Hell and High Water (film)

Hell and High Water
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Samuel Fuller
Produced by	Raymond A. Klune
Written by	David Hempstead
Screenplay by	Jesse L. Lasky, Jr. Samuel Fuller
Starring	Richard Widmark Bella Darvi Victor Francen
Music by	Alfred Newman
Cinematography	Joseph MacDonald
Edited by	James B. Clark
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	February 1, 1954
Running time	103 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,870,000
Box office	$2,700,000

Hell and High Water is a 1954 Cold War drama film starring Richard Widmark, Bella Darvi and Victor Francen. The film was made to showcase CinemaScope being used in the confined sets of a submarine.

Before the credits, an off-screen, voice-over narrates:

In the summer of 1953, it was announced that an atomic bomb of foreign origin had been exploded somewhere outside of the United States. Shortly thereafter it was indicated that this atomic reaction, according to scientific reports, originated in a remote area in North Pacific waters, somewhere between the northern tip of the Japanese Islands and the Arctic Circle. This is the story of that explosion.

In 1953, renowned French scientist Professor Montel (Victor Francen) goes missing. The authorities believe that he and four other scientists defected behind the Iron Curtain.

Meanwhile, former U.S. Navy USS Bowfin (SS-287) submarine commander Adam Jones (Richard Widmark) arrives in Tokyo after receiving a mysterious package containing $5,000. Jones meets Professor Montel and his colleagues, a group of scientists, businessmen, and statesmen who suspect the Communist Chinese are building a secret atomic base on an island somewhere north of Japan. They must have proof, so Montel offers Jones another $45,000 if he will command an old World War II-era Japanese submarine being overhauled and follow the Chinese freighter Kiang Ching, which has been making suspicious deliveries in that area. Jones reluctantly agrees- providing that the submarine is armed, and that he is also allowed to hire some of his former navy shipmates.

The day before Jones is to conduct a test dive, news arrives that the Kiang Ching has sailed. Despite Jones's protests that the submarine's torpedo tubes have not been inspected yet, and they are therefore too dangerous to use, there is no choice but to start out after the freighter. When Montel boards with his beautiful assistant, Professor Denise Gerard (Bella Darvi), the superstitious crewmen are upset, believing women on a ship are bad luck, but Montel insists she come along.