If there were such a position as Poet Laureate of the Second World War then Rene Clement would surely be a strong candidate for office. Beginning with La Bataille du rail at the very end of hostilities he returned to it in Le pere tranquil, Jeux Interdits and Paris, Brule-e-til. Les Maudits is arguably the star in his crown albeit he 'borrowed' the idea of hell as other people from Sartre and it's hardly new to use a small space as a microcosm of a larger society nevertheless - and without the use of major stars - he is able to rack up the tension like the master he is in this Henri Jeanson scripted tale of what might be called a Ship Of Foils, a mixed bag of Nazis, businessmen, mistresses etc all for one reason or another anxious to get to South America via submarine at the tail-end of the war. They make two stops en route, once to hijack a doctor after one of the passengers is injured and once in Africa where Marcel Dalio - the sole 'name' in the cast - has a warehouse. Clement skillfully builds the atmosphere and explores the conflicts that inevitably develop and offers no respite. It might be a typical Hollywood 'bomber-crew' movie but it is far from a Hollywood ending. Excellent.

Les maudits is directed by René Clément who also co-writes with Victor Alexandrov, Henri Jeanson, Jacques Rémy and Jacques Companéez. It stars Marcel Dalio, Henri Vidal, Florence Marly, Fosco Giachetti, Paul Bernard, Jo Dest, Michel Auclair and Anne Campion.

It's the last days of World War II and a submarine full of Nazi's and fellow collaborators head off from Oslo bound for South America. Hoping to evade capture by the Allies, their plans are stalled when a depth- charge attack injures one of the lady passengers causing them to stop off in France to kidnap a doctor. Once on board the doctor realises the gravity of his situation and uses his medical knowledge to spread slow- burn fret throughout the submarine; just as news of the armistice breaks…

A lesson in claustrophobic suspense and slow-burn psychological edginess, Les maudits riff's on the rats leaving a sinking ship with considerable success. It's a hot-bed of unsavoury characters, where political sin hangs heavy in the scratchy black and white atmosphere. Clément inserts the tension deftly whilst also garnering rich performances from the multilingual ensemble of actors. It all builds to a quite terrific ending that closes down the picture on suitably intelligent note.

It's a hard film to pin down but if you get the chance don't hesitate to view it. 8/10

Taking a look at a recent poll held on the IMDb Classic Film board for the best films of 1947,I was sad to discover,that in amongst the 100's of fantastic sounding titles mentioned in the poll,the total number of movies which I had up to then seen from that year was 3!.

Feeling disappointed about not finding a single movie from 1947 on my shelf waiting to be watched,I suddenly got a terrific surprise,when a fellow IMDb kindly gave me directions to what sounded like an unforgettable Film Noir set in murky waters,which lead to me deciding to set off on finding movies from 1947 in a submarine.

The plot:

April 1945:

Getting hit at every angle by bombs delivered from Alied forces,a submarine crew containing Nazi's and loyal to the cause Italian and French sympathiser's discover the along with the damage to the sub,one of the most wealthiest and powerful of the sympathiser's (Hilde Garosi) has been badly hurt in the attack.

Frustraed at not finding a single doctor in amongst the crew and sympathiser's,General Von Hauser and SS leader Forster decide to take drastic action by diverting their original destination of South America for a small,isolated town in France,in the hope of finding a doctor that they can kidnap.

Sending their most trusted crew members undercover to France,the undercover team find Doctor Guilbert hiding in a burnt out building.

Taking Guilbert to the sub at gunpoint,Guilbert initially hopes that he is only being taken to the sub as a "one off",and the as soon as he has given Hilde the correct treatment,the undercover team will be ordered to take him back safely to France.Sadly for the Doctor,he soon witnesses his hope get completely destroyed as the crew are ordered to set sail again,which leads to the now kidnapped Guilbert realising that he is going to have to use all of his skills and cunning in order to survive the underwater village of the dammed that he finds himself in.

View on the film:

For their adaptation of a Victor Alexandrov story,the screenplay by (deep breath!) Jacques Companeez,Henri Jeanson,Jacques Remy and director Rene Clement smartly keeps the scenes set out of the submarine to a minimum,so as to give each moment when one of the characters slip out a small amount of detail about what they got up to out of the submarine,a feeling of water slowing sinking into the vessel.

Giving each of the characters different beliefs in the Nazil cause, (from the crew who see it as a job,to the Forster, whose life depends on the very existence of his beloved SS) and also showing a language barrier, (with some of the dialogue that the Hilde's husband says to the Germans smartly not being subtitled so as to show that none of the Germans can understand a word that he is saying) the writers slowly turn the fractured nature of the submarine inhabitants up,which leads to the originally "united" submarine splintering into separate divisions each filled with fears over the unknown plans of the other sub- divisions.

Making Guilbert's (played by a brilliantly rugged Henri Vidal) inner monologue a prime feature of the film,the writers show expert timing in choosing the moments that the audience can hear Guilbert's narration,which allows the viewer to "join up" with Guilbert in his information gathering and also the "games" that he unleashes on the unsuspecting crew,in order to stay alive a little longer in this hellish sea merchant.

Shooting the movie on what looks to be a real submarine,director Rene Clement and cinematography Henri Alekan use long,rough edged tracking shots to create a chilling Film Noir atmosphere,thanks to the tracking shots allowing Clement and Alekan to show that there is not a single bit of free space inside this tight,claustrophobic environment.Focusing on every damp corner of the sub,Clment and Alekan brilliantly use the closed off setting as a device to allow the murky characters inner secrets to bubble up to the surface,from Hilde's (played by a very pretty Florence Marly) marriage being on the rocks,to Forster (played by a wonderfully wicked Jo Dest) taking control of things,by taking part in some very ahead of their time S&M games with his loyal assistant Willy.

Extending the tense Film Noir atmosphere out of the sub and into the small moments that the characters are allowed to taste fresh air,Clement shoots the outdoor scenes in a upwards angle which brilliantly allows for all of the tensions rolling out of the submarine to be fully displayed,with Clement delivering a ruthless final punch as he sends the dammed submarine back to the hell from which it,and its inhabitants came from.