The Enemy Below

The Enemy Below (1957) is a WWII war drama you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Dick Powell. Out in the South Atlantic, an American destroyer and a German U-boat lock into a duel that runs entirely on nerve.

The captain of the USS Haynes (Robert Mitchum) catches a submarine on his sonar. Below the surface waits her commander (Curd Jürgens), a seasoned officer as weary of the war as his hunter. What follows is a patient game of cat and mouse — each man guessing the other's next turn, diving deeper, holding fire because a wasted shot would give his position away. The two captains never see each other's faces, yet a strange, almost chivalrous respect grows between them by the end.

The film took home the Oscar for its special effects, and the battle sequences still hold up. It's a rare war picture that treats the enemy as a man rather than a caricature, made for viewers who prize a contest of wits over gunfire. Stream The Enemy Below (1957) online on iFILM.