Other Titles • Run Silent Run Deep • Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) • U 23 - Haie im Pazifik (1958) • U 23 - Tödliche Tiefen (1958)
Synopses for Run Silent Run Deep (1958)
1.
"Run silent, run deep" is a term that accurately describes the mission of the submarine in this tense World War II drama. Commander Richardson (Clark Gable) is the only survivor when his sub is hit by a notorious Japanese destroyer dubbed Bongo Pete in the Bongo Straits of Japan. Back at Pearl Harbor, Richardson obsessively plays out strategies that would have saved his crew. When he is reassigned a new ship in the Pacific, he must face old demons as well as the sub’s younger executive officer who was slated for captain, Lt. Bledsoe (Burt Lancaster). Bledsoe has the support of his crew and locks horns easily with Richardson, but when the captain disobeys navy orders to stay clear of the Bongo Straits, taking the crew right in to go after Bongo Pete, there is very nearly a mutiny. RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP is marked by strong performances, particularly by Gable, and a taut script. The scenes of the rigorous sub drills the captain puts his crew through are intensive and exceptional.
2.
Rich Richardson is a hard-driving, dedicated submarine officer with a single-minded purpose - to seek out and smash the Japanese destroyer he believes sunk his former ship. Given a new command, Richardson drills his men to point of mutiny as he relentlessly trains them for the battle ahead. At last, word comes of the destroyer's position, and disobeying orders, Richardson finally confronts his foe, unaware that and even greater enemy lurks nearby…one who's been targeting him for a watery grave.
3.
A movie's lasting value can often be measured by its influence in the years and decades following its original release, and on that basis Run Silent, Run Deep is certainly a classic of sorts. It remains one of the seminal World War II submarine pictures, and its intelligent script and tautly executed action are clearly echoed in such later submarine dramas as Das Boot and especially Crimson Tide, which borrows liberally from this 1958 film.
In one of his best and final roles (he appeared in only four films after this), Clark Gable plays a submarine captain without a command, having been saddled with a desk job after his previous ship was destroyed due to his overzealous pursuit of the enemy in dangerous Japanese waters. He finally gets another boat--this time with a vigilant first officer (Burt Lancaster), who stands poised to assume command if Gable puts his crew in unnecessary danger. The tension and mutual respect between these two principled men is superbly written and directed (Robert Wise was just two years away from his triumph with West Side Story), and the crucial inclusion of a strong supporting cast (including Jack Warden and Don Rickles) enhances the movie's compelling authenticity. Based on a novel by former submarine commander Edward L. Beach, Run Silent, Run Deep is rousing entertainment with the added benefit of paying honourable tribute to the men who navigated through the most frightening and claustrophobic channels of the Pacific cinema. --Jeff Shannon
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