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.

dbdumonteil Mark Robson must have remembered he directed in 1943 the absolutely remarkable "ghost ship " ,one of his VaL Lewton productions,all of which worth seeking out.that's why the second third is arguably the best : a delightful villain (Stanley Baker,who else?),a mystery , a disturbing atmosphere in the depths of the ship;Robson can make the best of the hold and of the engine room.More than the bland heroine ,Gerda is for the time a very modern character that should have been more developed ;it's her that should have accompanied Ladd in the final chase,not the frail clueless girl.The last third seems a bit botched anyway ,but it's an entertaining adventures movie.

drystyx Ladd plays one of the role model characters for Han Solo, as an adventurer who'll do anything to pick up a chick.Except he's sort of a cross between Skwalker and Solo, thus making him more three dimensional than the character torn asunder into two characters.Here, he goes into the South Seas near Antarctica, in a grand story of whaling. There is intrigue, as a woman believes her father, a whaling captain, was murdered by her fiancé.The fiancé is evil incarnate, and it's very obvious early. Which make the scene where Ladd and MacGinnis ask him to save them, very ludicrous. It makes their characters look very stupid. Knowing they are witnesses against him in a murder, they divulge to the evil fiancé, Stanley Baker, that their ship is stuck in ice, and only Baker's icebreaker ship can free them. Knowing this, one would think that Ladd would be smart enough to tell the radio operator to send a message that Ladd and MacGinnis fell overboard, probably with some others, and are not among the survivors, in which case they would be rescued. However, they stupidly set themselves up, as well as the others, for a ramming job.Along the way, revelations come a few at a time. And it woks well here.What works even better is the use of the minor characters. MacGinnis and Bennett lead the way as some very interesting characters. Perhaps the least interesting are the "lackeys" who are willing to help Baker commit murder, knowing they are expendable witnesses. More and more revelations about Baker's evil persona come as the plot unfolds. He truly is evil incarnate.The whaling scenes, and the scenes with the crews, along with the afore mentioned supporting characters, are what make this a top movie, as is usually what makes a top movie.The action scenes are a bit of a cross between the old style realism of stumbling and shoving, and the modern ignorant comical choreography that probably works well in a Japanese kung fu movie, because the Japanese kung fu movie is based on personification, but looks stupid when dealing with dramatic characters in an action adventure. We see more "cause and effect" than the actual fighting, which really looks the best in adventure films, because it involves no "staged" look. The chips fall where they fall. In fact, at the end, when they are in the bitter cold, the two main characters probably shoot their guns "too well" for characters whose fingers are probably frozen, and whose guns have frozen mechanisms. It would be amazing if they did hit anything.I have some nit picks with the movie. I'd like to have seen some of the characters survive, ones we know will die with pathos, but their deaths are not contrived. They are in one of the most dangerous occupations in one of the most dangerous areas of the world, even today.This is a good film We care about the characters, and the adventure is great. If you don't enjoy this, then then there's no way you could enjoy 99% of the movies made since 1970, with characters we could care nothing about, and with dull, stupidly staged action sequences. This is a real film.

MartinHafer This is an odd Alan Ladd film from his years appearing in a few British productions. Most of these British films are pretty dull (such as THE BLACK KNIGHT and THE RED BERET), though this one is just a little bit better--but not so much that you should rush out to find a copy. In some ways it's very much like most of his films, as the pugnacious near-midget acts tough and beats up all his diminutive enemies (as Hollywood had a habit of co-starring him with other short actors). However, it is a bit different due to the locale of the film and the oddness of the plot.Ladd is on his way to South Africa just to beat someone up. Sure, the guy deserves it but to travel 7,764 miles (more or less) just to do it seemed odd, as he COULD have paid some locals to do it instead (and for a lot less money)! On the way to clobber this crook, Ladd sits next to a lady on the plane and is instantly smitten with her. Later, after applying this butt-kicking, he meets up with her again and finds out that she's on her way towards Antarctica to discover how and why her father (a ship's captain) was killed. The official story is that he either killed himself or it was an accident but she doggedly is determined to find the real cause. Considering that Ladd is not doing anything (i.e., there is no one in the country he needs to beat up), he signs aboard as a first-mate and goes with her.The rest of the film is set either at sea or on the ice--a definite change of pace for Ladd. But the biggest change is just how odd the plot becomes and all the bizarre and rather difficult to anticipate action. It's not really bad, but it's so weird and difficult to believe that it's not all that good either. Still, for fans of Ladd, it's worth seeing and others might see it as just another time-passer.By the way, those who are members of PETA and soft-hearted souls should NOT watch the film as there is a lot of whale killing in the film and it's pretty graphic. Seeing it, it shows just how much sensibilities have changed in the last half century.