''Hell Boats'' is a 1970

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

British

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by

Paul Wendkos Abraham Paul Wendkos (September 20, 1925 – November 12, 2009) was an American television and film director. Early life and education Wendkos was born in Philadelphia to parents Simon Wendkos and Judith Wendkos. Wendkos served in World War I ...

that was filmed in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. It stars

James Franciscus James Grover Franciscus (January 31, 1934 – July 8, 1991) was an American actor, known for his roles in feature films and in six television series: '' Mr. Novak'', '' The Naked City'', '' The Investigators'', '' Longstreet'', '' Doc Elliot'', ...

Elizabeth Shepherd Elizabeth Shepherd (born 12 August 1936) is an English character actress whose long career has encompassed the stage and both the big and small screens. Her television work has been especially prolific. Shepherd's surname has been variously ren ...

, and

Ronald Allen Ronald John Allen (16 December 1930 – 18 June 1991) was an English actor. He is most well known for playing David Hunter in the long-running ITV soap opera '' Crossroads'', a role he played from 1969 to 1985. Biography Allen was born in R ...

in a story about British Motor Torpedo Boats in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. It was the last film made by Oakmont Productions, a branch of

Mirisch Films The Mirisch Company was an American film production company owned by Walter Mirisch and his brothers, Marvin and Harold Mirisch. The company also had sister firms known at various times as Mirisch Production Company, Mirisch Pictures Inc., Miris ...

. The film's

technical advisor In film production, a technical advisor is someone who advises the director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a ...

was

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

Ian Nagle Douglas Cox, who was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

while serving in HMS ''Malcolm'' in 1940.''The London Gazetter'', 27 August 1940

Plot

In 1941

Jeffords (

), an American serving with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

is assigned to

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...

, to command a

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same clas ...

of Motor Torpedo Boats for a top secret mission. Jeffords is granted permission to take his friend

Chief Petty Officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Canada "Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxi ...

Yacov (Reuven Bar-Yotam), an Israeli/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 (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, that now contains the German's

Fritz X Fritz X was the most common name for a German guided anti-ship glide bomb used during World War II. ''Fritz X'' was the world's first precision guided weapon deployed in combat and the first to sink a ship in combat. ''Fritz X'' was a nickname us ...

glide bomb A glide bomb or stand-off bomb is a standoff weapon with flight control surfaces to give it a flatter, gliding flight path than that of a conventional bomb without such surfaces. This allows it to be released at a distance from the target r ...

s that have been taking a heavy toll of British shipping. As the bombs are stored in former

submarine pen A submarine pen (''U-Boot-Bunker'' in German) is a type of submarine base that acts as a bunker to protect submarines from air attack. The term is generally applied to submarine bases constructed during World War II, particularly in Germany and ...

s 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 (

) bathing in the nude; she turns out to be the wife of his commanding officer Commander Andrew Ashurst (

), 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 In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

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 E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat") of the Kriegsmarine during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a patrol craft from an armed motorboat to a lar ...

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 The Trojan Horse was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending before the war is concluded, ...

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 set A scuba set, originally just scuba, is any breathing apparatus that is entirely carried by an underwater diver and provides the diver with breathing gas at the ambient pressure. ''Scuba'' is an anacronym for self-contained underwater breathin ...

s 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 The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It b ...

took place in July 1943.

Cast

References

External links

* * * * {{Paul Wendkos 1970 films United Artists films 1970 war films British war films Films directed by Paul Wendkos Films set in Malta Films shot in Malta Royal Navy in World War II films 1970s action films Films set in the Mediterranean Sea 1970s English-language films 1970s British films