Duel in the Atlantic
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Duel in the Atlantic |
| Original title | The Enemy Below |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1957 |
| length | 98 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Dick Powell |
| script | Wendell Mayes |
| production | Dick Powell for 20th Century Fox |
| music | Leigh Harline |
| camera | Harold Rosson |
| cut | Stuart Gilmore |
| occupation | |
| |
Duel in the Atlantic (Original title: The Enemy Below ) is an American film adaptation by Dick Powell from 1957, which is based on a 1956 war novel by DA Rayner. It depicts the encounter between an American captain of a destroyer, played by Robert Mitchum , and a German submarine commander, played by Curd Jürgens , in World War II .
action
The story develops around the coincidence of the destroyer escort USS Haynes (DE-181) of the Buckley class and an unspecified German submarine in the South Atlantic Ocean.
The film ends in disaster. The destroyer, badly hit by torpedoes, rams the submarine when it appears for the "catch shot". The captain of the submarine, Stolberg, has no choice but to capitulate, and he remains on the sinking ship until the last of his seamen is rescued by the American forces.
In contrast to the book, the film ends in a very forgiving way, as Captain Murrell saves the commander of Stolberg from the sinking ship at the risk of his own life by throwing him a rope and pulling him aboard the destroyer.
Production, background
The 20th Century Fox production was an estimated budget of $ 1,910,000 available. Charles Henderson was responsible for the music department .
It can be assumed that the German submarine is a Type IX long-range boat . On the one hand, the standard type VII would not get as far as the South Atlantic (insufficient range), on the other hand the boat fires a double-fan torpedo from the stern at the destroyer during the first attack, and only type IX boats had two torpedo tubes in the stern at that time.
The destroyer escort USS Haynes (DE-181) was represented by the USS Whitehurst (DE-634). The outdoor shots were made in the Pacific near Oahu (Hawaii). Many of the crew of the Whitehurst star in the film, such as the operators of the guns and depth charges and the sailors who leave the sinking ship. The Whitehurst's commanding officer , LtCdr Walter Smith, played the machine officer.
Scenes from the film were used in the episode Killers of the deep (German title Auf Gefechtsstation ) of the series The Seaview - In a secret mission . Actor David Hedison starred in both the film and the series.
A science fiction version of the book took place in the episode Spock under suspicion of the television series Starship Enterprise , in which the Enterprise had to fight a Romulan ship that was virtually "submerged" by its cloaking device.
In the film, Captain von Stolberg mentions cruiser M, which sounded like Emden when it was pronounced. In truth, Stolberg means one of the German surface raiders who disguised themselves as merchant ships, but were heavily armed with camouflaged 15 cm guns. The Allies knew about these ships, but did not know the names, as the commanders of the German trade troublemakers had the honor of giving their ships their own name. In order to differentiate between the various ships, the Allies provided the German raiders with letters from the alphabet. However, there was no raider called M.
Deviations from the book
Von Stolberg is drawn differently in the film than in the book. Of particular note is a scene in which a sailor panics after a depth charge. While the man in the novel is shot by the commandant without a word, the episode in the film ends with von Stolberg reassuring the panicked with the words: "Dying is part of our job, but it's not our turn yet."
The novel also ends with the survivors of the collision beating each other to death while drifting in the water, while the film ends in a comradely dialogue between the two warring commanders.
criticism
"Exciting, well-acted drama that plays down the fighting in an irresponsible way."
Awards
Walter Rossi was awarded an Oscar in 1958 in the “Best Special Effects” category. Curd Jürgens was nominated for the British Film Academy Award for best foreign actor in 1959 . The film won the Motion Picture Sound Editors Award in 1958 .
literature
- Denys Arthur Rayner: The Enemy Below. Fontana, London 1978, 192 pp., ISBN 0-00615165-5 (no German translation exists yet)
Web links
- The Enemy Below in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Duel in the Atlantic full film
Individual evidence
- ↑ Duel in the Atlantic. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed January 15, 2017 .