A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

As others have said, with its nonchalant acceptance (and even promotion) of the normality and worth of whaling - the main characters cheering at every one harpooned - this film is jaw-droppingly rooted in its era. And yet it is very watchable, for the remarkable authenticity of setting (this is an industry that should be remembered, the better to inform opinion of why consensus is now against it) and some good characters (Jill Bennett's female whaling captain is wonderful, far more interesting than the wooden heroine). The plot, unfortunately, is formulaic, with "plot coupons" abounding. We're told that a harpoon gun a) has an explosive warhead; b) has a dangerous recoil; c) has a coiled cable that might catch your foot if you're not careful. And, darn me, various characters fall foul of all three.

This is no whale of a film. I'll accept, for the moment, "Hell Below Zero" is a reflection of the times and pass on commenting about the whaling industry. The movie is just too, too dull. The silent "Down to the Sea in Ships" had a easier-to-get-involved-in storyline… I guess I just couldn't drum up the needed sympathy for the characters Mr. Ladd and Ms. Tetzel portray. I was rooting for Stanley Baker at the end. He was better than the leads. The snowy ending is a pick-up in excitement, and nicely photographed; but, Mr. Baker, sadly, loses in his effort to end the dullness. *** Hell Below Zero (1954) Mark Robson ~ Alan Ladd, Joan Tetzel, Stanley Baker

This movie is better than the Maltin movie book rates it. Ladd does well with a poorly written role, Niall MacGinnis and Stanley Baker are fine too. The weak link is a plot that doesn't make sense and Joan Tetzel as a not very interesting love interest.But a couple of other features push the movie up a notch. The beautiful color shots of whales being caught and slaughtered (in 1954! On a British ship!) are things you won't see elsewhere. I had no idea we were still killing whales on this scale at that time. Some scenes are right out of Moby Dick.Another surprise is the role of a feisty whaling woman (played by Jill Bennett) captaining a whale catching vessel. You don't often see women in such action roles, even today.And as others have noted, the mix of studio and arctic shots is pretty darn smooth. Much better than "Ice Station Zebra" for example. I was surprised and impressed.So if you're an Alan Ladd fan, go ahead and catch this one. Or if you're curious about how they caught whales in the mid-twentieth century, this is better than any documentary.

In all Alan Ladd films when Alan stood up everyone else immediately sat down. Why? Well, my son, he was more of a laddie in stature than even a lad. In those days there were Rules. If, heaven forbid, a leading man hadn't a hairy chest or was vertically challenged, the other male cast members were depilated [Clark Gable MOGAMBO] or either sat, or stood in holes [male & female in all Alan's pictures].The Rules also stipulated that however macho [Rock Hudson], or articulate [James Dean] a leading man might appear, audiences regarded diminution as effeminate; this nancy distinction Hollywood felt firstly financially and secondly morally bound to cinematically correct. Regardless of history [Napoleon, Churchill] Hollywood knew best: A short man was short of something. At 5'6,' 'Tiny' Ladd seemed too short for a screen career.A pot boiler like HELL BELOW ZERO is the best measure of an actor- where, as here, the producer was a crook [Cubby Broccoli, later owing Sean Connery a packet- one small talent robbing another], the name support non-existent, and the star makes or breaks. Ladd, a former radio actor, with screen presence and persona to die for, makes in this execrable Hammond Innes drivel.Made in Britain [favourable currency exchange rates] ostensibly about whaling, it mutates to a British drawing room murder mystery with incomparable Britlish drabness- characters saying 'ken't' for 'can't' etc.Promoted to skipper of a whaling hell-hole where every crewman is putatively vital, [Joseph Tomelty, ham and equally atrocious playwright, having been thankfully concussed], Ladd has time to go 'investigating,' predictably ending up on the only South Atlantic, Lillian Gish ice floe where breath is not emitted as steam.But Ladd, on the inevitable downward spiral from SHANE, manages a coolness this refrigerated British turkey doesn't, and elucidates by example among Old Country antecedents that there is another way. One of the few great movie stars in the Hollywood firmament, no one noticed he was small at the time. Because, -Wallbridge - his middle name suggests and his talent confirms, he was a giant in 1950's Lilliput.