ACTION IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC (1943)


I'm a sucker for WWII movies made during WWII--all guts and glory, good vs. bad with no ambiguities. This one celebrates brave Merchant Marine sailors, delivering essential war materials on dangerous Atlantic passages:

First Mate Joe Rossi (Humphrey Bogart) and his boss, Capt. Steve Jarvis (Raymond Massey) are torpedoed by a Nazu U-Boat commanded by a sadistic captain, who surfaces and rams the lifeboat holding the survivors. They somehow manage to survive 11 days in freezing Atlantic waters (only in Hollywood, only in WWII) and sail again on a Liberty Ship delivering tanks and guns to Russia. They get separated from their convoy and are stalked by (you guessed it) the same Nazi sub. This time they outwit the Nazis and ram the sub. The cast includes the All-American Ethnics, who always populate WWII movies. This time out they include Alan Hale, Sam Levene and Dane Clark (Eternal Hothead), plus the obligatory idealistic kid who you know is going to die heroically. The action sequences are gripping and first-rate, and the stalking scenes are tense and gripping. Rousing movie!