Strictly average movie

There are women in the film, but none has anything you could call a personality.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

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.

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.

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.

I saw this film in 1954, when opened at the Cine Mexico, the only one at the time in the city with the CinemaScope process and four tracks stereophonic sound. The opening, with the bomb blast had a tremendous impact. thanks to the big screen and the sound effects. In those days the terror about the atomic war was very real. Also I was a kid, Well, in any case, the film was bad, even has a war adventure.and its tamed for today standards but if some day comes out, it deserves a good wide screen stereo version. The only way to see if the film has some impact for today audiences.