Mark Robson must have remembered he directed in 1943 the absolutely remarkable "ghost ship " ,one of his VaL Lewton productions,all of which worth seeking out.that's why the second third is arguably the best : a delightful villain (Stanley Baker,who else?),a mystery , a disturbing atmosphere in the depths of the ship;Robson can make the best of the hold and of the engine room.More than the bland heroine ,Gerda is for the time a very modern character that should have been more developed ;it's her that should have accompanied Ladd in the final chase,not the frail clueless girl.The last third seems a bit botched anyway ,but it's an entertaining adventures movie.

This is an odd Alan Ladd film from his years appearing in a few British productions. Most of these British films are pretty dull (such as THE BLACK KNIGHT and THE RED BERET), though this one is just a little bit better--but not so much that you should rush out to find a copy. In some ways it's very much like most of his films, as the pugnacious near-midget acts tough and beats up all his diminutive enemies (as Hollywood had a habit of co-starring him with other short actors). However, it is a bit different due to the locale of the film and the oddness of the plot.Ladd is on his way to South Africa just to beat someone up. Sure, the guy deserves it but to travel 7,764 miles (more or less) just to do it seemed odd, as he COULD have paid some locals to do it instead (and for a lot less money)! On the way to clobber this crook, Ladd sits next to a lady on the plane and is instantly smitten with her. Later, after applying this butt-kicking, he meets up with her again and finds out that she's on her way towards Antarctica to discover how and why her father (a ship's captain) was killed. The official story is that he either killed himself or it was an accident but she doggedly is determined to find the real cause. Considering that Ladd is not doing anything (i.e., there is no one in the country he needs to beat up), he signs aboard as a first-mate and goes with her.The rest of the film is set either at sea or on the ice--a definite change of pace for Ladd. But the biggest change is just how odd the plot becomes and all the bizarre and rather difficult to anticipate action. It's not really bad, but it's so weird and difficult to believe that it's not all that good either. Still, for fans of Ladd, it's worth seeing and others might see it as just another time-passer.By the way, those who are members of PETA and soft-hearted souls should NOT watch the film as there is a lot of whale killing in the film and it's pretty graphic. Seeing it, it shows just how much sensibilities have changed in the last half century.

Hell Below Zero finds Alan Ladd as an American flying to Capetown to see about some mining investments. He meets Joan Tetzel on the plane and is intrigued by her. She's going there to investigate her father's death for herself, she doesn't like the initial verdict of suicide.Ladd's investment has gone up in smoke and after he metes out a justified beat down to Peter Dyneley. He looks up Joan Tetzel at the Capetown equivalent of the Merchant Seaman's Hall. She's now half owner of a whaling vessel with Basil Sydney and his son, Stanley Baker and she's not happy with their explanation of things. On a flip of a coin since apparently Ladd has nothing else to do, he signs on their vessel as the first mate.Though the personal story takes a melodramatic turn, I have got to hand it to the folks at Shepperton Studios. Other than using some establishing color cinematography to depict Capetown, the Ocean, the whaling, and the Antarctic, the film was shot in the United Kingdom. But you would never realize it, that's how good the sets are. There is a film Bear Island with Richard Widmark and Donald Sutherland that is also a polar location and that was done in North Labrador to simulate the Arctic. You can't tell the two apart, viewed side by side during the Antarctic sequences.Best performance in the film however is Jill Esmond as a female Norwegian whaling ship captain, a part that is obviously a lesbian. Filmed today Jill's character would be quite open about her sexual orientation.This is one of three British made films that Alan Ladd did for Columbia release in the USA during the Fifties. Hell Below Zero is easily the best of the three because of its production values. Very similar to the studio recreation of the Himalayas in Black Narcissus.

Although the quality of Alan Ladd's films went down after 'Shane', I watched this simply because it was written by Alec Coppel. He wrote this in the same year that he wrote another Alan Ladd film, 'The Black Knight', and then went on four years later to co-write 'Vertigo'. Three years prior to 'Hell Below Zero', Coppel wrote 'No Highway in the Sky' starring James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich. This is a throwaway brain kind of film. When you watch it, you realise that the major studios were just padding out Ladd's career with projects like this so that he could pay his bills, fill out his c.v. and stay in the limelight. Apart from that, there is no substance to the film whatsoever.