cinemajesty Film Review: "Run Silent Run Deep" (1958)Director Robert Wise (1914-2005), before producing his high-end Hollywood productions of 1960s, comes this minor Submarine action drama, starring acting stars Burt Lancaster (1913-1994) and Clark Gable (1901-1960) neatly put together as on-screen characters of a 1st officer and his captain on a U.S. American submarine in the Pacific of WW2. The picture tinted in black & white can not create a blast as to say the character-driven suspenseful moments as the preliminary released competitor project "The Enemy Below" (1957) by 20th Century Fox, where actor Robert Mitchum and Curd Jürgens owned the suspense level 90 Minute through the picture even sharing only one scene together. Here the acting collaborators do not get along, much to the disadvantage of a struggling, seemingly forced directions by Robert Wise. An improved version of a closed-to-the-same set up picture of two Hollywood stars fighting for survival and personal convictions on a submarine is available with the movie called "Crimson Tide" starring Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington directed by Tony Scott (1944-2012) from the year 1995. © 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

rickrudge Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)It's a clichéd submarine war drama, but it's also a good movie and well worth watching. Desk-bound in Hawaii, Commander Richardson (Clark Gable) had his submarine sunk at the infamous Bungo Straights and wants to get another crack at the Akikase destroyer. So he swings getting command of another sub with the top brass.First Officer, Lieutenant Jim Bledsoe (Burt Lancaster) is the Captain apparent, but has to babysit Richardson instead. His whole crew is antagonistic, especially when he drills them for days, getting them trained for a difficult bow shot of the Akikase. When Commander Richardson finally goes into the Bungo Straights, it's right out of Moby Dick, but you knew it was going to happen.The crew is filled with great actors, including; Jack Warden, Don Rickles, Brad Dexter, and Nick Cravat who has been in many of Lancaster's movies.

classicsoncall Director Robert Wise opted to create his sets using the actual dimensions of a real submarine, an idea that helped one visualize the close, claustrophobic quarters naval men were subjected to while living and working under water. Keeping that in mind, it seemed to me that some scenes might have diverted from that formula, but in general one gets an idea how cramped the quarters would have been on the USS Nerka.Virtually every submarine film one is liable to watch has elements that make the picture intense and exciting. The 1981 film "Das Boot" is probably the best of the genre, and you get a pretty good adrenaline rush with 1990's "The Hunt for Red October". This one has it's moments when Lieutenant Jim Bledsoe (Burt Lancaster) goes up against Commander 'Rich' Richardson (Clark Gable); the senior officer received the assignment after spending a year at a desk job when an earlier sub he commanded was destroyed by a Japanese naval ship. So right off the bat there's a degree of tension between the two men, especially after the Nerka's crew fully expected Bledsoe to get the job.The thing that kept nagging me about the story was Richardson's willingness to directly defy the orders of naval superiors to avoid sailing into the Bungo Straits off the coast of Japan. I didn't think that plot element was effectively dealt with, although I don't know how one would recall a renegade submarine captain once he was out in the middle of the ocean. The ending of the story probably dealt with that issue well enough by having Richardson buried at sea.The most disturbing factor the story dealt with, and I wouldn't know if it ever happened for real, was when Commander Richardson ordered three dead sailors to be evacuated along with ship debris by means of the torpedo tubes. As inhumane as that sounds, it was an effective stratagem to convince the Japanese commander that the sub was destroyed. The business about repeated drills to attack the bow of an enemy ship at the beginning of the mission seemed credible enough until you get a look at how difficult that would actually have been. Not much margin for error there, which makes me question if even the most experienced submarine captain could pull it off.

edmundcharles-55 ALL:Before the 'Hunt for Red October' there was 'Run Silent, Run Deep'- a classic Hollywood drama about a WWII submarine and two Alpha male Navy officers vying for the control of their submarine and the loyalty of its crew. The film deviates from the book, although this fact does not detract from the movie. The script, acting and script are mature, exciting and without needless or dull scenes. The novel was written by a WWI navy submariner and serving US Navy Commander, Commander Edward L. Beach, Jr. , so this helped to ensure for a realistic submarine story.This movie ranks up with the great top submarine movies which in my own personal order are: 1) Das Boot 2) Run Silent Run Deep 3) K-19: The Widowmaker 4) Hunt for Red OctoberI only exclude the 'Hunt for Red October' in the top three listing because it is more a story that focuses on the personality of the Soviet officer over the SSBN Typhoon class submarine (Note: Typhoon class ballistic submarines by interest of design and long range) were primarily watered in Soviet controlled waters vice going on international blue water and continental shelf domains as these journeys were both un-necessary and greatly exposed the huge vessels to un-necessary detection).