U 13 (film)

Movie
German title	U 13
Original title	Men Without Women
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1930
length	77 minutes
Rod
Director	John Ford
script	Dudley Nichols
production	John Ford
music	Peter Brunelli , Glen Knight
camera	Joseph H. August
cut	Walter Thompson
occupation
Kenneth MacKenna : Chief Torpedoman Burke Frank Albertson : Ensign Albert Edward Price J. Farrell MacDonald : Costello Warner Richmond : Lt. Commander Briddwell Warren Hymer : Kaufman Walter McGrail : Joe Cobb Stuart Erwin : Radioman Jenkins Paul Page : Handsome George LeGuere : Curly Pollock Charles K. Gerrard : Commander Weymouth Ben Hendricks Jr .: Murphy Harry Tenbrook : Dutch Winkler Frank Baker : Sailor Wong Chung : Chinese man in Shanghai bar Ivan Lebedeff : man with top hat in bar Alberto Morin : Postcard Seller Frank Richardson : Singing Sailor in Shanghai Pat Somerset : Lt. Digby Roy Stewart : Captain Carson John Wayne : Radioman

U 13 (Original title: Men Without Women ) is an American drama directed by John Ford from 1930 based on the story Submarine by John Ford and James Kevin McGuinness.

action

The US submarine U 13 is anchored in Shanghai under the command of Lieutenant Commander Briddwell. While most of the seamen are on shore leave, the torpedo shooter Burke is on duty. Burke isn't the simple seaman he claims to be, however. His real name is Quartermaine and he is the former captain of the British ship Royal Scot , which was sunk by German ships when a British field marshal was on board. Quartermaine did not know that his girlfriend was an agent for the Germans and had passed on the information about the Field Marshal's sea voyage. In Shanghai he is recognized by Commander Weymouth.

As the submarine leaves the port of Shanghai, it collides with a freighter and sinks. Briddwell is washed overboard in the accident, and Ensign Price takes command. With just one oxygen tank, survivors can only breathe for a few hours. A volunteer tries to get off the boat, but fails due to broken valves. There is no answer to the SOS radio messages. The sailors get nervous and panicked. During a panic attack by the seaman Pollock, one of the torpedo detonators explodes.

Radio contact is finally established with a ship. Burke warns of water ingress. Water on the control displays creates chlorine gas. The survivors go to the torpedo room. Divers are lowered from the ship to the submarine. The men inside the submarine can hear the divers' activities. The torpedo tube is cleaned with acetylene. The first seafarers can exit the submarine through the tube and are picked up on the surface of boats. Burke and Price are the last. Price tells Burke to leave as the captain is the last to leave the boat. Burke tells Price how he lost his ship. However, Price refuses to leave and is knocked down by Burke, who pushes him down the pipe. Price is brought to the surface by the divers. There he is asked about Quartermaine by Weymouth. But Price insists that he only knows him as Burke.

background

The film was shot off the Santa Catalina Islands . John Wayne can be seen in a small supporting role as a ship operator . The film premiered in New York on January 31, 1930. In Germany it appeared in cinemas in 1931.

Reviews

Mordaunt Hall of the New York Times called U 13 "a moving submarine drama [...] with a keen eye for realism". The result was "a captivating cinematic study". Variety found the "story and characters are built with an uncanny cunning".

Web links

• U 13 in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• U 13 at Turner Classic Movies (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ “[…] a stirring submarine drama […] with a keen eye to realism […] an absorbing pictorial study” Mordaunt Hall : A Submarine Drama . In: The New York Times , February 1, 1930.
2. ↑ "Story and characters are built up with uncanny shrewdness." See Men Without Women . In: Variety , 1930.