Up Periscope

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.

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.

This film is a good thriller of a top secret naval operation in the South Pacific during World War II. James Garner's assignment calls for him to swim to a Japanese-controlled island and decipher a code that the Navy needs to anticipate enemy intentions. The film has a claustrophobic feel to it as most of the scenes are filmed below topside as the submarine makes its way to the destination island. There are Japanese destroyers about, dropping depth charges and making matters uncomfortable for the crew. Edmond O'Brien is the sub's by-the-book commander, still shaken by the loss of a crew member during a recent assignment, and he and Garner share a mutual dislike that sets in motion Garner's mission-impossible task. Garner's whirlwind courtship with Andra Martin is the only false note of the movie which adds nothing to the plot. The cast and tech credits are good.

O'Brien is the sub commander, who loses the trust of his crew, Garner the naval officer assigned a commando mission-but the real story here is the vintage cast-Richard Bakalyan and Warren Oates are joined by TV's familiar faces: Edd (Kooky) Byrnes, Henry (Otto Schmidlapp from "Life of Riley") Kulka, and Alan (the Skipper from "Gilligan's Island") Hale Jr. The fine performances are punctuated by adequate action scenes that result in a very watchable picture.

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.