Hell and High Water (1954 film)
Hell and High Water | |
---|---|
20th Century Fox | |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 103 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1,870,000[1] |
Box office | $2,700,000[2][3][4] |
Hell and High Water is a 1954 American
Plot
Before the credits, an off-screen voice-over narrates:
In the summer of 1953, it was announced that an atomic bomb of foreign origin had been exploded somewhere outside the United States. Shortly thereafter it was indicated that this atomic reaction, according to scientific reports, originated in a remote area in North Pacific waters, somewhere between the northern tip of the Japanese Islands and the Arctic Circle. This is the story of that explosion.
Renowned French scientist Professor Montel (Victor Francen) goes missing; authorities believe that he and four other Western scientists have defected behind the Iron Curtain.
Former U.S. Navy
News arrives that the Kiang Ching has sailed; despite Jones' protests that the submarine's torpedo tubes have not been inspected and tested yet, and are therefore too dangerous to use, there is no choice but to leave port and pursue the freighter. On the voyage, they are detected by a Red Chinese submarine which fires torpedoes at them. Unable to fire back with his own untested torpedo tubes, Jones dives the boat to the sea bottom, hoping to hide; the Chinese follow. After several tense hours of waiting each other out, Jones finally decides to surface, ramming and sinking the enemy submarine.
Jones wants to turn back, but Montel points out that their contract specifies that he won't be paid unless Montel is satisfied. They follow the Kiang Ching to an island; Jones and Montel land to investigate, but find insignificant radioactivity. After a firefight with Red Chinese soldiers, the patrol returns to the submarine with a captive, a pilot named Ho-Sin, and discover the existence of another island which could be their target.
During a storm en route to the island, Montel is injured, and insists Jones take Denise in his place. Denise detects an extremely high level of radioactivity but is forced to shoot and kill a Chinese soldier who stumbles upon her. Back aboard the submarine, Jones is worried because he recognized an American
Jones decides to go ashore and watch for the bomber's takeoff; at his signal, the submarine will surface and try to shoot it down. Montel, however, sneaks onto the island in his place. When Montel signals, the submarine surfaces and the crew opens fire with every weapon aboard. On fire, it crashes, detonating the atomic bomb and obliterating the island. In voice-over, Montel's previous line echoes as the mushroom cloud rises: "Each man has his own reason for living and his own price for dying".
Cast
- Richard Widmark as Adam Jones
- Bella Darvi as Professor Denise Gerard
- Victor Francen as Professor Montel
- Cameron Mitchell as "Ski" Brodski
- Gene Evans as Chief Holter
- David Wayne as Tugboat Walker
- Stephen Bekassy as Neuman
- Richard Loo as Hakada Fujimori
- Henry Kulky as Gunner McCrossin
- Wong Artarne as Chin Lee
Production
Fuller agreed to direct the film after
Fuller spent several days aboard a U.S. Navy submarine, including fifteen hours submerged. The experience led Fuller to add film sequences where Francen gets his fingers caught in a hatch, using a submarine's red lighting to enhance a love scene, and having a battle between two submarines staged much like a hunter stalking his prey.[6] When cinematographer Joseph MacDonald said there was no room on the sets for the red lighting, Fuller said that few in the audience would be familiar with the equipment inside a submarine and therefore had MacDonald place them in the audience's view.
The U.S. government, who provided the nuclear bomb explosion footage that opens the film, insisted that certain spectrum colors be eliminated from the sequence, lest it "could reveal nuclear secrets".[6]
Filming started 26 June 1953.[7]
This was the feature film debut of Darryl F. Zanuck's mistress Bella Darvi, whose stage surname was a combination of Zanuck's first name and that of his wife Virginia.[8]
Charles Boyer was originally cast in the role as Professor Montel, which later went to actor Victor Francen.
Zanuck often screened the film in CinemaScope to directors who had reservations about working in the widescreen process to demonstrate why its use should not be limited to just epics.[9]
Reception
The film was a box office success in the United States and abroad, particularly Germany. Later, when Fuller was filming a cameo in Steven Spielberg's 1941, Spielberg showed him that he carried a print of Hell and High Water in the trunk of his car.[6]
Initially, France banned the film on political grounds. It also banned Soviet political films. A number of European countries were sensitive to films with political themes and refused to grant them exhibition permits, avoiding the ire of the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
Awards
- Academy Awards, USA 1955
- Nominated for Best Effects, Special Effects
- Golden Globe Awards, USA 1954
- Most Promising Newcomer - Female for Bella Darvi
- Directors Guild of America, USA 1955
- Nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (Samuel Fuller)
References
- ^ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History, Scarecrow Press, 1989 p249.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p225
- ^ 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1954', Variety Weekly, January 5, 1955.
- ^ "20th Blessing". Variety. 9 November 1955. p. 20.
- ^ Fuller, Samuel A Third Face 2002 Alfred A. Knopf, p.308
- ^ a b c Fuller, Samuel A Third Face 2002 Alfred A. Knopf, pp 311-312
- ^ First Full CinemaScope Schedule Listed by Fox Los Angeles Times 8 June 1953: A3.
- ^ RANDOM OBSERVATIONS ON PICTURES AND PEOPLE By A. H. WEILER. New York Times 31 Jan 1954: X5.
- ^ Southall, James. "Hell and High Water". Movie Wave. Retrieved July 25, 2015.