Discover
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Harold Hecht
Producer -
Robert Wise
Director -
Loren Janes
Stunts -
John Gay
Screenplay -
Emmett Emerson
Assistant Director -
Irving J. Moore
Second Assistant Director -
Edward Carrere
Art Direction -
Franz Waxman
Original Music Composer
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CinemaSerf 2/24/2023 8:42:06AM
This superior wartime submarine story is about an American captain (Gable) who seeks to avenge the loss of an earlier ship to a Japanese destroyer by perfecting a very difficult "bow shot" technique that would enable him to torpedo this fast moving enemy head on. Burt Lancaster portrays his popular XO who ought, originally, to have had that command but has been passed over; and the film depicts the evolution of their taut and mistrusting relationship. Gable is on good form as his character treads a very thin line between reason and obsession and Lancaster works hard to keep himself and the crew under control. The direction is tense and the chemistry between these two men works really well. This is more than a post-war grandstanding picture; it does touch on the psychology of command and of grief, and is well worth an hour and a half of your time.
Burt Lancaster
Lt. Jim BledsoeJack Warden
Yeoman 1st Class MuellerSkip Ward
Minor Role (uncredited)Don Rickles
Quartermaster 1st Class RubyClark Gable
Cmdr. RichardsonRudy Bond
Sonarman 1st Class CullenBrad Dexter
CartwrightJoe Maross
Kohler