Drama
1958 / 93 minutes
RATING: 8/10

After a Japanese destroyer, the Akrikaze, sinks his submarine, Commander P.J. Richardson is assigned desk duty, giving him plenty of time to think over how he could turn the tables, if ever given the chance. When the Akrikaze sinks three more US subs, Richardson gets his wish – he’s given another submarine command, and told to patrol the same section the Akrikaze was last seen.

But to get command again, Richardson had to step on the toes of the sub’s executive officer, Jim Bledsoe, who was expecting to become captain himself. The crew isn’t happy, particularly when Richardson starts drilling them hard. When he ignores Japanese transports sailing past the crew starts wondering, is their new captain a coward?

Sometimes when my girls are playing with the neighbors I’ll watch a movie I know they won’t be interested in because I don’t want to tempt them to join me and interrupt their fun. That was my intent this time around –  what kid wants to watch a black and white film about submarine warfare?

Well, as it turns out, all of them.

The attraction? This wasn’t like anything they’d seen before, with about 90 percent taking place in the close quarters of the USS Nerka. It also helped that both stars – Burt Lancaster as second-in command Bledsoe, and Clark Gable as Captain Richardson – have quite the onscreen presence.

And it helped that they had their dad along to explain some of the basics of World War II submarine warfare. Like how a submarine’s best defense was to hide underwater, but to go on offense it had to surface to be able to see the ships it was shooting at. I had to explain what depth charges were and how, when a submarine dived, the enemy’s destroyers would drop depth charges all around its last location, just hoping one would explode near enough to cause some damage.

I had to explain who Tokyo Rose was – when the crew listens to the radio, every now and again the music is interrupted by a pleasant sounding woman who provides updates on the war, but with a very anti-American slant. The broadcast was coming from Japan, the music an enticement to stay around for the propaganda. And apparently US commanders didn’t care if their troops tuned in, because everyone knew better than to believe anything Tokyo Rose said.

Cautions

While there’s no warnings needed for adult viewing, if your kids are watching too then there are a couple of concerns.

First, we see a young sailor whom we’ve gotten to know dies when a loose torpedo drops from its rack and lands on him. We see the torpedo dropping through his eyes, coming towards the camera and then everything cuts to black, so it isn’t graphic.

The other caution concerns a pin-up picture – the typical World War II sort, the woman clothed but wearing short shorts – hanging in the mess hall/ The crew gives her a pat on her butt as they run to their battle stations. The weirdness of this practice really comes out when you try explaining it to your kids.

Conclusion

I’ve rated this an 8, in large part because that was what my girls gave it. I’d give it an 8 myself, but often tone down my ratings, knowing that most folks don’t appreciate a black and white film quite as much as I do. But if these three – aged 10 through 14 – think it’s an 8 too, then I’m going to run with that.

It is a classic for a reason, with a great running conflict between the captain and his passed-over second-in-command, but both of whom are eager to take down the Akrikaze. The crew has their own divided loyalties, even as they stay dedicated to their mission. And the biggest selling feature: loads of action!

SPOILER ALERT: While I’ve included the trailer below, this is one of those old -fashioned trailers that sum up the whole movie and doesn’t worry about giving things away. There’s a whole whack of spoilers here, so I’m quite glad I didn’t watch the trailer before I saw the movie. I’ll also add, the film is quite a bit better than this makes it look, which is one more reason you might want to give the trailer a miss.