Sottomarino D-1

This is a tough movie to rate, mostly because it's from a period when Warner Brothers was struggling to produce new, distinctive movies that didn't star Errol Flynn. This flick about the men aboard a submarine as it travels from a surprisingly mountainous Long Island to Long Beach, then to the bottom of the ocean contains all the standard tropes of the military movie of the era and submarines in particular. Pals at work, fighting about dames? Check. Young hothead who straightens up and becomes a part of the outfit? Check. Calm, all-wise commander who shows up at odd moments to issue fiats and, and whose unflustered command during the crisis keeps things from falling apart? Check. Submarine trapped at the bottom of the ocean while everyone rallies around to save the crew? Check.

It's all performed well by the typical large, competent Warner Brothers cast under the direction of workhorse director Lloyd Bacon. As a result it's an eminently watchable example of the genre. Where it is of most interest is in the technology of rescue, the telephone that floats to the surface with its provenance written in large letters; the suited diver who heads down to attach a cable to the trapped boat. It's interesting to see the evolution of these, and associated techniques from Capra's SUBMARINE (1928) to this one.

The genre would evolve rapidly in the war years, with the emphasis on battle tactics and suspense. For the moment, this was the model in use.