Run Silent, Run Deep

RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP is one of the most perfect films ever made. There are excellent disclosures of various human interactions, which illustrate the concepts of dedication, devotion, suspicion, grudges, axes-to-grind, the ability to withstand minor insults, and so on. The image quality of this film is crystal clear. The dialogue is fast-moving, and it never bogs down in the tedious theatrical techniques that had been used in films from the 1930s.RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP is a 1 hour, 29 minute black and white movie about submarine warfare during World War II. The film stars Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster, and also includes Jack Warden (Twelve Angry Men), Brad Dexter (The Magnificent Seven; None But the Brave), Don Rickles (famed comedian), Nick Cravat )(co-starred with Lancaster in nine films), and Joe Maross (appeared in, Mission: Impossible, The Fugitive, The Outer Limits, The Invaders, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, Twelve O'Clock High, The Time Tunnel). The cinematography in RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP is excellent, and the viewer will especially the footage where the camera is at floor level. Despite having an "old school" actor (Gable), this film does not utilize the early technique in moviemaking, of having way too much dialogue, as was the case in movies from the 1930s.RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP starts out with a flashback, showing Gable's submarine being sunk by a Jap destroyer in the BUNGO STRAIT. At 2 minutes into the plot, we see dozens of US submariners, including Gable, clinging to flotsam after their sub was sunk awaiting rescue. The credits are then run. The next scene shows Gable stuck at a desk job in Pearl Harbor. Gable and Warden discuss diving, shooting torpedoes, and timing. The issue is that four US subs were recently sunk in the Bungo Strait. The next scene (6 minutes into the movie) takes place inside a sub, commanded by Lancaster. Displaying a sense of humor, Lancaster says, "You beach bums who will be checking in at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel . . . the hotel does not have any repair crew. So have fun, keep the damage to a minimum." At 9 minutes, a navy officer gives Lancaster the bad news that he won't be commanding a sub in his next assignment, and that instead it will be Gable. The next assignment is to go to Area Seven, which is near the Bungo Strait.The next scene is at Gable's home near Pearl Harbor. He is seen perches in his tree, because he is about to spray the leaves with insect spray. "Would you mind throwing up the insect spray," Gable asks Lancaster, who had just arrived. "I'm not here to spray insects," replies Lancaster. Displaying a sense of humor, Gable retorts, "It's the leaves you spray, not the insects." Gable's wife says goodbye to Lancaster and Gable, as they head off to their next assignment. In an ominous statement, she says, "If there isn't another time, good luck."At 13-15 minutes, the crew of Gable's sub discuss Area 7, which is their destination. At 16 min, occurs the first of many diving drills. The viewer is treated to plenty of hardware, fins being lowered, periscope being raised, sea-level cinematography of ocean waves crashing on the deck of the sub.In the next scene, Rickles is at his finest, and delivers some fine humor. "You better grab some coffee, in 30 minutes we're going to have another drill," Lancaster tells the men. But below, the men are busy griping about all of the diving drills.A pudgy middle-aged sailor gripes, "It's the craziest war patrol I ever started." Rickles says, "Who says we're on a war patrol? We're on a drill patrol my friend. Haven't you heard, we're going to challenge the Japs to a drill. The winner's going to get an all expense paid honeymoon trip with Tokyo Rose in the Bungo Strait!" Rickles pretends to look grim when he makes this wisecrack.The next scene (24 minutes) takes place on the surface. One of the sailors, who's job is to dump trash, gets trapped on the deck just as the sub begins one of its many diving drills. He taps on the hatch. The man almost drowns, and the sub surfaces just in time to save him. "Instead of losing time on this drill, we almost lose a man," says Gable, scolding Lancaster. "I have no excuses," replies Lancaster. Then Lancaster directs his gripes to Gable about all of the drilling. "Do you want the best-drilled cowards in the navy," referring to the fact that Gable has the crew do only drilling, and no attacking.At 28 minutes, the viewer is treated to more hardware, e.g., a round radar screen showing that Jap ships are up ahead, a rangefinder, and torpedoes being fired. A Jap tanker is blown up. Then, Gable's crash-diving technique is used to good effect, and he uses it to sink the Jap destroyer with a bow shot. Gable announces to his crew, "You've just given a Jap tin can the deep six with a bow shot in just 32 seconds."At 38 minutes into the film, the sub encounters an entire fleet of Jap ships. "Take her down to 100feet," orders Gable. "What's he doing, what's going on," mumbles one of the sailors, perplexed by Gable's strategy. Down below, Gable and Lancaster have a heated discussion about Gable's unilateral decision to obey orders from above for avoiding Bungo Strait, and instead to order his sub to attack ships that are within Bungo Strait. But Gable is firm about attacking Japs in the Bungo Strait, because he wants to redeem himself for losing his own sub in the same place, a year earlier.At 43 minutes into the film, the crew meet with Lancaster in Gable's absence, discussing mutiny because none of them want to go to Bungo Strait, where they will meet certain death. By this point in time, it is reasonable to compare the plot to that in Moby Dick, where Gable is Ahab, and the whale is a Jap destroyer called AKAKAZI. At 46 minutes, we see the Jap convoy again, and then we see AKAKAZI sailing quickly at 30 knots. The viewer is treated to more hardware, e.g., levers, radar screen, rangefinder, and a half dozen Jap airplanes overhead, each dropping bombs, resulting in enormous splashes in the ocean near Gable's sub. "Dive, dive" yells Gable, 51 minutes into the film. There is a tense moment when one of the sub's own torpedoes becomes a runaway torpedo, and turns around and propels itself towards Gable's own sub. Then, for the next few minutes, many scary things occur in Gable's sub, similar to the scary things in DAS BOOT.From 60 minutes on in the film, there are more personality clashes, disagreements, and even a fist fight in the submarine. Then, the garbage dumping incident is revived because, as it turned out, the garbage had floated to land, enabling the Japanese to learn the names of the men on Gable's submarine. This particular scene is very clever, because it revives an earlier incident which, at the earlier time, seemed inconsequential, but at a later time, becomes a prime motivator in how the plot develops.Finally at 1 hour, 13 minutes, the AKAKAZI is spotted again, in a convoy of other Jap ships. At one hour, 18 minutes, Lancaster gives the command, "Commence firing at one-five-double-oh!" Don't worry, I will not give away the ending. The ending is very clever. The ending revives another earlier-occurring inconsequential incident. FIVE STARS. P.S. Another positive aspect about RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP, is that there are no computer graphics.

