CRASH DIVE Movie Review

1943 Archie Mayo

One of the industry's first efforts at pure propaganda is a confection spun from air and sugar. When it was produced in July 1942, filmmakers were still groping for the right formulas to inspire the American war effort. Though the picture was made at New London, Connecticut, with the full cooperation of the Navy, most of the military aspects are pure fantasy. They also rate less attention than an overblown and underpowered love triangle. As Bosley Crowther said in his New York Times review, “It leaves one wondering blankly whether Hollywood knows that we're at war.’’

Despite those flaws, the film does have much to tell today's audiences about the times, and the bright Technicolor image is still striking.

In the opening scene, heroic PT boat skipper Lt. Ward Stewart (Tyrone Power) rescues a raft full of survivors from an attacking U-boat. Stewart thinks that PT boats are the wave of the future for the Navy and so he's distressed when he's transferred to submarines. His new boss is Lt. Cmdr. Dewey Connors (Dana Andrews). Dewey is almost engaged to Jean Hewlett (Anne Baxter), a teacher at the local girl's school. Jean and Ward “meet cute” in the lower berth of a sleeping car en route to Washington. For most of the film, Ward and Dewey don't realize that they're in competition for the same woman. By the time they figure it out, their sub has followed a ruthless German “Q-boat” into a secret Nazi harbor, and they're embarking on a commando raid. That bit of frippery is accomplished through some moderately spectacular, Oscar-winning pyrotechnics.

More interesting than any of those plot details, though, is the appearance of Oliver Cromwell Jones (Ben Carter), a major black supporting character. For the most part in the 1930s and ‘40s, black characters did not appear in mainstream movies. The few who did were relegated to subservient roles or comic relief. Oliver, however, figures more prominently than any of the other supporting cast, and his is an active physical role. By the end of the movie, he's blazing away with a Tommy gun. By today's standards it may not seem like much, but in the turbulent year of 1942, it was significant.

Director Archie Mayo and writers W.R. Burnett and Jo Swerling, all veteran filmmakers, were not striking a blow for racial equality. They were trying to elevate the prestige of the Navy and to sell movie tickets.

Cast: Tyrone Power (Lt. Ward Stewart), Anne Baxter (Jean Hewlett), Dana Andrews (Lt. Cmdr. Dewey Connors), James Gleason (McDonnell), May Whitty (Grandmother), Harry (Henry) Morgan (Brownie), Ben Carter (Oliver Cromwell Jones), Frank Conroy (Capt. Bryson), Florence Lake (Doris), John Archer (Curly), Minor Watson (Adm. Bob Stewart), Kathleen Howard (Miss Bromley), Stanley Andrews (The Captain), Thurston Hall (Senator from Texas), Trudy Marshall (Telephone operator), Charles Tannen (Seaman Hammond), Chester Gan (Lee Wong); Written by: Jo Swerling, W.R. Burnett; Cinematography by: Leon Shamroy; Music by: David Buttolph; Technical Advisor: M.K. Kirkpatrick. Producer: Milton Sperling, Fox. Awards: Academy Awards ‘44: Best Special Effects (Sersen). Running Time: 105 minutes. Format: VHS.