Review of Hell and High Water: Sam Fuller Collection

Introduction

The opening narration explains that:
"In the summer of 1953, it was announced that an atomic bomb of foreign origin had been exploded somewhere outside of 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."

The explosion then takes place and the opening credits roll over the ascending mushroom cloud. Travelling back to the beginning of the story, the renowned scientist Professor Montel (Victor Francen) is fielding questions from journalists in a Paris airport before boarding a plane to Vienna. He never arrives and the rumours fly that he is behind the Iron Curtain with other missing nuclear scientists.

It transpires that the Professor is part of an organisation of `concerned citizens` investigating the possibility that the Communists have a nuclear base somewhere in between Japan and the Arctic. In order to transport the Professor and his assistant north to investigate, Adam Jones (Richard Widmark) a retired U.S. submarine captain is hired to track a Chinese boat which is heading to the island. Tensions arise between Jones and Montel, and between Jones` crew and Montel`s beautiful assistant Denise (Bella Darvi) as their initial reluctance to have a woman on board turns into a competition for her affections. This is compounded when they are engaged by a Chinese submarine that does not believe they are a scientific expedition and a game of cat and mouse ensues.

Video

Presented in the anamorphic CinemaScope ratio of 2.55:1, the picture is generally good, although the rear-projection scenes are grainy and the underwater shots are obviously of model submarines. The island scenes were presumably filmed in a studio, but the attention to detail is very good and Fuller makes the most of what he`s got.

Audio

The DD 2.0 stereo soundtrack is fairly good, with clear dialogue and no distortion in the combat scenes, although a 5.1 mix would have been optimum for these scenes, also enhancing the feeling of claustrophobia inside the submarine.

Features

Only a trailer, which is disappointing as this DVD is released as one of the "Sam Fuller Collection" - one might reasonably expect extras such as a commentary and a retrospective.

Conclusion

`Hell and High Water` is an interesting Cold War adventure thriller, which is never boring despite some predictability. The submarine scenes, though reasonably claustrophobic, are not up there with those in `Das Boot` or `Crimson Tide`, but this was made in 1954 and effects have come a long way since then. The action sequences on dry land are far better, and it`s here that Samuel Fuller shows his class as a director.

This is an enjoyable matinee adventure film, but with the Cold War long over, much of the tension and relevance has gone, so a film for Samuel Fuller aficionados rather than a casual DVD viewer.