Crash Dive

This was a very enjoyable WWII film, though before I discuss why I liked the movie, I should point out that the film does have one BIG cliché. When Tyrone Power meets a woman (Anne Baxter--here with dark brown hair) and they immediately hate each other, lovers of classic Hollywood films know that this can only mean one thing---they are destined to fall in love by the end of the film!! Aside from this predictable aspect of the film, I really did like the movie.

The first thing I noticed about the film was the gorgeous color film. For 1943, it was terrific--with the most vibrant blues I've ever seen--much like the look of the great film, THE CAINE MUTINY. Twentieth-Century Fox really pulled out the stops to make this film look nice.

As far as the plot goes, it's a pretty exciting and standard submarine film. Now that I write this, I realize that they sure made a lot of great sub films over the years--with hardly a stinker among them. This film maintains the excellent tradition of such lovely films as RUN SILENT RUN DEEP, THE ENEMY BELOW and DESINTATION TOKYO--all lovely films that are both gripping and entertaining.

The film has more plot than just subs and Anne Baxter. It seems that Tyrone Power was very happy and successful aboard PT boats. When he was transferred to sub duty, he wasn't particularly excited, as he thought that patrol boats were the greatest thing since sliced bread. However, over time, he makes good and grows to love the submarine.

CRASH DIVE has some excellent action scenes--particularly the attack on a secret base near the end. The acting good, script very good for a wartime propaganda flick and I particularly liked the sympathetic portrayal of the Black sailor--something pretty rare in a film of the era. Overall, a good and enjoyable film.

This is one of very few films shot partly at the submarine base in Groton, CT, aka Submarine Base New London, CT.

A few naval combatants rarely seen in Technicolor are visible in the early part of the film. The PT boats seen near the beginning are the 77-foot Elco type. The submarine primarily featured as the fictional USS Corsair is the experimental USS Marlin (SS-205), with a conning tower modified to resemble her sister USS Mackerel (SS-204). A few O-class and R-class submarines, built in World War One and used for training in WW2, are visible in the background of some shots. For wartime security reasons, no submarine classes used in combat in WW2 appear in the film. The USS Semmes (AG-24 ex-DD-189) is seen in one shot; there are probably not many good Technicolor views of a four-stack destroyer available today. The Semmes was being used as a sonar testbed at the time.

I personally did not like how the love story progressed, as Tyrone Power is consistently deceptive and gets the girl anyway.

Another reviewer has assumed that the Nazi base would have to be near New England on the basis that WW2 submarines had a short range. This is incorrect. US submarines in WW2 routinely went from Pearl Harbor to Japan's home waters, patrolled for several weeks, and returned to Pearl Harbor on a single tank of diesel fuel. A Gato-class submarine could cover 11,000 miles without refueling, thus could have patrolled in German home waters while based in Groton if necessary. My assumption is that the Nazi base would be in Greenland, not likely given the realities of the war, but the raid on it still makes for good action.

Archie Mayo's film lurches between a straightforward war movie (with impressive effects in the later section, concerning an attack on a submarine) and a tug of love romance between two friends and the girl they both want to marry. The balance between the two stories isn't always effective, and perhaps the film would have been better one thing or the other.

However, Tyrone Power is top-billed - in his last movie before real-life active service - and close following in the cast are Dana Andrews, reliable as ever in what could have been a unsympathetic role, and Anne Baxter as the schoolmistress who wins their hearts. All are very good. James Gleason, as 'Mac', is as watchable as ever, while the great May Whitty makes an impact when the focus moves away from the boys at sea.

'Crash Dive' is perhaps a noble failure, but yet another interesting war film, this time propaganda for the submarine units. It is also of note for the blink-and-you-miss-him film debut of Steve Forrest (younger brother of Dana Andrews).

Tyrone Power and Dana Andrews take on the Nazi's in their submarine. When it comes to nautical movies you just can't beat a good old submarine story, the claustriphobic atmosphere of the sub, the inevitable sweating in the dark, listening to the ping of the sonar and anticipating the rocking explosions of the depth charges... And it's all in glorious colour, which is unusual for a war movie actually made during the war. Throw in a love triangle and a commando attack on a secret Nazi base and you have a solid patriotic entertainment (it even encourages you to buy war bonds over the final credits!).

There is plenty more of director Archie Mayo's films to be seen, but of the films already seen of his he has generally struck me as a very competent if not exceptional director. Most of the seen films of his ranged for me between average and pretty good, with a few very good ones ('It's Love I'm After', 'The Petrified Forest' and 'Legion'). Tyrone Power is not a favourite of mine either, but starred in a fair share of good and more films and showed more than once that he had acting ability in him.

'Crash Dive' was seen for those two main reasons. Other reasons being my love of classic/golden age film and seeing that the special effects won an Oscar (so wanted to see if the win was deserved and whether they held up today). Finally seeing it, 'Crash Dive' struck me as an uneven film that doesn't completely thrill with some noticeable flaws. Yet it also doesn't crash and burn either, with a lot of great things so there was enough for it to warrant a watch.

A lot of great things can be seen in 'Crash Dive'. First and foremost, the production values which are still mighty impressive. The Technicolor photography is truly ravishing, with colours that really pop up at you. The sets are not elaborate but don't look fake, but the standout visually is the special effects which were wholly deserving of the Oscar. They still look incredible, so much money and time clearly went into the ones featured in the climax, and they are used thrillingly towards the end. The music score is haunting and Mayo's direction in the action is accomplished.

Furthermore, the action does excite and move and does fare a lot better than what is going on in the more dramatic and romantic moments. Some of the script is intelligently done and the acting is fine. Power, in his last role before his military service, is a noble lead, while Dana Andrews is equally amiable and Anne Baxter has enough charm to her to make the romance believable. Really appreciated the sympathetic portrayal of Ben Carter's character, nothing stereotypical or demeaning here and nothing to be offended by either while Carter gives a dignified performance.

Mayo's direction is not as confident however in the non-action scenes and becomes rather undistinguished and like his heart wasn't in it. The romance is both bland and stale and too much of the storytelling borders on the ridiculous, complete with some rather leaden pacing.

It also gets rather heavy handed towards and at the end, don't like being talked down to and that's how the writing towards and at the end made me feel. The writing is on the most part daft and lacking in life and there wasn't enough to the film to make me connect all the way through for the characters, Carter's being the exception.

Overall, uneven with a lot of good but an equal amount of not so good. 6/10