Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)

Run Silent, Run Deep
Directed by Robert Wise
Written by John Gay from a novel by Edward L. Beach
1958/USA
Hill-Hecht-Lancaster Productions/Jeffrey Pictures Corp.
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Lt. Jim Bledsoe: It’s one thing to drill a crew for fighting. But when you duck a Jap sub, they wonder why they should break their backs on drills when the captain has no stomach for attacking. What does he want? Obedience? Efficiency? Or the best drilled cowards in the Navy?

Commander Richardson: [after a long pause] Mr. Bledsoe, tell them I’m doubling the drills, starting tomorrow.[/box]

1958 was a good year for Clark Gable.

Before the credits roll, we see Cmdr. Rich Richardson’s (Gable) submarine sunk by a Japanese destroyer in the Bungo Strait.  Richardson is then relegated to a desk job.  We segue to Lt. Jim Bledsoe’s (Burt Lancaster) promotion.  The crew of the U.S.S. Nurka love him and all believe he will captain the submarine on its next mission.  However, Richardson uses his influence to wangle command of the vessel.  He asks for Bledsoe as his executive officer and refuses to allow him to decline the appointment.  This sets up tension for the remainder of the film.

Richardson begins by drilling the men repeatedly to achieve the quickest possible dive time.  This, and his failure to attack an easy target, earn him some reputation for cowardice.  Then the sub is ordered to an area that includes the Bungo strait but is specifically instructed to steer clear of it.  When Richardson insists on pursuing the ship that sunk his former sub there, his reputation begins to change to one for foolhardiness.  With Don Rickles, in his film debut, in a fairly straight role as a member of the crew.

The plot is sort of Moby Dick meets The Caine Mutiny without quite being either.  The performances, especially Gable’s, are excellent and Wise keeps the story moving forward and suspenseful.  This is a solid submarine movie.

Trailer