The Enemy Below

All the greatest war films have focused on character at least as much as combat, and if a film is going to ignore that golden rule, it better offer really edge-of-your-seat combat. The Enemy Below is a bust there, too. Not only does it fail to build any tension, but it's often so fake as to be downright distracting and laughable. You can forgive the model-in-a-bathtub underwater shots, but not the lack of even basic research. Take the U-boat. The whole interior, the controls and gauges, weapons, tactics, procedures, crew uniforms and dog tags, and even the placard urging the crew to follow the Führer's orders are all wrong or totally invented out of thin air. This is the Gilligan's Island version of WWII naval combat.

For great WWII sub films, check out the propagandistic but fun Destination Tokyo with its exciting action and very colorful characters; the psychological drama Run Silent, Run Deep (a forebear of the intense Crimson Tide); and of course the legendary Das Boot, with its intense realism and superb direction and cinematography. And if you want a good WWII sub comedy, try Operation Petticoat with Cary Grant.

The only thing barely keeping The Enemy Below afloat is the sheer charisma of Mitchum and Jurgens. Otherwise the film is a waste of actors and a waste of time.

Robert Mitchum is the man who rises to do what is needed. Not a superhero, but a very human man who goes into war and does what is required. He is the Captain of a U.S. destroyer sent out to track U-boats. Curt Jurgens is his mirror reflection - below - a Captain of the U-Boat that becomes the target of Mitchum's search. He is not a product of the Nazi war-machine, but again, a very likable man just defending his country. This is demonstrated with deft humor when Jurgens very deliberately hangs his jacket over the plaque of Hitler's propaganda.

The script eschews the stereotypical "Nazi monsters", and portrays a German crew with very real - and universal - emotions. They, too, were just men doing their job and what is required. Instead of having us root for the Americans to blow up the evil Germans, you are put in the position of caring equally for both sides. You comprehend that they are men, offering their lives for their command, not in a political way, but in a time-honoured fashion of a man going to war. You understand both sides REALLY do not want to be here, to kill or be killed; they would rather home. No rousing stereotypical propaganda. In the end, they will kill each other if they must, but given the choice, they would rather not. Very different for that period of war films.

A little dated appearance on the boat scenes by today's standards. It's obvious toy models when the boats crash, but easily overlooked and dismissed when balanced with the very impressive lack of finger-pointing and flag-waving for either nationality. Both Mitchum and Jurgens are dead-bang on target in their lead roles, with David Hedison, Theodore Bickel and Doug McClure round out a super cast