Copyright 17 July 1954 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 1 February 1954 (sic). U.S. release: February 1954. U.K. release: 14 June 1954. London opening at Odeon Marble Arch. Australian release: 10 June 1954. Sydney opening at the Plaza. 9,235 feet. 102 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A submarine loaded with "scientists" foils a Communist plot to start WW3 by dropping an atomic bomb on Korea.
NOTES: Film debut of Bella Darvi. This was the fifth CinemaScope film and one of only two nominations for an Academy Award for Best Special Effects, losing out to "20,000 Leagues under the Sea".
COMMENT: Director Sam Fuller liked one line of dialogue so much — "Each man has his own reason for living and his own price for dying" — he repeats it no fewer than 3 times, making 4 in all. This is a good instance of the pretensions of this hokey piece of anti-Red Chinese propaganda. While the politics have not improved with age it does seem a measure more exciting now than it did. What were routine action spots in 1954 now look good.
The acting, however, is still unpleasantly boorish (Widmark, Mitchell, Kulky), pretentious (Francen), or downright embarrassingly hammy (Darvi, who is unflatteringly photographed to boot). David Wayne's part as a medical orderly is so small it's almost a "bit".
The director manages somehow to spin out enough excitement and action to last 103 minutes, though the confined space of the "sub" restricts flowing camera-work and the CinemaScope screen precludes dramatic camera angles. Only the use of "condition red" makes the direction at all inventive. Sets look real enough, but process screen is obvious and production values are limited.
Film begins with a quick tour of world capitals and exploits the CinemaScope screen with a plane landing and atomic explosions but most action takes place in either the cramped quarters of a sub or in a miniature tank — neither ideal CinemaScope material. Newman's rousing and familiar theme is monotonously over-employed. Photography is handicapped by CinemaScope's graininess though night work is very accomplished. Fuller's penchant for realistic action comes across very dramatically in a couple of gruesome sequences with Francen's hand and the discovery of a "stoolie".
SYNOPSIS: A submarine loaded with "scientists" foils a Communist plot to start WW3 by dropping an atomic bomb on Korea.
NOTES: Film debut of Bella Darvi. This was the fifth CinemaScope film and one of only two nominations for an Academy Award for Best Special Effects, losing out to "20,000 Leagues under the Sea".
COMMENT: Director Sam Fuller liked one line of dialogue so much — "Each man has his own reason for living and his own price for dying" — he repeats it no fewer than 3 times, making 4 in all. This is a good instance of the pretensions of this hokey piece of anti-Red Chinese propaganda. While the politics have not improved with age it does seem a measure more exciting now than it did. What were routine action spots in 1954 now look good.
The acting, however, is still unpleasantly boorish (Widmark, Mitchell, Kulky), pretentious (Francen), or downright embarrassingly hammy (Darvi, who is unflatteringly photographed to boot). David Wayne's part as a medical orderly is so small it's almost a "bit".
The director manages somehow to spin out enough excitement and action to last 103 minutes, though the confined space of the "sub" restricts flowing camera-work and the CinemaScope screen precludes dramatic camera angles. Only the use of "condition red" makes the direction at all inventive. Sets look real enough, but process screen is obvious and production values are limited.
Film begins with a quick tour of world capitals and exploits the CinemaScope screen with a plane landing and atomic explosions but most action takes place in either the cramped quarters of a sub or in a miniature tank — neither ideal CinemaScope material. Newman's rousing and familiar theme is monotonously over-employed. Photography is handicapped by CinemaScope's graininess though night work is very accomplished. Fuller's penchant for realistic action comes across very dramatically in a couple of gruesome sequences with Francen's hand and the discovery of a "stoolie".