Up Periscope

Up Periscope is the kind of World War II film that was more common actually during the World War II years. It involves a really incredible mission that Navy Lieutenant James Garner is on. At least the Japanese weren't portrayed as these bucktoothed apes.

The film is really a vehicle for Warner Brothers to showcase a pair of their television stars, Garner and Edd Byrnes from 77 Sunset Strip. Byrnes has a small role as a pharmacist's mate on a submarine. Having a much larger part would be Alan Hale, Jr. as the amorous ensign whose love life is interrupted by Garner's mission.

In fact the whole crew of Captain Edmond O'Brien's submarine gets their leave shortened for Garner. He's been specially vetted for this assignment having as qualifications frogman training and speaking fluent Japanese.

Garner's to be landed on an out of the way Japanese held island, he's to swim ashore while the submarine waits for him for a specific time. He's to photograph the Japanese naval code book and sneak out of there without them knowing it.

This one absolutely has me reeling. Garner because he would kind of stand out among all those Oriental faces no matter how fluent his Japanese was. Wouldn't you think the navy would get a Nisei type for this mission? And if not that, a Chinese person might do nicely.

Because Garner's white, he has to spend a considerable amount of time in hiding in the jungle and do his mission at night.

In point of fact the USA had broken the Japanese code. But that was done in Washington and Pearl Harbor by some hardworking cryptologists, not Garner doing a spying job.

This was the kind of stuff that the public was fed in 1943, but by 1959 it simply wasn't believed. I sure couldn't believe it in 2008.

Well starred by Edmond O'Brien and James Garner , Warner Brothers' "Maverick" Man and with agreeable cast ; there's plenty of emotion and thrills in the final action scenes keep you eyes peeled . This is a great production ready right now in his big-screen , meticulously mounted and efficiently directed by Gordon Douglas . In 1942, Navy Lieutenant Kenneth Braden from the underwater demolition team is sent to a Japanese island to photograph secret radio codes . As a rebellious demolition expert ,James Garner, assigned to serve on Edmond O'Brien's by-the-book sub . His assignment : to sneak onto Japanese-held island and steal a top-secret code book .

This underwater actioner contains suspense , thrills , intrigue , a love story and many other things . Although being a routine submarine movie also packs some thrilling moments and results to be pretty good . This nail-biter is a tightly-knit drama centered on the relentless sea maneuvers of a submarine sailing undercover toward a Japanese island . Thrilling as well as exciting battle of wits between two officers : James Garner-Edmond O'Brien , who gradually come to respect each other . Trouble is Commander Paul Stevenson/Edmond O'Brien , may not wait for Lt. J.G. Kenneth M. Braden/James Garner to complete his assignment before taking the submarine back underwater . Both of whom are a compellingly balanced match as two clever as well astute commanders . Interesting screenplay , being based on the novel by Robb White and script written by Richard Landau . The film is famous as one of the best WWII submarine movies though some scenes at sea , however, suffer from the utilization of obvious models in a just as obvious studio tank . Adequate special effects , though all underwater miniature submarine shots were reused from the film Destination : Tokyo (1943) . The main cast , support actors and technicians spent about a month filming on board this ship . Inexorable duel of great stars into a submarine , as nice acting by James Garner as a demolition expert unwillingly assigned to a sub and Edmond O'Brien as stiff-upper-lip commander . Secondary cast is frankly good such as a likable veteran Alan Hale Jr. as Lt. Pat Malone , beautiful Andra Martin , a very young Edd Byrnes as Pharmacist Mate Ash , Frank Gifford , Bernie Hamilton , and this picture marks the feature film movie debuts for Wareen Oates as a sailor who is constantly eating and always to be found in the mess hall heating . Colorful and vivid cinematography by Carl E. Guthrie in excitement Technicolor smash , including spectacular maritime scenes . Thrilling as well as suspenseful musical score . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Gordon Douglas who captures the claustrophobic up and undersea tension . Rating : 6.5/10 . Better than average , well worth watching .

This nail-biting sea epic represents one of a select group of a few World War II submarine movies which have nice special effects and breathtaking sound editing . These movies include ¨Crash Dive¨ ; ¨Torpedo Run¨ and ¨The Enemy Below ¨. Furthermore , other important films about submarines are the followings : ¨Run Silent Run Deep¨ by Robert Wise , ¨Crimson tide¨ by Tony Scott with Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman; ¨K19¨ with Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson and the best ¨Das Boot¨ (1982) by Wolfgang Petersen with Jurgen Prochnow .

I was expecting a fairly mediocre and routine "sub flick" and was pleasantly surprised to find an above average and pretty engrossing movie. The story has some grit and conflict, especially in the hostility of the crew for its "by the book" captain, played with convincing war-weariness by the always-reliable Edmond O'Brien, whose efforts are matched by a very young James Garner. Production values are high, and it's worth catching it in letterbox format. Some of the mistakes in commando procedures have been noted, to which I would add the lack of facial camouflage, as Garner's strikingly white face floats conspicuously above the water in his nighttime swim, an easy target for lookouts. None the less, a pretty good war flick.

Navy frogman goes on super secret mission to steal ultra secret Jap code books. Pretty phony actually - seems the Nips would have shouted "oy li chu dat lee ho phuk di hong fong fuuuuuuuuu!", or "those explosions looked like a ruse, let's check on the code books!". When Garner exited the water he made enough noise to wake the whole island, no real commando would have done that. Still not a bad film, fairly exciting: it had the usual Navy ships during combat footage plus a few "toys in the tub" scenes. I appreciated the submarine; it was cramped, hot, and miserable looking, exactly like the genuine article. I abhor those movie subs that sport hallways and rooms more fitting to the Trump mansion than a Naval vessel.

This is a war-time, mission-based drama starring James Garner as Lt. Kenneth Braden, who is sent by submarine to complete a dangerous mission behind enemy lines. The film does not fully utilize Garner's talents.

The film, like many others of its type, also includes a shore-bound romance, which adds some interest, but not much, though the love interest is well=played by Andra Martin.

The ending is weak, but it nominally fulfills traditional plot requirements.

For a much better mission-based war drama, see "The Bridge on the River Kwai."

And for a better war-time drama starring Garner, check out "36 Hours", also starring Eva Marie Saint.