Inexorable duel of great stars into a submarine and a destroyer . During World War II, an American destroyer escort 'USS Haynes' (it was played by the real 'USS Whitehurst') captained by a tough skipper (Robert Mitchum) meets a German U-Boat commanded by an intelligent captain (Curt Jurgens) . Both captains are good ones, and the engagement lasts for a considerable time . Both of them pursuit one another and square off in the South Atlantic . This movie's closing epilogue states: "Twentieth Century-Fox wishes to thank the Department of Defense and the United States Navy for their assistance in the production of this motion picture."

Thrilling as well as exciting battle of wits between two skippers who gradually come to respect each other . Both of whom are a compellingly balanced match as two clever as well astute captains . This nail-biter is a tightly-knit drama centered on the relentless sea maneuvers of a destroyer going after a submarine and vice versa . The film is famous as one of the best WWII submarine movies, though some scenes at sea, however, suffer from the utilization of obvious models in a just as obvious studio tank . Interesting screenplay , being based on the novel by D.A. Rayner and the book and it's dust-jacket can be seen at the beginning of one of this movie's trailers . German player Curt Jurgens made his major mark on the international scene and it was American movie debut for German actor . The cast spent about a month filming on board this vessel. Many of the crew of the 'USS Whitehurst' appeared in this movie. Secondary cast is frankly good such as Theodor Bikel , Frank Albertson , Russell Collins , and this picture marks the feature film movie debuts for David Hedison -as Al Hedison- and Doug McClure . 20th Century-Fox production notes for this movie from the AMPAS Library declare that the 'USS Whitehurst' was a battle-hardened veteran from the Second World War which had during World War II been stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Harold Rosson's colorful and vivid cinematography , including spectacular maritime scenes , though set in the South Atlantic Ocean of World War II, this movie's ocean scenes were filmed in the Pacific Ocean. . The motion picture was stunningly directed by former movie star Dick Powell who efficiently captures the claustrophobic up and undersea tension ,; this was one of the final theatrically released movies of director Dick Powell who soon after worked exclusively in television.

This suspenseful sea epic represents one of a select group of a few World War II submarine movies which have won the one single Academy Award in a technical category, that's just only the one Oscar in either special effects or sound editing. These movies include ¨Crash Dive¨ ; ¨Torpedo Run¨ and ¨U-571¨. The non-WW II sub-movie, ¨The Hunt for Red October¨ also won just the one Oscar as did the WW 2 part sub-movie 49th Parallel , but for Best Original Story . Furthermore , other important films about submarine are ¨Run Silent Run Deep¨, ¨Crimson tide¨ by Tony Scott with Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman; ¨K19¨ with Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson and the best ¨Das Boot¨ (1982) by Wolfgang Petersen with Jurgen Prochnow .

I was pretty torn on scoring this film--if possible, I'd like to have given it a 7.5. The film is one of the better sub warfare films, though now that I think about it, practically every sub film I have seen (except for CRIMSON SKIES) was excellent. There's something about this genre that make it easy to make a tense and engaging film.

This movie is a tad different than most for two big reasons--it gives an in-depth portrayal of BOTH the sub and the pursuing destroyer, and the film lacks a clichéd "happy ending" like some earlier sub films. Robert Mitchum is the new captain of the sub and his portrayal and that of his crew is a tad superficial--Mitchum is pretty much all business. Instead, "meatier" roles are given to Curt Jurgens, Theodore Bikel and the rest of the German crew. Jurgens plays a tired older captain who is concerned with doing his duty, while also having grave doubts about his insane government.

The movie is basically a cat and mouse type film that ultimately has a very strange and yet interesting conclusion. You will probably NOT guess how it all ends, and for that reason in particular, I liked this film.

THE ENEMY BELOW is a fun character-based story of naval combat during the Second World War. The film's quality is lifted thanks to the presence of two actors, one of them in a star-making turn, the other one quite iconic; I'm referring to future Bond villain Curt Jurgens alongside Robert Mitchum. The battle of wits that plays out is reminiscent of the one in HELL IN THE PACIFIC, although there's a lot more open combat here with battleship vs. submarine action and the usual suspense arising from underwater scenes. However, Mitchum and Jurgens are the real stars of the day, really getting into the sympathetic hearts of their characters, displaying toughness and humanity without sentimentality. They don't make 'em like this anymore...