CRASH DIVE
US, 1944, 106 minutes, Colour.
Tyrone Power, Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, Dame May Whitty, James Gleason, Ben Carter.
Directed by Archie Mayo.
Crash Dive is a 20th Century Fox propaganda film for 1944. It was successful and won an Oscar for best special effects. It teamed Tyrone Power, a heartthrob lead at 20th Century Fox at the time, with Anne Baxter who was an up and coming star at this time. They were to appear together two years later in The Razor’s Edge for which Anne Baxter would win an Oscar for best supporting actress. Dana Andrews is the solid presence, the other man, who gallantly stands back and does not impede romance.
The film was directed by Archie Mayo who had a successful career in the 30s and into the mid-40s with such films as The Petrified Forest, The Adventures of Marco Polo, They Shall Have Music, Orchestra Wives. He also directed the Marx Brothers in A Night in Casablanca.
The film is almost the archetype of the submarine action film. After a navy beginning, there are twenty minutes of screwball comedy and romance along the lines of The More the Merrier with the difficulties of accommodation in Washington DC. After that, the film is mainly action culminating in a daring raid by the submarine, following a German boat, into the harbour and destroying all the ammunition in a commando raid. Black actor, Ben Carter, is given a prominent role with some comments which show a more enlightened attitude towards African American actors in the 1940s.
While the film is a propaganda piece, it has an interesting narrative – it is only the last five minutes with Tyrone Power’s voice-over praising the various contributions of the navy and all the services to the war effort that it becomes a period piece and propaganda effort of the mid-1940s.
1.An interesting and entertaining war film? From the period? Capturing the American experience at the time?
2.The locations, Connecticut and the wharves, the harbour? The schools? Washington? The hotels? The colour photography? The scenes at sea? The special effects, Oscar-winning, for the commando raid and the explosions? Musical score?
3.The familiarity of the plot: this film as one of the original submarine films? The portrait of America at war, ethos? The role of the submarines? The crew? The pattern for subsequent films?
4.Ward Stewart and his situation, the PT war boats, his relative and the assignment to the submarine? The encounter with Dewey? The personality clash? Working with Dewey? Their learning to respect each other? On board, commands, the sailing, the relationship with the crew? Sighting the Swedish vessel, being fired on – and Ward in the boat? The return, the commission? Tracking the boat, going into the harbour, Ward and his leading the commando raid, Mac and his being killed after staying behind? The confrontation between Ward and Dewey, Dewey overhearing Jean, the tension on board? The reconciliation?
5.Jean, teacher, her relationship with Dewey? The girls going for the trip, the train, the humour of the screwball comedy-type encounter in the bunk, the clash with Goodnight? No accommodation in Washington? The hotel, finding Ward in the room, his not telling her that he had arranged everything? His emotional blackmail, taking her out, her enjoying the ball? Falling in love? Her returning back to Connecticut, his tracking her down? Her dilemma? Her wanting Dewey to marry her? Meeting, talking with Ward, Dewey overhearing? The visit to the grandmother and the home? The happy ending with the wedding?
6.Dewey, the upright good man? Commander? The need for men, his relationship with Ward? His love for Jean, their discussions about marriage, his not being able to afford it, wanting to give her the best? On board, the confrontation with the German boat? New orders, leading the commando raid? The success, the explosions on the submarine, his remaining above surface, guiding them through the net, the exploding of the ship? His being wounded? The reconciliation with Ward? His being hurt by Jean?
7.Mac, the chief, with the crew, with Oliver Cromwell Jones? His heart condition, concealing it? The possibility of promotion, the argument with Oliver? Going on the raid, his staying behind and dying?
8.Oliver Cromwell Jones, the black man on the boat, given better lines than usual at this time of Hollywood film-making? His role on the ship, with Mac, the arguments about medication? His going on the raid – and his joke about not having to black up, being a born commando? The final heroism with Ward?
9.The background of the family, grandmother and her dominance, welcoming Jean, her love for Ward? The happy ending with the wedding?
10.The postscript, Tyrone Power and his praise of the American navy, the exhorting of people to support the war effort?
