So much average

Don't listen to the negative reviews

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The best submarine movies, such as "Run Silent, Run Deep," "The Enemy Below," and "Das Boot," are focused on the action beneath the waves. Unfortunately, while "Crash Dive" has some good underwater scenes and decent action on dry land, too much time passes with a clichéd and unconvincing romantic triangle, before the sub and her crew set to sea. Lensed in color by master cinematographer Leon Shamroy, the film highlights Tyrone Power at the peak of his fabled looks; as Lt. Ward Stewart, Power reluctantly accepts a transfer from PT boat duty back to a submarine, where he began. The sub has been out of duty for some time, because the commander, Dewey Connors, played by Dana Andrews, lacked an executive officer. Enter the brash, self confident Tyrone with family connections, and the sub commander and his new executive officer get off to a chilly start. As anyone reared on Hollywood movies will expect, the situation complicates when Tyrone meets Anne Baxter in a tired "meet cute" mix-up over a train berth; of course, Baxter initially dislikes Power, but, of course, he is persistent. The overly familiar story line follows the pair to wartime Washington, D.C., where the overcrowding, which was more amusingly portrayed in "The More the Merrier," provides a backdrop for the sparring between Baxter and Power. Of course, Baxter, as private school teacher Jean Hewlett, is seeing Dana Andrews, who wants to eventually marry her. When Andrews and Power go to sea on a mission, the unwitting rivals for the same girl, surprise surprise, develop mutual respect and a budding friendship. The stale rehashed plot, written by Jo Swerling from a story by W.R. Burnett, unfolds without a whiff of fresh creativity, and any film fan will know the ending long before the sub ever crash dives. Made to instill patriotic fervor during World War II, "Crash Dive" includes gratuitous shots of U.S. naval ships, Washington, D.C. monuments, and an extended patriotic speech by Power at the finale. Amusingly, the film also posits an intriguing question: do submarines fly the Stars and Stripes while underwater? In this film, the sub emerges from beneath the sea with the flag flapping in the wind, instantly dry. The cast is solid, although the performances are generally routine, and Power's persistent pursuit of Baxter is hard to fathom, when she seems better paired with Andrews. Veteran character actor, James Gleason, who is always a pleasure to watch, plays an old timer with a bad ticker. In an uncharacteristic turn for the period, African-American actor, Ben Carter, plays Oliver, the ship's cook, who develops a caring relationship with Gleason. Although Carter is a token in an otherwise all-white cast, his performance avoids the negative stereotypes that often marred minority appearances in early Hollywood films. The delightful Dame May Witty also appears in a brief, but amusing role as Power's grandmother.Directed by Archie Mayo, "Crash Dive" maintains a decent pace during the action sequences, both at sea and on land; however, the predictable romantic triangle is for fans of the stars only.

Crash Dive is a typical WWII propaganda film with a stirring musical score by Hugo Friedhofer that prompts any young man to want to enlist in the navy. The cast is uniformly good, especially Tyrone Power as he cleverly tries to woo a reluctant Anne Baxter. Sub skipper Dana Andrews always excelled in military roles. The plot borders on the ridiculous. A German naval base in the north Atlantic- where? An American submarine conducting offensive operations in the Atlantic would likely have been attacked on sight by Allied forces who would naturally assume all subs in the Atlantic were German (such was the fate of one U.S. sub which left New London for the Panama Canal and was never heard from again). Good action scenes for a film of this genre with many of the clichés that would be repeated in other WWII submarine films.

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

Archie Mayo's film lurches between a straightforward war movie (with impressive effects in the later section, concerning an attack on a submarine) and a tug of love romance between two friends and the girl they both want to marry. The balance between the two stories isn't always effective, and perhaps the film would have been better one thing or the other.However, Tyrone Power is top-billed - in his last movie before real-life active service - and close following in the cast are Dana Andrews, reliable as ever in what could have been a unsympathetic role, and Anne Baxter as the schoolmistress who wins their hearts. All are very good. James Gleason, as 'Mac', is as watchable as ever, while the great May Whitty makes an impact when the focus moves away from the boys at sea.'Crash Dive' is perhaps a noble failure, but yet another interesting war film, this time propaganda for the submarine units. It is also of note for the blink-and-you-miss-him film debut of Steve Forrest (younger brother of Dana Andrews).