At the onset, I should point out that I am NOT a fan of the films of Cecil B. DeMille. I have always found that although his films are impressive visually, the dialog and acting is purely secondary at best. However, the acting here is a little better than usual for DeMille--Raymond Massey, John Wayne and Ray Milland are all fine. The only acting that really seemed poor was that of Paulette Goddard, but this isn't surprising because histrionic and over-the-top performances of leading ladies is a DeMille trademark (see Anne Baxter's performance in The Ten Commandments if you don't believe me).
Generally, this movie had a well-written plot and it was both unusual and compelling. So because of a decent plot and better than expected acting, this is already a pretty good DeMille film.
However, when it comes to the action, some things leave a bit to be desired. While to today's audiences the ship scenes will no doubt look pretty fake, for 1942 they were pretty good AND you could not see the sides of the pool in the underwater shots (something all too common in underwater scenes of the day). So, my BIG argument about the movie visually is the terrible action scene at the end involving the most fake-looking giant squid ever seen on film. I can't imagine, even in 1942, that people would have seen and believed this segment at all. In fact, I would think they probably would have laughed themselves silly! So, the overall product is a mixed bag. It is definitely entertaining, reasonably well-acted (apart from some histrionics here and there) and has fair special effect. It certainly is far from great, but is worth your time.
Generally, this movie had a well-written plot and it was both unusual and compelling. So because of a decent plot and better than expected acting, this is already a pretty good DeMille film.
However, when it comes to the action, some things leave a bit to be desired. While to today's audiences the ship scenes will no doubt look pretty fake, for 1942 they were pretty good AND you could not see the sides of the pool in the underwater shots (something all too common in underwater scenes of the day). So, my BIG argument about the movie visually is the terrible action scene at the end involving the most fake-looking giant squid ever seen on film. I can't imagine, even in 1942, that people would have seen and believed this segment at all. In fact, I would think they probably would have laughed themselves silly! So, the overall product is a mixed bag. It is definitely entertaining, reasonably well-acted (apart from some histrionics here and there) and has fair special effect. It certainly is far from great, but is worth your time.