Submarine Raider

Despite the title, most of the film fortunately takes place above water as Larry Parks dons headphones as the radio operator who learns of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor fresh from sinking a pleasure cruiser and strafing the lifeboat containing the survivors.

The late Bob Baker once described the submarine picture as "what must be every cameraman's number one headache", but Franz Planer (treating water in Hollywood between 'Leibelei' and 'Letter from an Unknown Woman') undaunted helps deliver a good-looking little potboiler to which the frequent use of stock footage and obvious use of models lends a certain goofy charm. (As usual the Japs demonstrate their complete unconcern for all human life - including their own - when one of their airman pays for failure by saluting smartly and promptly jumping off the side of the submarine into the ocean.)

To be fair, Submarine Raider was conceived, written, produced and released within 7 months of the attack on Pearl Harbour. The special effects are not great by today's standards, but for a low budget production with little time, they are adequate and consistent with what came out of many studios at the time (and later), as is the script. The American cast's acting is isnt bad but the Japanese, particularly the aircraft carrier captain played by Italian born Nino Pipitone isnt great. Submarine Raider could be put in a 'worst movie' list, but the context - a quick response to the start of America's involvement in WW2 lifts it away slightly from that by giving the American public a bit of rah rah...and as the captain says at the end, 'Remember Pearl Harbour'.

In an era when propaganda films were coming out of Hollywood in a rush there were many that were A class, some which were B class, and then there was this one. I won't even comment on the bone-headed decisions the the two ship captains make or the historical accuracy that was missing. Rarely have I seen such obvious special effects such as planes making almost 90 degree turns in flight and clearly light weight model planes landing on the Japanese carrier. This was poorly written and planned and must have been rushed into production with a budget of about $1.38. If you want a good WW2 sub movie watch almost any film but this one.

This is probably the most important and factual Pearl Harbor movie ever made. Oliver Stone and James Cameron could not have painted a truer picture. The effects are magnificent, and the acting better than Ben Affleck in "Pearl Harbor" or Leo DiCaprio in "Titanic", if that could ever be possible. If you hold your nose, keep your eyes closed and sneeze real hard you will see colors and be dizzied by this masterpiece. A sequel was rumored to have been in the works, but was squelched by foreign powers. Some say it was the investment by offshore interests in Hollywood by means of arbitrage and loose lips. Others say the original cast was so overwrought with their original efforts that they could not perform again for years after, and were not able to be re-cast by new up-and-comers. Rumors will swirl for years, but the original film adds a great insight to future generations as to what it was all about.

For some reason an American causing yacht finds itself in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and in the way of a Japanese aircraft carrier. The bigger ship uses it as target practice leaving only "Sue" (Marguerite Chapman) as the sole survivor. Fortunately, she manages to get of an SOS and that was picked up by a nearby American submarine which races to her rescue. The submariners are puzzled by their inability to send or receive signals until they hear of the terrible news that Pearl Harbour has been devastated by a sudden, sneaky, attack. Now, complete with their damsel in distress, they concoct quite a cunning plan to lure the offending carrier to them and sink three fish into it! It's frequently interspersed with actuality and had the editing been a bit better, that might have helped out - but it isn't and coupled with a Japanese captain who was about as menacing as "Mr. Wong" and Peter Sellers' love child - on a bad day, the whole thing really just falls well short. Sure, it was made in 1942 and is a pretty shameless piece of propaganda but I'm not sure these are excuses enough for this rather cheap and cheerfully thrown together exercise in just about everything mediocre film-making has to offer. It doubtlessly made the audience feel a bit better at a very difficult time, but it has little to recommend it now.