and yet ruthless determination of his character that raises this movie above the mediocre.

He and a fairly passe B-movie cast are tasked with the job of spying on the (Chinese) reds. A group of dubiously patriotic wealthy businessmen have pooled their resources to buy a WW2 sub for the purpose. Off they go. It does at least look like a submarine they're in, whereas most of the set pieces appear stagy to the point of tackiness. This was not a big-budget effort. They have adventures along the way. On arrival they discover that these beastly commies are going to drop an atom-bomb from a captured American plane. That way the Yanks will get the blame.

One of their number - the moral scientist - has sneaked ashore and plans to warn them of the plane's departure. They surface in time to ambush it and shoot it down, though things don't go quite according to plan.

Lately I have begun to think that cinema - the big screen - is the only place to watch a movie and see what the director intended. Even a really big screen telly can never do justice to the original. It's a bit like watching wild animals in zoos instead of their natural environment. Unfortunately, you can't see these old efforts at the cinema any more, and in any case I am constantly stalked by a bloke with a big head who keeps sitting in front of me, whilst another character with a seemingly un-openable cellophane bag sits behind.

Without Widmark this would be a serious bummer, answering the worst expectations of the term 'made for TV'. But he is there, and that makes all the difference. Though it's by no means particularly memorable.

Old salt must save the world

[helpless_dancer · 7/10 · 27 March 2004]

Nicely done picture dealing with a group of desperate men who recruit a former sub commander hoping he can stop a deadly threat on a remote island. Again Widmark shows us he is one of the top tough guys of the silver screen as he barks and growls his way to getting the crew he wants, and later on, the results he demands. Not content to do the job as the leading physicist insists, the rogue sailor cuts through all protests and does it his way. Although there were only a couple of big firefights, the story stayed interesting except for the standard love interest which must have been put in for the lady viewers. I felt the ending was weak though amusing as the crew opened up with all the hardware available at a very unlikely target.

SAM FULLER'S COLD-WAR COMIC-BOOK...ANTI-COMMIE NONSENSE...UNDENIABLY WATCHABLE

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 8 September 2021]

One Wonders What Genius made the Decision to utilize the "New Toy" in Town "Cinemascope" for a "Submarine" Movie.

But the Real Pulp Genius is Sam Fuller who manages to Always be Over-the-Top with His Characters, Plot, and Dialog.

He Makes it Work on a Juvenile Level.

If You Want a more Adult, Serious, Cold-War Thriller from Fuller, See "Pickup on South Street" (1952). A B-Movie Masterpiece. It also Stars Richard Widmark.

Here We get a Civilian Conglomerate of Anti-Reds Willing to Invest Life, Limb, and Fortune Financing a Submarine Mission to Uncover Communist Playing with the A-Bomb.

It's All Out of Orbit Absurdity of the Pulp-Fiction Kind with a Knock-Out Beauty Scientist On Board the Sub to Boot.

What a Hoot.

It's Entertaining as All-Get-Out with some Good Battle Scenes and Two, count-em, Atomic Explosions that Book-End this Novelty Piece.

Worth a Watch for the Sam Fuller Touch, the Mesmerizing Face of Bella Darvi, and for some Fun-Stuff of the Sub at War Variety.

Anonymous But Quirky And Intriguing Submarine Action Flick

[ShootingShark · 5/10 · 28 February 2009]

Former US Navy submariner Adam Jones receives a mysterious mission - he is to captain an ageing Jap sub to a remote North Pacific island where his superiors suspect something secret and sinister is going on …

Although this is not one of Fuller's best films, it's still a pretty enjoyable sub action flick and the script contains many of his usual quirks and non-stereotypical characters. What's most intriguing here is the open world-view; the crew are a mixture of American, French, Japanese and Chinese, all of whom pull together well, and love interest Darvi is never reduced to an obvious sex object. I always need to remind myself that Fuller made most of his films in the fifties because they never reflect any of the bigotry and narrow-minded xenophobia of the time. The action moves pleasingly along from the setup to an undersea dogfight to a gun-battle finale, but the movie feels somewhat stilted at times and Jones' transformation from selfish mercenary to moral leader isn't really successful. Production values are much higher than normal for Fuller's work, with a hefty budget and rich blue Cinemascope colours, but dramatically it doesn't score as well as his best work (Run Of The Arrow, Verboten!, The Crimson Kimono, Shock Corridor). Skilfully written by Fuller and Jessy Lasky Jr., and featuring a booming Wagnerian score by Alfred Newman.

One for Fuller fans

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 17 June 2017]

Copyright 17 July 1954 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 1 February 1954 (sic). U.S. release: February 1954. U.K. release: 14 June 1954. London opening at Odeon Marble Arch. Australian release: 10 June 1954. Sydney opening at the Plaza. 9,235 feet. 102 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: A submarine loaded with "scientists" foils a Communist plot to start WW3 by dropping an atomic bomb on Korea.

NOTES: Film debut of Bella Darvi. This was the fifth CinemaScope film and one of only two nominations for an Academy Award for Best Special Effects, losing out to "20,000 Leagues under the Sea".

COMMENT: Director Sam Fuller liked one line of dialogue so much — "Each man has his own reason for living and his own price for dying" — he repeats it no fewer than 3 times, making 4 in all. This is a good instance of the pretensions of this hokey piece of anti-Red Chinese propaganda. While the politics have not improved with age it does seem a measure more exciting now than it did. What were routine action spots in 1954 now look good.