Excellent film, great acting by a fine cast

Despite the fact that I have never been a big fan of Lancaster and Gable I thoroughly enjoyed this film. These two actors knew their trade and delivered a great performance. And to see that Lancaster's character could swallow his pride and get along with his commander and support him earned my respect. Being in black and white made the movie even more enjoyable. I think if it had been done in color it would have lost a lot of its appeal.Not a lot of action since Gable wanted to be ready when the time came to confront his nemesis. The crew reacted just as any crew would by questioning his bravery. But again Lancaster showed his support of his commander. And in the end did get his dream.I'm not much on reviews or going into a lot of detail. I just loved the movie it it makes a great addition to my other war films. I'm sure it will be for yours as well.

Average Reviews:The average reviews for the movie are 5 stars! It has touched countless people over the years and left them all with the same impression on just how great it is.Pros:- It is shot in black & white which lends authenticity to its classic nature- Burt Lancaster, Jack Warden & Clark Gable at their best in their careers- Run Silent Run Deep set the standard by which all other submarine movies are made- The special effects allow are great to see in the old style- A World War II movie that pits the struggles of the leading characters in their fight against the enemyCons:- If you are looking for modern animated digital effects they are not here- The true living conditions and reality of what submarine warfare was like for the crew inside a submarine is not brought outSummation:This is classic Hollywood at its best in the 1950’s. It used state of the art special effects that are visually stunning to watch even today. It pits the struggle of the crew of the sub with a new captain. They only know the rumors of the captain’s past and their struggle in dealing with those rumors is manifested as the war patrol goes on. The leadership of a navel officer is displayed at its best when the XO, Burt Lancaster, supports his new Captain, Clark Gable, and demands the crew remain loyal to the captain.The movie starts, as many war movies do of this time period, with the characters back at port and their family life. The sailors are soon separated from their loved ones and put into a steel tube lined in asbestos, backed in cork and then sent thousands of miles out to sink enemy shipping. The crew struggles with the new captain but the executive officer keeps them loyal to the captain at all costs. In a turn of events the captain orders the boat into the bungo straights, a death sentence in the past for American boats, while the crew is stricken with anger in the captains’ violation of his orders to stay out.Eventually the crew learns why the captain had them perform drills and why they entered the bungo straights. The victory they find makes all the hardships worthwhile.This movie is great for the style and drama. It set the foundation for all other submarine movies to come. “Run Silent Run Deep” was the movie that set the stage for later movies like “Das Boot”.I deliberately gleaned over some topics so you would not have the plot disclosed if you have never seen the movie before.Verdict:I highly recommend watching this movie. You cannot get better acting than this and the stars are all at their best. Even today very few submarines can compare to this film and the tension in it. You will enjoy it and it should really be seen on a large screen TV or movie screen. Get some popcorn and something to drink then sit back and enjoy your evening.

