Hell Boats

1970 film by Paul Wendkos

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Hell Boats

Theatrical release poster by Frank McCarthy

Directed by| Paul Wendkos
Written by| Derek Ford
Donald Ford
Anthony Spinner
Produced by| Lewis J. Rachmil
Starring| James Franciscus, Elizabeth Shepherd, Ronald Allen
Cinematography| Paul Beeson
Edited by| John S. Smith
Music by| Frank Cordell

Production
company

Oakmont Productions

Distributed by| United Artists

Release date

* 20 March 1970 (1970-03-20)

Running time

| 95 minutes
Country| United Kingdom
Language| English

Hell Boats is a 1970 British war film directed by Paul Wendkos that was filmed in Malta. It stars James Franciscus, Elizabeth Shepherd, and Ronald Allen[1] in a story about British Motor Torpedo Boats in the Mediterranean in World War II.[2] It was the last film made by Oakmont Productions, a branch of Mirisch Films.[3] The film's technical advisor was Lieutenant Commander Ian Nagle Douglas Cox, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Order while serving in HMS Malcolm in 1940.[4]

## Plot

[edit]

In 1941 Lieutenant Commander Jeffords (James Franciscus), an American serving with the Royal Navy Reserve is assigned to Valletta, Malta, to command a flotilla of Motor Torpedo Boats for a top secret mission. Jeffords is granted permission to take his friend Chief Petty Officer Yacov (Reuven Bar-Yotam), a Jewish Palestinian, with him.

Through scrounging spare parts from sunken craft, the battered flotilla is able to piece together three seaworthy craft. Jeffords' mission is to destroy a former Italian submarine base in Augusta, Sicily, that now contains the German's Fritz X glide bombs that have been taking a heavy toll of British shipping. As the bombs are stored in former submarine pens tunnelled inside a mountain, an aerial attack is unfeasible. It is up to Jeffords to determine how he will accomplish his mission.

Off duty, Jeffords meets Alison Ashurst (Elizabeth Shepherd) bathing in the nude; she turns out to be the wife of his commanding officer Commander Andrew Ashurst (Ronald Allen), whose father is the Admiral who sent Jeffords to Malta. Jeffords initially turns down her offer of having an affair but during an air raid they take shelter and kiss. Later, after returning with a captured E-boat, Jeffords finds Alison waiting for him in his bed. It's implied they then sleep together.

Jeffords first decides to make a reconnaissance of his target by being taken into the base by the Sicilian Resistance. Jeffords' mission is successful, but at the cost of the lives of his Resistance escort. The Italian officer who was supposed to guide him had earlier been arrested.

Jeffords schemes to capture a German E-Boat in a manner similar to Commander Ian Fleming's Operation Ruthless. By sending a false radio message that General Alexander's aeroplane has gone missing in a certain area, Jeffords and crew pose as survivors of the crash then capture the boat attempting to pick them up. Jeffords uses the captured craft as a Trojan Horse to penetrate the harbour, having the other boats in the flotilla follow his captured craft in once the Germans have lifted their boom gate. Jeffords and two others don Scuba sets to swim into the tunnels and plant explosive charges. Contrary to Jeffords' instructions, the MTBs (all of which are eventually lost) and the E-boat wait to pick him and his chief up.

After returning to Malta, Alison greets Andrew and Jeffords. Jeffords leaves silently, and it is implied Andrew and Alison will try and make their marriage work.

The Allied invasion of Sicily took place in July 1943.

## Cast

[edit]

* James Franciscus as Lieutenant Commander Jeffords, R.N.V.R.
* Elizabeth Shepherd as Alison Ashurst
* Ronald Allen as Commander Ashurst, R.N.
* Reuven Bar-Yotam as Chief Petty Officer Yacov
* Mark Hawkins as Lieutenant Barlow, R.N.
* Magda Konopka as Luciana
* Drewe Henley as Sub. Lieutenant Johnson, R.N.
* Inigo Jackson as Chief Petty Officer Stanhope
* Takis Emmanuel as Salvatore
* Philip Madoc as 'E' Boat Captain
* John G. Heller as Rheinhardt
* David Savile as Lieutenant Wallace, R.N.
* Seán Barrett as Sub. Lieutenant Hendrickson, R.N.V.R.
* Bernard Davies as Cramer
* Moultrie Kelsall as Vice Admiral Ashurst
* Peter Burton as Admiral's Aide
* Andreas Malandrinos as Beni

## See also

[edit]

* Hanover Street, a 1979 film starring Harrison Ford, whose plot includes a similar love triangle.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Hell Boats (1970) - Paul Wendkos | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie" - via www.allmovie.com.
2. ^ "Hell Boats | TV Guide". TVGuide.com.
3. ^ "Oakmont Productions". BFI. Archived from the original on 30 May 2018.
4. ^ The London Gazetter, 27 August 1940

## External links

[edit]

* Hell Boats at IMDb
* Hell Boats at the TCM Movie Database
* Hell Boats at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Paul Wendkos

* The Burglar (1957)
* The Case Against Brooklyn (1958)
* Tarawa Beachhead (1958)
* Gidget (1959)
* Face of a Fugitive (1959)
* Battle of the Coral Sea (1959)
* Because They're Young (1960)
* Angel Baby (1961)
* Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961)
* Gidget Goes to Rome (1963)
* Johnny Tiger (1966)
* Attack on the Iron Coast (1967)
* Fear No Evil (1969)
* Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969)
* Hell Boats (1970)
* The Brotherhood of the Bell (1970)
* Cannon for Cordoba (1970)
* The Mephisto Waltz (1971)
* A Little Game (1971)
* A Death of Innocence (1971)
* The Family Rico (1972)
* Haunts of the Very Rich (1972)
* The Strangers in 7A (1972)
* The Underground Man (1974)
* The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975)
* Special Delivery (1976)
* The Death of Richie (1977)
* Good Against Evil (1977)
* 79 Park Avenue (1979)
* Betrayal (1978)
* A Woman Called Moses (1978)
* The Five of Me (1981)
* Cocaine: One Man's Seduction (1983)
* Scorned and Swindled (1984)
* The Bad Seed (1985)
* Blood Vows: The Story of a Mafia Wife (1987)
* Six Against the Rock (1987)
* Right to Die (1987)
* The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story (1988)
* The Great Escape II: The Untold Story (1988)
* Cross of Fire (1989)
* Blind Faith (1990)
* The Chase (1991)
* White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd (1991)
* A Match Made in Heaven (1997)

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