Spikeopath Crash Dive is directed by Archie Mayo and written by Jo Swerling and W.R. Burnett. It stars Tyrone Power, Dana Andrews, Anne Baxter, James Gleason, May Witty and Harry Morgan. A Technicolor production out of 20th Century Fox, music is by David Buttolph and cinematography by Leon Shamroy.It's flag waving time, 1943 style as Power and Andrews vie for the love of Baxter whilst conducting a submarine offencive against the Nazis. The love triangle feels twee but Mayo manages to keep it in check and not let it bog this particular sub movie down. When the pic is out on the water it's grand entertainment, nicely filmed and featuring Oscar winning effects work. Momentum is gradually built until the finale comes and delivers an action packed bonanza. Hooray! 7/10

rob-du This is one of very few films shot partly at the submarine base in Groton, CT, aka Submarine Base New London, CT.A few naval combatants rarely seen in Technicolor are visible in the early part of the film. The PT boats seen near the beginning are the 77-foot Elco type. The submarine primarily featured as the fictional USS Corsair is the experimental USS Marlin (SS-205), with a conning tower modified to resemble her sister USS Mackerel (SS-204). A few O-class and R-class submarines, built in World War One and used for training in WW2, are visible in the background of some shots. For wartime security reasons, no submarine classes used in combat in WW2 appear in the film. The USS Semmes (AG-24 ex-DD-189) is seen in one shot; there are probably not many good Technicolor views of a four-stack destroyer available today. The Semmes was being used as a sonar testbed at the time.I personally did not like how the love story progressed, as Tyrone Power is consistently deceptive and gets the girl anyway.Another reviewer has assumed that the Nazi base would have to be near New England on the basis that WW2 submarines had a short range. This is incorrect. US submarines in WW2 routinely went from Pearl Harbor to Japan's home waters, patrolled for several weeks, and returned to Pearl Harbor on a single tank of diesel fuel. A Gato-class submarine could cover 11,000 miles without refueling, thus could have patrolled in German home waters while based in Groton if necessary. My assumption is that the Nazi base would be in Greenland, not likely given the realities of the war, but the raid on it still makes for good action.

bkoganbing Tyrone Power's last film before going to war was this World War II epic which co-starred him with Dana Andrews and Anne Baxter and a good cast of supporting players. This did win an Oscar for Special Effects with the raid on the Nazi Submarine base.And that's what makes this thing so stupid. Where was that base? Given what World War II vintage subs could do in performance, that base had to be Block Island, Martha's Vineyard or at worst, the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. You're asked to believe that the Nazis constructed a secret submarine base somewhere on some mythical isle in the Atlantic. These guys went off on some short cruise from New London to find this base. Just where were the Nazis operating?Tyrone Power must have laughed himself silly every time he thought of this one. Especially in the South Pacific where served with the Marines in several major Pacific campaigns. At his funeral, there was a Marine honor guard as would befit a retired Major.The rest of the story is your standard triangle the kind Power played in with Don Ameche during peacetime in the 30s. Except that here, the Ameche part was played by Dana Andrews.One positive note. Black actor Ben Carter played a cook in the submarine galley and he's shown in an actual combat mission. It was an unusual role for a black actor to play at that time and I think he played it well. Some racial stereotyping, but his concern and affection for James Gleason who was the CPO on the submarine was real and rang true.

ginger_sonny Three-way submarine drama following an ambitious navy officer (Tyrone Power) who falls for a schoolteacher (Anne Baxter) prior to leaving for a mission aboard a submarine bound for German targets. He is unaware that she is the sweetheart of Dewey Connors (Dana Andrews) who is about to become his commanding officer. Engaging wartime adventure blending romance and action, with Oscar-winning special effects. Summary: Simple premise Impressive special effects Decent acting An interesting study of propaganda in film