Vanguard News Network
VNN Media
VNN Digital Library
VNN Reader Mail
VNN Broadcasts

Old August 26th, 2021 #1
steven clark
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,277
Default Hell and High Water

Hell and High Water (1954) is a submarine action film (no submarine romance films, are there?) starring Richard Widmark. I saw it ages ago on TV, and just caught it on Youtube...finally get to see it in color.

The movie is an okay adventure film where some scientists assemble to stop a nefarious plot to start WWIII. Widmark is the troubled sub commander chosen to lead a mercenary crew using an old Jap sub.
They take on the Chinese, who seem to plan on starting said WWIII by setting off a black ops nuke bombing. It's kind of hokey, but Widmark is always fun to watch.

Also. lots of Chinese get wasted, so if you're down on China after Covid, you might get a kick out of this.

What's interesting is the French scientist's daughter who rides along (Bella Darvi). She had an interesting history. She is verrrry fransh, but not really. Darvi is a Polish Jew, name originally Baila Wegier. After the war, Darryl F. Zanuck found her and thought she'd be a top starlet. The career kind of fizzled, and this was one of her only starring roles. She was said to be so bad that in the film The Egyptian, Joan Collins, one of the cast, heckled her off-camera.

Darvi had a gambling problem. She blew 65,000 in two days. Zanuck paid her debt, but she was always running up a tab. She lost 30,000 pounds in one night. Darvi also hit drugs, and later turned to lesbianism, so Zanuck never got much of a return for his investment. Darvi committed suicide in 1968.

But she's adequate in the film, and it's a good popcorn movie. Interesting too how the script had to keep snipping out any pro-American references, because they wanted to make it downbeat and cynical, which was the new trend of postwar movies.

Darvi also reminds us how perverted a lot of Hollywood types are.
 
Old August 27th, 2021 #2
Ray Allan
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 15,173
Default

Quote:
(no submarine romance films, are there?)
Sure there are:

__________________
"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy."

--Henry A. Kissinger, jewish politician and advisor
 
Old August 27th, 2021 #3
Gladiatrix
Senior Member
 
Gladiatrix's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: In a dystopian nightmare
Posts: 4,808
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray Allan View Post
And here I was expecting some man-on-man action!

Here's one you might like.

__________________
Political correctness is oppression disguised as good manners.
 
Old August 28th, 2021 #4
Ray Allan
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 15,173
Default

I've never seen Hell and High Water, but I did see Richard Widmark once in a 1965 movie, The Bedford Incident, where he plays the deranged captain of an American destroyer trying to sink a Soviet submarine he thinks is trying to start World War III. A little like Hunt For Red October. I think it was also based on an incident during the Cuban Missile Crisis between a Soviet sub and the u.s. navy. The movie also stars Sidney Portier as a journalist trying to dissuade the evil White captain from exacerbating the situation and having Widmark actually start the war. An early Hymiewood example of Blacks=good and Whites=bad.
__________________
"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy."

--Henry A. Kissinger, jewish politician and advisor
 
Old August 29th, 2021 #5
steven clark
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,277
Default Hell and High Water

The Bedford Incident, which I saw in the theater in 1965, was one of the last black and white movies made. It's very enjoyable, and you should watch Hell and High Water to compare both and Widmark's performance.

Widmark always seemed to portray bitter loners.

Sidney Poitier as the righteous nigger was very much in your face, and don't forget Martin Balsam as the Jewish doctor on reserve duty. Their alliance against Widmark is also very telling.

I did like that they had a German on board, a West German liaison and former U Boat commander, and he was a decent, thoughtful character.
 
Reply

Share


Thread
Display Modes


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:24 AM.
Page generated in 0.50099 seconds.