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Submarine Base

Name: Submarine Base
Director: Albert H. Kelly
Released: 1943
Duration: 65 min

Representation Score

0.6/10

Minimal

1943

Director

Albert H. Kelly

Runtime

65 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Submarine Base is a product of the 1940s studio system, prioritizing wartime action and espionage over social issues. The narrative structure follows a standard hero's journey that reinforces the era's social hierarchies. The film lacks diverse representation, focusing almost exclusively on the actions and motivations of its male leads. While the setting is international, the perspective remains firmly rooted in American interests and traditional gender roles. Ultimately, the film adheres to the conventional norms of its time rather than challenging them, serving as a genre-driven wartime drama.

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Category Breakdown

Does Submarine Base have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film focuses on a male protagonist and a male antagonist. There are no characters with non-conventional gender identities or narratives that explore beyond typical 1940s norms.

How does Submarine Base portray gender?

Limited

Women appear mainly in supporting, decorative roles as entertainers at a resort. The central plot revolves around the actions of male characters, Taggert and Morgan.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Submarine Base?

Limited

The story uses a South American setting as a backdrop for American characters. The narrative maintains a Western-focused perspective without giving significant roles to local populations.

How does Submarine Base represent religion and culture?

Limited

The plot follows a traditional moral framework of good versus evil. It functions as a standard wartime drama without questioning Western institutions or traditional morality.

Does Submarine Base include disability representation?

Minimal

There are no characters with visible or invisible disabilities. The narrative does not address neurodivergence or physical impairments.

Present on Screen

The film introduces moral complexity through the antagonist's sabotage of torpedoes.
It offers a clear, high-stakes wartime narrative centered on naval combat and espionage.

Limited or Absent

The film relies on passive, decorative roles for female characters.
The South American setting lacks meaningful involvement from local ethnic populations.
The narrative lacks representation for LGBTQ+ identities or characters with disabilities.

Official Synopsis

Ship engineer Jim Taggert is rescued from a torpedoed tramp steamer by Joe Morgan, an American gangster that found New York too hot for him, and has become a fisherman operating from an out-of-the-way island off of the coast of South America. Morgan makes his headquarters at the Halfway House run by the parents of Maria Styx as a bar and dance resort catering to the planters and traders of the island. Taggert finds himself practically a prisoner along with a group of American girls acting as entertainers at the resort. Taggert shadows Morgan in his activities in a remote cove and finds that Morgan is supplying German U-boat commanders with torpedoes, but does not know that Morgan has rigged the torpedoes with clock devices that explode when at sea and sinks the U-boats.

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