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By
WAYNE KLEIN
A German U-boat and American
destroyer stalk each other in the South Atlantic
at the height of World War II. Each commander
(Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens) must try and
outfox the other in this variation on "Run Silent,
Run Deep." This time, though, the Germans are
below the sea and the American destroyer hunts for
the U-boat as it glides beneath the waves. As the
two commanders plan move and counter move,
tensions grow high among the crew.
A well directed beautifully shot minor war
classic, "The Enemy Below" captures the feeling of
being at each by actually shooting on a mock up of
a destroyer. There are very few process shots in
the sequences shot on the water and this lends a
level of authenticity to the film that few films
from this time have. Director Dick Powell does a
great job of capturing the atmosphere aboard ship.
"The Enemy Below" won an Academy Award for best
visual effects in 1957 and, although the effects
are impressive for the time, the film that should
have been nominated and won was Ray Harryhausen's
"20 Million Miles to Earth" with its outstanding
stop motion animation.
Ah the days of rich, Technicolor movies. The film
looks terrific although it is clear that the
negative has faded a bit over time. Still, the
colors look vibrant and have that candy color look
of most of the Technicolor films of the time. The
faithful reproduction of the original mono sound
doesn't have any noticeable distortion.
There aren't any extras, and no commentary track
although David (called Al early in his career)
Hedison could have provided one.
A well directed, suspenseful thriller at sea, "The
Enemy Below" comes from a lost era when war was
much more black and white. There are few if any
analog or digital blemishes and the rich color
comes across very well in this transfer. |
