Hell Below
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| Hell Below | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Jack Conway |
| Written by | Edward Ellsberg (novel Pigboats) Laird Doyle |
| Starring | Robert Montgomery Walter Huston Madge Evans Jimmy Durante Eugene Pallette Robert Young |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | 9 June 1933 (USA) |
| Running time | 101 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Hell Below (1933) was a MGM film set in the Adriatic during World War I about submarine warfare based on Commander Edward Ellsberg's novel Pigboats, starring Robert Montgomery, Walter Huston, Robert Young, Madge Evans, and Jimmy Durante. USS S-31 played USS AL-14, and action sequences including the sinking of an actual WW I destroyer, the USS Moody, to simulate the destruction of a German destroyer.
Although set in World War I, Hell Below set up the structure for many World War II submarine warfare dramas to follow (such as Destination Tokyo, Torpedo Run, Operation Pacific, Hellcats of the Navy, Run Silent, Run Deep and others) with dramatic tension and action scenes around the warfare itself, as well as a love triangle or personal conflict to add personal interest. Extensive footage of World War I-era ships and planes supplement this war drama, which critics and user reviewers have characterised as excellent.
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[edit] Plot summary
The movie turns on the conflict between Lt. Cmdr. T.J. Toler (Huston), the submarine's commanding officer, and Lt. Thomas Knowlton (Montgomery), who falls in love with Toler's married daughter Madge Evans (Standish). This leads to friction, as Knowlton questions Toler's by-the-book decisions and actions, and makes bad decisions himself, endangering the sub and crew and leading to his courtmartial. Comic relief is provided by the interplay between the cook (Durante) and a torpedo officer.[1]
[edit] Miscellanea
- The cinematography team developed a way to film targets through a periscope using a series of lenses and prisms.
- Merritt-Chapman & Scott was hired to sink the USS Moody, a World War I-era destroyer destined for scrapping (due to the London Naval Treaty limits on navy strength) and purchased by MGM for US$35,000. The sinking simulated the torpedoing of a German destroyer.
- Robert Montgomery was later a Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
- Technical adviser was Lt. Cmdr. Morris D. Gilmore, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1911, had a long and distinguished career as a submarine commander[2] and was elected to the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1968.[3]
- Reported running times vary widely from 78 to 155 minutes, but the accepted time is 101 minutes.
[edit] Awards
None known
[edit] References
- ^ The following IMDB user reviews were drawn on to create this synopsis: "Exceptional Undersea Drama" and "Close and Cramped" as well as others on the page.
- ^ History of the R-21 and Gilmore
- ^ U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame bio for Gilmore
[edit] External links
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