Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

gordonl56 HELL BELOW ZERO – 1954Alan Ladd headlines this crime-adventure film set on the Antarctic whaling fleet. Ladd is in South Africa seeing about a mine he had invested in. It seems he was taken for a bundle by his partner in the enterprise. He meets a woman, Joan Tetzel, who is in from the UK to see about the death of her father. The man, a ship Captain, had gone overboard from a whaler in the Antarctic.Ladd, who just happened to serve in the Navy during the war signs on as first mate on the ship taking Tetzel to the whaling fleet. Also going along is the owner of the fleet, Basil Sydney and Niall MacGinnis, the fleet doctor with an over fondness for the bottle.Ladd and Tetzel are both attracted to each other and sparks soon fly. That is till Ladd hears that Tetzel in the fiancé of Stanley Baker, the son of Basil Sydney. Ladd cools the relationship which annoys Tetzel. Things heat up again when Ladd discovers that Baker is no longer in the picture.The ship reaches the whalers and Ladd is assigned to look into the death of Tetzel's father. Soon at the top of the suspect list is Tetzel's old beau, Baker. There is of course no actual proof since the only witness somehow manages to get himself killed.To cut to the quick, Baker decides to do in Ladd, Tetzel and anyone else you might cause him any bother. While all this is going on, there is plenty of action involving the whalers etc. A couple of good knockdown fist fights are thrown in to keep the pace going.The whole thing ends with a chase across the ice with the dastardly Baker getting his well deserved comeuppance.This movie is better than I am making it sound. There is plenty of action, and lots of interesting, shot on location footage of the whalers in action. This is blended very well into the made in studio footage. All in all, this is a good way to use up 90 minutes on a rainy day.Also in the cast is Jill Bennett as a Captain on one of the whale catchers. The director, Mark Robson, is best known for directing, THE PRIZE, THE HARDER THEY FALL, LOST COMMAND, VALLEY OF THE DOLLS and VON RYAN'S EXPRESS.

Ray Girvan As others have said, with its nonchalant acceptance (and even promotion) of the normality and worth of whaling - the main characters cheering at every one harpooned - this film is jaw-droppingly rooted in its era. And yet it is very watchable, for the remarkable authenticity of setting (this is an industry that should be remembered, the better to inform opinion of why consensus is now against it) and some good characters (Jill Bennett's female whaling captain is wonderful, far more interesting than the wooden heroine). The plot, unfortunately, is formulaic, with "plot coupons" abounding. We're told that a harpoon gun a) has an explosive warhead; b) has a dangerous recoil; c) has a coiled cable that might catch your foot if you're not careful. And, darn me, various characters fall foul of all three.

wes-connors This is no whale of a film. I'll accept, for the moment, "Hell Below Zero" is a reflection of the times and pass on commenting about the whaling industry. The movie is just too, too dull. The silent "Down to the Sea in Ships" had a easier-to-get-involved-in storyline… I guess I just couldn't drum up the needed sympathy for the characters Mr. Ladd and Ms. Tetzel portray. I was rooting for Stanley Baker at the end. He was better than the leads. The snowy ending is a pick-up in excitement, and nicely photographed; but, Mr. Baker, sadly, loses in his effort to end the dullness. *** Hell Below Zero (1954) Mark Robson ~ Alan Ladd, Joan Tetzel, Stanley Baker

t.mcparland-2 In all Alan Ladd films when Alan stood up everyone else immediately sat down. Why? Well, my son, he was more of a laddie in stature than even a lad. In those days there were Rules. If, heaven forbid, a leading man hadn't a hairy chest or was vertically challenged, the other male cast members were depilated [Clark Gable MOGAMBO] or either sat, or stood in holes [male & female in all Alan's pictures].The Rules also stipulated that however macho [Rock Hudson], or articulate [James Dean] a leading man might appear, audiences regarded diminution as effeminate; this nancy distinction Hollywood felt firstly financially and secondly morally bound to cinematically correct. Regardless of history [Napoleon, Churchill] Hollywood knew best: A short man was short of something. At 5'6,' 'Tiny' Ladd seemed too short for a screen career.A pot boiler like HELL BELOW ZERO is the best measure of an actor- where, as here, the producer was a crook [Cubby Broccoli, later owing Sean Connery a packet- one small talent robbing another], the name support non-existent, and the star makes or breaks. Ladd, a former radio actor, with screen presence and persona to die for, makes in this execrable Hammond Innes drivel.Made in Britain [favourable currency exchange rates] ostensibly about whaling, it mutates to a British drawing room murder mystery with incomparable Britlish drabness- characters saying 'ken't' for 'can't' etc.Promoted to skipper of a whaling hell-hole where every crewman is putatively vital, [Joseph Tomelty, ham and equally atrocious playwright, having been thankfully concussed], Ladd has time to go 'investigating,' predictably ending up on the only South Atlantic, Lillian Gish ice floe where breath is not emitted as steam.But Ladd, on the inevitable downward spiral from SHANE, manages a coolness this refrigerated British turkey doesn't, and elucidates by example among Old Country antecedents that there is another way. One of the few great movie stars in the Hollywood firmament, no one noticed he was small at the time. Because, -Wallbridge - his middle name suggests and his talent confirms, he was a giant in 1950's Lilliput.