We were entertained

Building up my old school classics. Did not disappoint.

The classic American submarine drama celebrated on release for it's special effects and perceived realism.It's still an entertaining movie; based on a now largely forgotten novel (though considered a poor adaptation by it's author) many of it's plot-elements appear rather clichéd now, but were still relatively fresh in their day; it's an all-male storyline with a central conflict between the commander and his first officer (Gable and Lancaster) over the commander's intention to seek revenge for the sinking of his previous boat and fuelled by resentment from the crew over apparent avoidance of combat opportunities and their loyalty to the first officer.Directed by Robert Wise, the black and white photography and good cast make it a very watchable and tense war-drama.The standard UK DVD release has no extras; English subtitles are available if required.

Originally intended to reunite Destination Tokyo's Cary Grant and Delmar Daves, Run Silent Run Deep sees Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster at odds in what still holds up as one of the best submarine movies thanks to tight direction from Robert Wise and a solid script that manages to throw in a few surprises alongside the expected staples of the genre. Having spent the past year at a desk in Pearl Harbor sinking models of the Japanese destroyer that sunk his submarine, Gable finally manages to talk his way back into a command on the express condition that he avoids the graveyard spot where his and so many other ships have been lost. Unfortunately it's the command that senior executive officer Lancaster was promised, and if that doesn't cause enough friction, Gable's unexpected behaviour (for the crew if not the audience) adds more ballast to the simmering tension between them as it becomes apparent the crew may be on a one-way ticket because he feels more responsibility to a dead crew and a dead sub than the current live ones. It's the same dynamic that would become a genre staple in everything from Gray Lady Down to Wise's later Star Trek The Motion Picture, but it's given added fuel here by the real life antagonism between the two stars on set.Their face-off is a long time coming but there's plenty to keep things lively in the interim as Gable's plan inevitably goes wrong, it becomes clear that the Japanese were expecting them and they find an unexplained signal. And once the crew rallies for a return engagement there's a couple of neat twists and a particularly gripping game of cat and mouse and near misses that benefit from some excellent blocking of the underwater sequences that make each torpedo run particularly suspenseful. There's a good supporting cast - Jack Warden, Brad Dexter, Don Rickles and Lancaster's old circus partner Nick Cravat in a rare speaking role among them - and the 93-minute running time keeps things from getting slack.Kino Lorber's Region A-locked Blu-ray offers an occasionally variable 1.66:1 widescreen transfer - most shots have excellent clarity and depth, some look softer and at times in the first couple of reels there are shots where the left side of the frame seems slightly out of focus while the right is pin-sharp even when it's clearly not an artistic choice - but for the most part pretty good. Like MGM/UA's DVD, the only extra is the original theatrical trailer.

Good acting in this very old movie,and filmed in b&w. Had a very authentic look and script quite realistic. Saw this over 40 years ago, so no problems for me re-viewing. Good price, worth buying.

A great WW2 submarine adventure. The two lead characters play the Captain & his number one, they are at loggerheads for most of the film, mainly over the captain wanting to take his sub to the notorious " bongo straits " .The acting is really good & totally believable Clark Gable & Burt Lancaster are excellent. One to watch again & again. Loved it !

very good blue ray up gradea desk bound American naval commanderusurps a sub commander exec who believeshe should be in command during a tense mission the new commander has his own agenda, which is to destroy a Japanese destroyerthat the commander believes sank 4 submarines not including his owngood film with a twist