Hell Below Zero (1954)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Great Film overall

Good start, but then it gets ruined

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

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.

If you want to learn how to skin a whale, and if you like Alan Ladd, Hell Below Zero is what you've been looking for. It's the story of Duncan Craig (Ladd) who winds up in South Africa to straighten out his partner in a would-be gold mine. Craig has lost a bundle, there is no gold mine, and he straightens out his partner, now former partner, with his fists. On the flight down from London he met Judy Nordhal (Joan Tetzel), a young woman whose father, a partner in a big whaling operation and skipper of a mother ship, has been reported missing overboard during a storm in the Antarctic seas. She has been accompanied by John Bland (Basil Sydney), the very British co-partner, whose son, Erik Bland (Stanley Baker), was second in command when Judy's father went missing. At one time Judy and Erik had been engaged, but that is now over. Judy and John Bland plan to go to the mother ship and hold an inquiry. Duncan, in order to be with Judy, has managed to become second in command on the ship taking them to the mother ship. They can smell the mother ship before they see her. "That's the smell of money," John Bland points out to Duncan. Soon we're on the mother ship, the big whale processing plant which picks up and cuts apart the whales the smaller catcher ships harpoon. The flotilla also includes an ice-breaker. Up to now we've had the time to settle in with Alan Ladd into one of his competent adventure movies. We've gotten to know the main characters, except for Erik. We've seen for ourselves how cold and stormy are the Antarctic waters. We've been given a short and visual course on the importance of whaling and on how whales are caught and turned into oil and dog food. Now, however, with all on board the mother ship, we learn that it was highly unlikely Judy's father just lost his footing during a gale. We discover that a seaman is being held for no apparent cause in the brig, deep in the shadowy bowels of the ship. We see the true nature of Eric Bland. We take part in an exhilarating chase on a catcher ship after whales and the harpooning of several of them, using a gun that blasts out harpoons which carry explosive charges. (Remember this; one of these big harpoons comes in handy later.) We find ourselves in fist fights (Ladd usually wins); there's a brutal murder; and then we're stuck on a freezing Antarctic ice shelf, our catcher ship carrying Craig and Judy rammed by the ice breaker captained by Erik. It all comes down to a vicious fight on the snow between Duncan Craig and Erik Bland, with both using heavy, sharp pick axes. The movie's not bad, at least if you close your eyes during the whale murdering...I mean, whaling scenes. The movie is a solid Alan Ladd adventure, made at a time when the whale population was on no one's radar except whaling ships. Take the movie as something of its time and don't judge it entirely by today's sensitivities. Hell Below Zero was based on the adventure novel The White South by Hammond Innes (real name: Ralph Hammond-Innes). He was a successful writer of adventure novels that combined detailed descriptions of interesting places with solid story lines. They feature decent, honorable heros who turn out to be more resourceful than we might expect. Hammond- Innes and his wife would typically go journeying for six months, then he'd write a novel featuring the place they'd been to. He was a first-class travel writer and a superior adventure writer. He had a long career but probably is largely forgotten now. In my opinion, he still is readable. Over the years I've gone through most of his books at least twice. If you're interested in sampling his work, try Air Bridge, The Wreck of the Mary Deare, Campbell's Kingdom, The Land God Gave to Cain or The Doomed Oasis. Summer reading, perhaps, but good summer reading.

Hell Below Zero is one of three British movies Alan Ladd (Shane) appeared in. The Black Night was one of the others. I enjoyed this.A man signs on a whaling ship and one of the reasons for this is to help a woman find her Dad's killer. The expedition takes them to the frozen wastes of the Antarctic, where they track the killer down on a rival whaling ship. Not surprisingly, Ladd also falls in love with the woman.There is some good photography in this movie, which is shot well in colour. I first thought is was black and white when I purchased it.The rest of the cast includes Joan Tetzel as the love interest, Stanley Baker (Zulu) as the murderer and Basil Sydney.Hell Below Zero is a good way to spend 90 minutes one afternoon or evening. Very good.Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

6 you say after reading all the other,very negative comments. Yes 6,I watched this this afternoon on UK channel 4,I watched it because I have never heard of it before and I like some of the work of the director Mark Robson. It is not an undiscovered classic but it was quite enjoyable and interesting for what it says about society at the time it was made. The film features some beautiful old aeroplanes,Constellations I think. There is a flight to South Africa,it looks beautiful,very rich.you don't see many black people in the background,the characters don't see to meet any Afrikaners,that is dutch speaking south Africans either. The scenes at the docks main feature British working class types. The action then moves to the whaling fleet,studio shots are mixed with film of real whaling operations. Few people in those days cared much about the whales and parts of the film are like a promo film for the whaling industry. Everybody looks macho except the women who just look nice,Jill Bennett plays a cute little Norwegian whaling skipper and everybody has a great time killing whales. I like Alan Ladd in this film,I like Alan Ladd in every film,he plays more or less the same part in each film,ordinary guy pushed into extraordinary situations. I won't give away the plot but the film looks great,I know that the look of the film looks tacky now but I like the bright colours and the fight scenes,its Tuesday afternoon and I am waiting for the gas man,I do not expect too much. Slagging off this film with 2005 eyes is stupid,it is just a piece of fun,sit back and marvel at the radios the size of fridges and the whaling ships which no longer exist. I am from Edinburgh Scotland and we used to send whalers to that part of the world,hope some of the old fellows who used to go south were watching this and recognised the old boats. How many films did Alan Ladd make where he was an ex soldier/sailor/airman down on his luck?