Run Silent Run Deep (1958) Reviews

• Playing Navy Politics

  bkoganbing2005-12-21

  This was the second of two films that Burt Lancaster's Hecht-Hill-Lancaster company produced with a co-star from the earlier generation of film icons. Lancaster got the services of Gary Cooper for Verz Cruz and for Run Silent Run Deep, Clark Gable signed on for a hitch in as a submarine captain with a mission that isn't in the orders. Clark Gable has been desk bound for a year after losing his submarine in the Bungo Strait in Japanese waters. He hears of another submarine coming into Pearl Harbor with a wounded captain who will be on medical leave. So with a little back channel influence playing naval politics, Gable gets command of the U.S.S. Nerka. He inherits a resentful crew and an executive officer in Burt Lancaster who thinks he should have inherited the job. Gable's going back to the Bungo Stratis to nail the Japanese battleship that sank his former submarine and it's against orders. The conflict already existing between Gable and Lancaster and the one some in the crew would like to make is what gives the film its spark. Though this is a submarine film, you can see plot elements of Flying Leathernecks and The Caine Mutiny here. Brad Dexter is in the Fred MacMurray role. If Humphrey Bogart on the Caine had had at least one confidant on board he might not have cracked up. Gable's confidante on the Nerka is Jack Warden who is desk bound with him and transferred with him to the Nerka when Gable got command. Both Warden and Dexter are the best in a good supporting cast. By the way what Gable is drilling his men in doing is shooting with precise speed and accuracy into the bow of an oncoming enemy ship and then diving for cover in split seconds. Quite a maneuver. And quite a good film as well.

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• Gable and Lancaster on a collision course with the Imperial Japanese Navy during WWII. Superb

  Mickey-22003-01-31

  "Run Silent, Run Deep" featured the only pairing of two screen giants-Clark Gable, in the twilight of his career, and Burt Lancaster, whose best performances were still ahead of him. Sad to say that they couldn't be used in a joint effort again, as the on-screen chemistry was on a supreme height. Gable plays the commander of a WWII submarine that has recently been sunk in an ara referred to as the Bunko Straits, or Area 7. He has been assigned to a desk job back at Pearl Harbor, and even after a year, is still brooding over the loss of his crew and his boat. Lancaster has a good part, that of the Executive Officer of a sub called the USS Nerka. This boat has just had a command change, Lancaster desires that position, but is passed over in favor of Gable, who senses a chance to return to the Straits and extract revenge on the Japanese destroyer which he feels certain sank his old command. The clash between the two men is obvious, but they put their personal differences behind them, and head for a long lasting combat mission, which against orders, will include Gable's return visit to the forbidden area 7 of the Bunko Straits. Besides the pairing of two of Hollywood's screen legends, the film features the realism of using an actual ship of the line, the USS Redfish, for many of the shots. Also, the viewer has a chance to feel a part of the underwater tensions and claustrophobic conditions that submariners experienced during times of combat underwater. A must-see, or even better, a must buy film for those that enjoy films of this genre.

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• Wise stresses the human emotion of two screen icons..

  Nazi_Fighter_David2004-01-06

  After his submarine is sunk by a Japanese Akikase destroyer in the Bongo Straits off the coast of Japan in a 1942 encounter, Commander 'Rich' Richardson (Clark Gable) is put behind a desk for a while at Pearl Harbor... During a year, the vessel that destroyed his battleship, sinks three other American subs that dare to enter Area Seven home of the Bungo Straits... Richardson is seen, reliving his Bungo failure, with one target in mind: Hunting down and destroying the Imperial Japanese Navy's Submarine... His chance comes when the captain of another sub, the U.S.S. Nerka, reaches retirement... Richardson eventually convinces the Navy top brass for another chance and is given command... The crew he inherits is antagonistic, as is his new executive officer, Lt. Jim Bledsoe (Burt Lancaster), who had hoped for the command himself... Richardson cannot forget the Akikase and his nightmares about it... Determined to sink it, he puts his ship and crew through many difficult training maneuvers anticipating the inevitable encounter... When he learns of the destroyer's whereabouts, he deliberately announces that the Nerka is going into the Bongo Straits in direct defiance of orders to knock out the Japanese ship... The pairing of Gable and Lancaster as incompatible but mutually respectful naval officers is at the head of Robert Wise's motion picture... Later, of course, the destroyer against sub action reappears, but the most interesting sequences are when Wise stresses the human emotion of two screen icons, one on the ascent, and the other near the end of his career... 'Run Silent Run Deep' has little resemblance to the book written by Capt. Edward R. Beach, who served on the personal staff of General Omar Bradley during Bradley's tenure as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and as naval aide to President Dwight D. Eisenhower... The motion picture isn't particularly a great underwater action film, but with Lancaster and Gable in top form— and ably supported by Jack Warden, Don Rickles, Brad Dexter and Lancaster's frequent sidekick Nick Cravat—it remains an interesting study of submariners and their dedication to duty under fire in World War II... The hate-your-enemy attitude remains undiluted however...

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• Excellent Submarine Movie

  Homer9002007-01-31

  The interaction between Gable and Lancaster is something to behold. That and the story, the tension and the realism of men under attack. Yes, the special effects are not to the "high" standards of today, but they serve the story well and do not detract from the important drama. As one poster said, this movie would be ill served in color as would Das Boot in B&W. An overall excellent adaptation of the book and as far as the points not explained, all the better. I hate movies that stop the action to then explain to a character what that character is about to experience/see/do, etc. Give the movie goer credit for being able to fill in the gaps. A must have for any WWII movie collection.

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• Great film!

  grahamsj32002-09-16

  WOW! is all I can say. This is the most realistic submarine film of it's day. I don't think anybody equaled this film in this genre until Das Boot was released nearly 30 years later. Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster star in this epic about a submarine and a mission. Others have commented at length on the basic story, so I'll leave that alone. Only a couple of details bothered me. The men were all too clean and well-shaven to be sub sailors. Some of the last WWII US Subs built had air conditioning, so that could explain the cleanliness and lack of condensation in the boat. Still, the entire crew should have been growing beards for the entire length of the cruise since water was too precious to be used for shaving or bathing while at sea. The only shipboard scene that I felt was unrealistic was one scene in the crew's mess. The space shown is far too large to have been aboard a US Fleet boat. Otherwise, I found the film to be a great depiction of the way life was aboard a US sub during WWII. The acting is superb by the entire cast, but it should be with names like Gable, Lancaster and Warden. This is one of the greats!

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