"Submarine D1" (1937)follows the ups-and downs of the inaugural voyages of the USS Dolphin. As the story takes place in the interwar years, the tension comes from an accidental collision that sends the sub to the bottom, allowing the film to showcase then 'state-of-the-art' submarine rescue technology. There are lots of good scenes of period Navy ships and some good underwater shots as the Dolphin participates in torpedo drills against what was then the pride of the fleet: the battleships. As is often the case with pre-WW2 films, modern viewers are constantly being reminded about the rapid obsolescence of military equipment between the late 30s and 1945 - "Submarine D1" was made in 1937, just four years before Pearl Harbour, and the carriers are still laden with bi-planes. Countering some great military footage is the obligatory on-the-beach romance and tedious comic-relief shenanigans, both of which are dated and slow the movie to a crawl at times. Definitely a film for fans of the genre and those interested in the history of hyperbaric medicine and rescue technologies, otherwise, there are lots of more exciting submarine movies with which to pass the time.
Review of Submarine D-1
