A U.S. submarine commander, obsessed with sinking a particular Japanese ship, butts heads with his first officer and crew.A U.S. submarine commander, obsessed with sinking a particular Japanese ship, butts heads with his first officer and crew.A U.S. submarine commander, obsessed with sinking a particular Japanese ship, butts heads with his first officer and crew.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Jessie
- (uncredited)
- Carl Beckman
- (uncredited)
- Co-ordinate Fixer at Bungo Straits
- (uncredited)
- Bragg
- (uncredited)
- Capt. Blunt
- (uncredited)
- Japanese sailor
- (uncredited)
- Minor Role
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaClark Gable was ill during filming, and his head violently shakes in several scenes. It is believed his shaking was caused by his chronic alcoholism and smoking four packs of cigarettes a day, although there were rumors he had Parkinson's disease.
- GoofsA depth charge is seen rolling off the sub's deck and exploding directly under the keel. And later, three depth charges explode one after the other, all around the stern of the boat. A depth charge exploding that close under the middle of the keel would have broken the sub's back and sent it to the bottom, let alone three close in nearly simultaneous detonations. These images were meant to build tension, but are totally unrealistic.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Lt. Jim Bledsoe: [presiding at a funeral on his submarine] It's thirty-eight days now since we left Pearl Harbor. I know how some of us felt then; I think I know how some of us feel now. But let no one here, no one aboard this boat, ever say we didn't have a captain.
[as the body is buried at sea, he reads these remarks]
Lt. Jim Bledsoe: Unto almighty God we commend the soul of our shipmate departed. And we commit his body to the deep, in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection unto eternal life, when the sea shall give up her dead in the life of the world to come.
- Crazy creditsNot sure why Bungo Straits is cited as a crazy credit. The Bungo Suido (translates to Bungo Straits) is the waterway between Kyushu and Shikoku.
- ConnectionsEdited into Catalogue of Ships (2008)
Commander Richardson (Clark Gable) lost a submarine under his command after firing torpedoes at a Japanese troop and supply convoy. The Japanese destroyer simply run down his submarine as it struggled to submerge. Not quickly enough though as it was split in two. Tragically, Richardson lost some of his men. He was demoted to a desk job and earned the reputation of a loser among sailors.
The experience led him to devise a tactic on how to escape after torpedoing an enemy ship. He figured that it was not enough to run away from a destroyer because it can easily hunt his sub down with sonar and depth charges. The pursuing destroyer must be sunk. How? It moves so much faster than a submarine that it is impossible to hit it broadside. It also dropped depth charges as it circled the submarine in an ever tightening "noose" maneuver.
Richardson thought that if a sub charged a destroyer head on firing torpedoes as it submerged, the enemy ship can be hit on the bow sharp. This calls for speed, precision timing and perfect aim. So he drove his men to exhaustion and frustration as he made them do a new drill for the special maneuver he had in mind. The scenario was this: Fire torpedoes at an enemy aircraft carrier, tanker or whatnot. Then as a destroyer gives chase, instead of submerging at once and running away, the sub will charge the destroyer head on as in a game of "chicken." At this position, the destroyer cannot yet make effective use of its depth charges as they are released at the stern. The front guns of the destroyer are also at an awkward elevation in relation to the sub lying low in the water. The sub may have enough time to fire at least one torpedo or at the most two before it is rammed by the destroyer. The trick then is to fire while submerging at the same time. Remember, this was in the days when torpedoes had no teleguidance and the sub's commander and crew relied entirely on their instinct for the right buoyancy, depth, speed and angle of descent as they submerged as to when to fire the torpedoes at the critical moment for the proper aim. I am curious as to whether this was actually done in WWII.
It was bad enough that Richardson's men resented him but his own XO, Lt. Bledsoe, whom he edged out of command of the submarine by using his connections, also hated him with a passion viewing his drills and new tactic as criminally dangerous and unworkable.
If you liked this movie, watch The Enemy Below starring Robert Mitchum and Kurt Jurgens for a better understanding of submarine vs. destroyer warfare.
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Run Silent, Run Deep
- Filming locations
- Salton Sea, California, USA(battle scenes using miniatures and models)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 33 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1