User Reviews

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.

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

Often over-looked Alan Ladd vehicle made in Great Britian, HELL BELOW ZERO is a good sea drama with its share of action. Mark Robson directs Ladd as Duncan Craig, who is seeking answers on what happened to an investment gone bad. He meets a woman, Judie(Joan Tetzel),who is on a search of her own. Duncan signs onto a whaling ship in order to get information on her father's death. While on the whaling expedition, the two suspect the ship's skipper Erik Bland(Stanley Baker)is a murderer; especially when they get the idea he is planning their own "accidental" disappearance in the frigid waters of the Antartic. Mystery, adventure and good scenery. Also in the cast: Basil Sydney, Jill Bennett, Joseph Tomelty and Paddy Ryan.

Hell Below Zero has an absurd plot, weak dialogue and poor action sequences.

It's quite dull and the point of it all seems rather moot, with no reason for the murder or any authority getting involved. Like the owner Bland was going to investigate his own son if Judie didn't go along and then happen to meet Duncan on the flight, who then does whatever necessary to be involved in Judie's life and thus making it his mission in life. They then stop in the middle to do some whaling. Alan Ladd's quite bad. Joan Tetzel's about the only thing the film has going for it, but she isn't that great either.

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.

I was intrigued by this film as it was produced by future Bond producer Albert. R Broccoli and co-written by future bond writer Richard Maibaum but also near the beginning the main character introduces himself as 'Craig Duncan Craig' in the bond style (almost Daniel Craig). Another thing is that near the end the music score actually plays a couple bars of the Bond theme. The film plays very much like a Bond film. There's exotic locations, some great realistic fights and a really nasty baddy. Unfortunately it also shows the killing of many whales which would obviously be not acceptable if made today but if you can see past that this is an enjoyable adventure.

HELL BELOW ZERO – 1954

Alan 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.

Villainous Stanley Baker steals the show from heroic Alan Ladd in director Mark Robson's thrilling whale hunting saga "Hell Below Zero," co-starring Joan Tetzel, Jill Bennett, and Niall MacGinnis, adapted from Hammond Innes' 1949 novel "The White South" about modern-day whaling vessels. When Captain Nordhal of an Antarctic whaling ship is reported dead from apparently falling overboard, Nordhal's daughter Judie (Joan Tetzel of "The Paradine Case") rushes to Cape Town to learn more about the circumstances of his demise. She crosses paths with Duncan Craig (Alan Ladd of "Shane") who boards the same flight. They wind up sitting together on the propeller driven aircraft. In Cape Town, Duncan discovers he has been swindled out of $10 thousand by an unscrupulous partner. A fistfight ensues and Duncan beats the chiseler senseless in his hotel room. Searching for a job, he ends up as the First Mate of a whaling vessel, where meets Judie again. These two are attracted to each other even though the ship's doctor, Dr. Howe (Niall MacGinnis of "Jason and the Argonauts") warns Duncan that Judie is supposed to be the fiancée of Erik Bland (Stanley Baker of "Zulu"), the son of one of the whaling company owners (Basil Sydney of "The 3 Worlds of Gulliver") who behaves abruptly toward Duncan. Judie's father was his Bland's partner. Eventually, Duncan learns that Erik clobbered Captain Nordhal and a witness saw him pitch him overboard. Erik locked up the eyewitness, but Duncan gets the story of Nordhal's murder. Later, we learn from a conversation that Judie has with Duncan that Erik collaborated with the Nazi Gestapo during World War II. He turned in some friends and watched the Nazi's execute them. Not long afterward they set sail, the ship's captain is injured and Duncan takes the helm. It doesn't take Erik long to show up, and Erik's father reassigns Duncan to a whale hunting ship under the command of a woman (Jill Bennett) who shows our hero how they fire an explosive rocket at the whales to catch them. During their voyage on the whale catcher, Duncan and Dr. Howe arrange a telephone call to the authorities in South Africa about Erik's infamous shenanigans. After Erik learns that the eye witness he had under lock and key has died during a brawl when the man spilled the beans about his homicidal attack on Captain Nordhal, he rams the ship that Duncan and Judie are on and sinks it. Our hero and heroine manage to escape from the sinking vessel and set up momentary camp on the ice. Such is Erik's desperation that he heads up an expedition to track down Duncan so he can kill him. Mind you, this takes place after Erik's own ship-when rammed the whaler-sank because Dr. Howe looses off an explosive rocket into Erik's ship. "Hell Below Zero" musters intrigue and action galore. Baker makes a slimy villain.