Richard Widmark {Capt. Adam Jones}stars in this Cold War thriller as the leader of a submarine expedition to the frozen depths of Alaska. His mission is to thwart the communist Chinese who are intent on kick starting World War 3.

Hell and High Water is one of the multitude of pictures that serve only as studio efforts made for made's sake. Take your leading actor, surround them with jobbing actors, and mold a picture together as best as you can. Sometimes a film can break free of its B and C movie roots to truly surprise, but others flounder to only serve as time fillers on terrestrial television. This film falls some where in between the two, not particularly bad exactly, but outside of a couple of tight sequences, not necessarily good either.

It was actually in premise, building up to be a promising film. Then we see a shapely pair of legs coming down the submarine stairs and we just know that this film will lose its edge, and sadly, where it's all going to end up. The insistence of many writers and film makers to shoe horn in a love interest in the grittiest of places rarely works, and here it most assuredly doesn't either. Not that Bella Darvi {owner of those shapely legs}is poor or is at fault for the film being average, it just takes the film in a direction that it didn't need to go. Tension is built up, with one face off submarine sequence being particularly hold your breath inducing, but the preposterous romantic angle on a submarine death mission is badly misplaced.

Tidy but unmemorable, and cribbing from Crash Dive released eleven years earlier, it's probably one for Widmark purists only. 5/10

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 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.