Submarine Base (1943)

A Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) film from 1943 set on an island somewhere on the equator about a hoodlum from New York who is supplying torpedoes to German U-Boats and a shipwrecked former cop James Xavier 'Jim' Taggart from New York who happens to drift by the hoodlum's boat (and who knew him in New York!) and begins to suspect something is not right. Mix in a bunch of chorus girls and men from various nations and you get something far fetched and rather dull. The plot is thin. For instance, where does Joe Morgan get the torpedoes from? He's not connected to the US Navy. You can't buy them at the local store and he only had one guy, Spike, to help him. All rather silly.Alan Baxter as Joe Morgan is rather insipid and seems to wear the same expression throughout the film. Familiar face John Litel plays the ex- detective as best as the lame script will allow. The great Eric Blore plays Spike with a dodgy cockney accent and brings the only entertainment to the film.Made as a patriotic film to support the war effort which is laudable but it is also laughable.

Take a gangster in hiding, a detective who happens to have known him in civilization, some tough New York chorus girls and submarine driving Nazis and you've got the type of World War II nonsense that could only come from PRC. The storyline starts off silly and continues to grow more silly as time progresses. John Liteland Alan Baxter are dettective and former gangster, with eccentric Eric Blore trying vainly to thow in some sophistication. Over-the-top Iris Adrian bellows every one of her lines as if she was biting into a lobster, shell and all. Yes, there's plenty of action and hand saluting patriotism, but it is all falsely presented.

There are a few real hidden gems that few people see, because there aren't big name stars, particularly in 1940s and 1950s films.This one is a war time flick about American civilians dealing with German U Boats. The main character, Morgan, is an American hoodlum who is dealing with the Nazis, or is he? We immediately get the feeling that Morgan is not what he seems, but he is in over his head in trying to hoodwink the Nazi Navy, but he doesn't know it. This makes it somewhat credible.He is at odds with a former cop named Taggart, who serves as the stable character of the film. There are many other interesting characters, and great atmosphere, with superb directing, that makes this a hidden gem.The shots all follow logical patterns, and we follow the plot very easy. This is a directing triumph. The scenery is engaging, and this is put together extremely well. We are kept interested in the plot, because of the characters. This is how a film should be made, yet many with much larger budgets can't accomplish what this film did. A must see film, and very surprising, because unlike most Hollywood films, the bad guys don't win all the time.

This movie was made in 1943 along with several dozen other short (only 65 minutes here) movies like this during WWII. Starring John Litel and Alan Baxter (as protagonist Joe Morgan) both standard contract actors for Warners at the time. Movie was made to show an element of the war effort and was formulaic for the time. Usual plot lines of such a movie set around an outlaw ex-gangster from NYC (Morgan) who fishes an ex-cop out of the water (Litel as Taggert). Usual plot twists and Nazi suspense (it was shot in 1943!) Shot in B&W some visual not too many special effects and only a couple of sets used for a 1 hour movie. No particular high drama or special effects - decent predictable all around acting for a staple war picture. Basic plot is that Morgan was initially thought to be a trailer to the US by many including his old NYC nemesis Taggert, but turns out he has his own secret plan to aid the Allied effort.