Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Sorry, this movie sucks

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

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)

Nothing like watching an action packed Submarine movie on a Fall afternoon during football season. Normally I would watch my beloved G-Men, (The New York Football Giants) take on their NFL opponents but this year things are different. Arrogant uninformed NFL players are taking a different approach by refusing to stand for the National Anthem. They feel that their being profiled due to the color of their skin so kneeling or sitting is their defiant message to America. Legally they can do what they want. I am personally offended cause I was taught to stand in honor of our great Men And Woman who serve in our military. As for the movie our star is the elder Iconic Clark Gable who plays a Submarine commander P.J. Richardson who lost his ship earlier and wants revenge against his Japanese destroyer Captain nemesis Bungo Pete. Bungo Pete is responsible for the sinking of three U.S. Ships in the hazardous waters of the aforementioned. A frustrated desk bound ex-commander Richardson tries to influence the Navy Board to commission him with another sub. The board agrees but with the condition that his first officer is someone who is seasoned in active duty. Enter first officer Jim Bledsoe (Burt Lancaster). Richardson evenhandedly trains his new crew for his sub the USS Nerka with one proviso issued by his superiors is that they are forbidden to enter the dangerous waters of the Bungo Straights. Richardson and Bledsoe quickly are on the offensive as I enjoyed the cat and mouse activities of Naval warfare. Watching Gable on patrol watch and issuing the famous cry, "DIVE DIVE DIVE!" Lancaster as the patient and obedient first lieutenant who handles the in-fighting as certain members of the crew who are insubordinate. Lancaster's acting was so natural as his dis- pleasure of Gable's command comes through naturally. There's a good reason with Lancaster's annoyances with Gable. Lancaster was the producer of this film and ran things on a tight schedule. Everyday at 5:00 Gable would call it quits. Even in the middle of crucial scenes, Gable would walk off the set. Don Rickles and Jack Warden stand out as active crew members in this underwater thriller. Rickles questioning authority and Warden dissatisfied with his commanders decisions. This all surfaces with an exciting confrontation you won't want to miss. You also see a declining elderly Gable who appears just a shell of a man against the strong and confident Burt Lancaster the new generation of Hollywood's heart throbs to take over the reins.

In 1942, submarine commander P.J. Richardson (Clark Gable) loses his boat in the Bungo Straits to Japanese destroyer Akikaze. Richardson survives and a year later, he's on desk duty in Pearl Harbor. Meanwhile, the Akikaze has gained a fearsome reputation after sinking three more American subs. Jim Bledsoe (Burt Lancaster) is about to be the captain of a sub but Richardson is able to steal the position from him. Bledsoe is forced to remain as the ship's XO. Richardson is obsessed about drilling the crew in a dangerous bow shot maneuver. They are going back to the area but they are ordered not to enter the Bungo Straits.The start is a bit of a missed opportunity. I get the need to get to Burt Lancaster but the first sub going down could have been a great sequence. Also it needs to explain a little bit how the crew got out. Most submarines go under with the crew on board. The special effects are nicely done with a mix of mostly miniatures as well as a real submarine. The action is terrific and thrilling. The two leading men are the best of their eras. It's one of the best early submarine movies.

Films about submarine warfare have long been a popular sub-genre of the war film, possibly because their claustrophobic setting allows ample scope for psychological analysis and character development. There were a number produced during and in the years following World War II, such as this one or the British-made "Above Us the Waves", but there have also been more recent examples such as the German "Das Boot" (also about World War II) and "The Hunt for Red October", "Crimson Tide" and "K-19 The Widowmaker", all with a Cold War setting. "Run Silent, Run Deep" shares with the last two films mentioned above the theme of a conflict between the submarine commander and his second- in-command. In all three films the two men have very different personalities and in each case the commander is an obsessive, driven character while his executive officer is more relaxed. All three films cast two major stars opposite one another- Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington in "Crimson Tide", Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson in "K-19" and Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster here. Gable's character, Commander P.J. Richardson, is the captain of a submarine which is sunk by a Japanese destroyer in the Bungo Straits. He persuades the Navy Board to give him command of another submarine, the USS Nerka, thus bringing him into conflict with the Nerka's executive officer, Lieutenant Jim Bledsoe, who possesses the necessary qualifications for command and believes that he should have been promoted to the captaincy. The crew also dislike Richardson, a strict disciplinarian who forces them to go through endless drills, and would much prefer to serve under the more easygoing Bledsoe. As the film progresses it becomes clear that Richardson is obsessed with avenging the loss of his previous submarine by sinking the destroyer responsible, even though he is under orders to avoid the Bungo Straits. The purpose of his repeated drills is to perfect a daring manoeuvre which he believes will give him an advantage over the enemy ship. The film is on one level a tense and exciting action/adventure drama, and works very well as such. On a deeper level, however, it is also a psychological study of the two men and a study in style of leadership. Both Gable and the scriptwriters resisted the temptation to make Richardson a simple villain. Certainly, he is a difficult, prickly character, unpopular with the crew and his subordinate officers. His cavalier interpretation of orders would not win him many friends among his superiors if they knew what he was up to. Yet his leadership inspires his men to brilliant feats of seamanship, enabling them to sink three Japanese vessels. Although on a human level the likable Bledsoe is well-versed in the arts of making friends and influencing people, he is also more cautious and pragmatic. There is a strong implication that, had he been in command, the crew might not have accomplished so much. The two men are very well played by Gable and Lancaster. In 1958 Gable was of course coming to the end of his career- he only had another two years to live, although in that period he was to make another five films- but Lancaster's still had another thirty years to run, and the film came at a time when his career was undergoing a change of direction. Although there had been exceptions, such as "The Killers" and "From Here to Eternity", most of his films from the forties and fifties had been action adventures in which he had played physically demanding roles. For a war film, "Run Silent, Run Deep" does not contain much in the way of physical action- most of the action sequences were created using models- but rather looks forward to the sort of thoughtful, character-driven movies in which Lancaster was to specialise in the sixties and seventies.Robert Wise is today best remembered as the director of those two famous musicals, "West Side Story" and "The Sound of Music", but he was a versatile director who could work in most genres, including films noirs, Westerns, disaster movies and war films. "Run Silent, Run Deep" is never going to equal something like "The Sound of Music" in the affections of the public, but it serves as a very good example of another side of Wise's talents. It rates as one of the best submarine dramas ever made. 8/10