The acting, however, is still unpleasantly boorish (Widmark, Mitchell, Kulky), pretentious (Francen), or downright embarrassingly hammy (Darvi, who is unflatteringly photographed to boot). David Wayne's part as a medical orderly is so small it's almost a "bit".

The director manages somehow to spin out enough excitement and action to last 103 minutes, though the confined space of the "sub" restricts flowing camera-work and the CinemaScope screen precludes dramatic camera angles. Only the use of "condition red" makes the direction at all inventive. Sets look real enough, but process screen is obvious and production values are limited.

Film begins with a quick tour of world capitals and exploits the CinemaScope screen with a plane landing and atomic explosions but most action takes place in either the cramped quarters of a sub or in a miniature tank — neither ideal CinemaScope material. Newman's rousing and familiar theme is monotonously over-employed. Photography is handicapped by CinemaScope's graininess though night work is very accomplished. Fuller's penchant for realistic action comes across very dramatically in a couple of gruesome sequences with Francen's hand and the discovery of a "stoolie".

"Each man has his reason for living and his price for dying!"

[richardchatten · 5/10 · 23 July 2022]

Sam Fuller's first in colour begins like 'Dr Strangelove' with a narrator solemnly intoning about atomic testing before very soon going underwater. It has a Cold War plot similar to 'The Bedford Incident' and even the same star, although this time Widmark is the pursued rather than the pursuer. When bearded scientist Victor Francen's assistant turns out to be a comely young female the crew all all look suitably astonished while the viewer sinks back in their chair with their hands over their eyes and sighs "What AGAIN!!"

High Water Widmark -- Excellent Cold War Drama

[vitaleralphlouis · 10/10 · 26 August 2007]

HELL AND HIGH WATER was produced in 1954 when 20th Century-Fox was showing off their spectacular new CinemaScope process and Sterephonic Sound --- and thereby dominating the box office like they wouldn't do again until the Star Wars movies. They made the most of previously seldom filmed Paris, London, Rome, Tokyo location shots -- combined with excellent storytelling. With this movie they hired Samuel Fuller to direct it, one of the few directors with name recognition.

A group of ex-Navy men are hired as mercenaries to take a submarine to an island in the Arctic to allow two scientists to investigate the suspected existence of nuclear weapons there.......

When I saw this film in 1954, it was as movies were made to be shown. It played the 3,450 seat Loew's Capitol Theater which had an atmosphere fit for royalty; plus the widest screen, best stereo, best projection we ever had in Washington, DC. Loew's Capitol --- which lives on only in memory --- makes our present Kennedy Center look like a tar paper shack in comparison. Hell and High Water just came out in DVD but the CinemaScope effect is muted in that format; still we're used to that now.

I rated this film a 10. In 1954 I might have said 8. But that was then and this is now. A few days ago a movie came out called SUPERBAD -- an instantly disposable piece of tripe, but thanks to 2007's low standards SUPERBAD ranks #81 in the all-time great movie list -- the CASABLANCA of the Bevis and Butthead Era. HELL AND HIGH WATER is a much better movie than any 2007 film, so by today's if-it-has-a-pulse-give-it-an-A standards it's gotta rate a 10.

Hell and High Water

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 21 November 2022]

Richard Widmark is on quite good form here, as the veteran naval officer hired by a group of scientists to take a ramshackle old submarine from Japan to investigate some mysterious goings-on on an island under Chinese control, and where they think atomic experiments may be taking place. Setting sail with "Prof. Montel" (Victor Francen) and his assistant "Denise" (Bella Darvi) it soon becomes clear that their scarcely functioning vessel is not going to be the captain's only concern as they have to dodge enemy patrols and reach their target. I like submarine films, and this one isn't bad. Samuel Fuller takes a while to get us underway, but once he does the trip is quite exciting despite the odd romantic interlude. The ending is a bit daft, but the whole film still holds up quite well as a decent adventure with quite a fun underwater duel, an unique rendition of "Don't Fence Me In" and a suitably rousing score, too.

Hell and High Water

[henry8-3 · 5/10 · 25 July 2022]

Top mercenary submarine guy Richard Widmark is hired to take a converted Japanese submarine to seek out a communist held island base potentially making an atomic bomb. Along for the ride are a professor from central casting (Victor Frances), his assistant and Widmark love interest played by Bella Darvi and Widmark's favourite crew of tough, sweaty sub mariners.

Enjoyable enough action adventure, capturing the red menace fear prevalent in the fifties, featuring a solid enough impossible mission storyline. The effects are actually surprisingly good and director Fuller knows how to stage an action scene. The characters though are a bit dull and it's difficult to empathise with anyone really, including a one note Widmark. Adequate Sunday matinee stuff.

Would like to see it again..

[gstevens-2 · 10 August 2001]

I saw this movie on TV years ago, and wish I could see it again..It was mostly a cold-war turned hot story about scientists and mercenaries recruited to take a sub to a secret Chinese island to spy on the project there. They encounter various adventures while looking for the base and when they do find it they discover a Chinese plot to start WW3 and blame it on the United States by dropping a atom bomb from a carefully made up to look like US bomber.Of course, the plot is foiled by the brave heroics of the sub crew. I imagine that the political relationship between China and the US was the reason the movie has not been seen recently. I enjoyed the blend of character and action in this movie. The plot would be plausible in any event. I hope it will come out on vhs or DVD.