Storyline

In the Mediterranean in 1941 the Italians start using underwater chariots to mine the undersides of allied ships. Explosives expert Lionel Crabbe arrives in Gibraltar to organise defenses, but finds only two British divers available to help him. Even more worrying, it seems likely that the Italians are secretly using neutral Spain across the bay as their key base.—Jeremy Perkins {J-26}

Plot Keywords

world war two, italian history, diver, italian, man wears a swimsuit, male male relationship, bare chested male, based on novel

Short Review

Written and directed by William Fairchild (John and Julie (1955) and The Extra Day (1956)), this film was based on the 1956 book Commander Crabb by Marshall Pugh. This true life war film shows a side of the way that the history books and documentaries usually forget about, and how one brave man helped to topple the forces of the Italians in the Mediterranean, and it's got a good cast. In 1941, the Alexandria was sunk by a new form of "human torpedo" developed by the Italians. The British know they cannot let the Italians succeed, so they call upon maverick diver Lionel 'Buster' Crabb (Laurence Harvey) to help put a stop to this. Crabb is flown out to Gibraltar where the British have a vast naval base, Crabb gets together a team to try and find out how this is happening, including Seaman Knowles (Michael Craig), Able Seaman Fraser (Nigel Stock), Able Seaman Morgan (Alec McCowen) and Chief Petty Officer Thorpe (Sid James), plus they find they're being spied on by the Italians, across the water in Spain. It's a good war thriller, and it makes for a good story, and one side of how we would win the war, showing it wasn't just Germany we were at war with, it was the Italians as well. But Harvey makes a good hero in this rousing film, it has some good set pieces, and Gibraltar comes out well on film.

Trailer

Streaming Service

1. Amazon Video : Rent from $1.99, Or $0.00 with a Prime membership