DigitalRevenantX7 During World War II, Nazi agents operating in the US have managed to steal a top secret radio transmitter that could broadcast signals in near-stealth conditions. Using this invention, they direct a Japanese submarine off the US coast to make attacks on Allied shipping. The FBI decides to spring a trap – they get a noted radio technician fired from his job in order to use him as bait. Sure enough, the ruse works. The tech is approached by the Nazi agents for repair work when their transmitter breaks down. The tech, helped along by a female FBI agent as an insurance plan, attempts to sabotage the Nazis' plot to bring down Allied oil tankers.Submarine Alert is an old spy thriller from the early 1940s, when World War II was in full swing. The film was part of a large array of B-budget spy thrillers designed to get the public on the Allied side. Of course, the problem with many of these films at the time was a shortage of original ideas & poorly written scripts.Submarine Alert is one of these poorly-written spy capers. The film is reasonable enough for a once-over & has some rudimentary suspense but the story is sabotaged by not having enough thought put into it. The FBI's plan to get a radio technician fired so he can lead them to the Nazis' illegal shortwave transmitter was a dumb idea – wouldn't it be better to get the hero to play along with the plan instead of having him strung up as bait? The characters are drawn up to stereotype & the various chases & shootouts don't hold up too well in today's age. The el cheapo DVD print seen here is in terrible condition – the transfer's high contrast makes reading the opening credits near on impossible so you won't be able to get much information from it.

mark.waltz Call it a war on espionage, a war on terrorism, a war for world peace. It's a serious example of the horrors of what evil will do to destroy freedom and create anarchy. This starts off with the most horrifying murder, that of a scientist who has created a tracking devise to prevent our ships and oilers from being detected. The enemy uses it for just the opposite, to be able to track tankers and destroy them so bombers cannot be re- fueled. When radio engineers are let go from their positions out of suspicion of being part of this espionage ring, one of them (Richard Arlen) unknowingly becomes involved with the villains, putting both the government and the bad guys on his trail.A subplot involving Arlen's niece being in surgery sugar-coats the drama which at its best has elements of film noir and at its weakest, elements of DrKildare. Some of the chase sequences with Arlen desperate to get the goods away from the Japs and Nazi's is close to what Dick Powell was trying to do in the same year's "Murder My Sweet". Wendy Barrie is along for the ride as a government agent who at first follows Arlene around and later tries to help him. One dimensional villains give a predictability to this interesting and often complex drama that isn't overloaded with war propaganda and is at its best when it focuses on the important elements of the story and gets off the unnecessary soap involving the little girl. More psychologically gripping than action packed, it ranks slightly higher than most of the propaganda filled action films released through Pine Thomas at Paramount around the same time.

Zoooma It's a shame someone would equate this film to a propaganda reel. Unnecessary jingoism was part of American culture at the time. Only three brief instances of possible propaganda exist here -- 1) when our protagonist says he wouldn't want to join the New World Order because he doesn't like their tactics. Saying that is a bad thing? I guess it was not fair since we didn't get a Nazi response to how their way of life really is. 2) the quote over the intercom "You know what to do, boys" when the air squadron heads out for a combat mission. Unnecessary cheerleading in a movie, yes, but part of American film culture at the time. 3) at the end, when our antagonist becomes an American citizen, he says "We know our way of life is best, and we're fighting to keep it that way." Again, should the movie have been fair to Nazis by giving their point of view on their way of life? Seriously?!? Sometimes we know wrong is wrong and there doesn't need to be a defense of it. Therefore, not propaganda.Lastly, this movie does NOT defend the right to be an illegal alien. Nothing is illegal about our antagonist. He's a legal alien but not a citizen. Illegal status never once enters the conversation.Overall, an okay, swift moving crime/war drama that isn't very memorable but definitely not a terrible 76 minutes.

Snow Leopard Once this wartime B-feature gets going, it's not bad, and it builds up enough suspense and intrigue to help you look past the low production values. Richard Arlen and Wendy Barrie also contribute with solid performances in the two leading roles. For movies of the era and genre, it is a little less strident than most in its attacks on Axis nationalities, giving somewhat more emphasis to the personal plight of the main character (Arlen).Arlen plays a radio engineer who, not being a US citizen, finds himself out of work when the FBI orders his employer to let him go. While Axis spies try to dupe him into helping them with a special transmitter that they are using to target Allied tankers, the G-Men are still keeping their own tabs on him. Barrie comes into the story as something of a wild card.The script takes somewhat too long to set things up, and it adds some characters that are never used for anything of importance, so that it takes a while to start making any real progress. But after that, it works all right, as Arlen's character finds himself in one fix after another. By portraying the federal agents as rather heartless and unimaginative, the movie's tone becomes somewhat darker than what you might normally expect from a picture whose general aim is to promote the Allied cause.Though there's nothing new or particularly impressive about "Submarine Alert", there's probably enough to make it worth seeing for those who have an interest in the era and genre.