Run Silent, Run Deep

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Product Description ------------------- "Rich" Richardson (Clark Gable) is a hard-driving, dedicated submarine officer with a single-mindedpurposeto seek out and smash the Japanese destroyer he believes sank his former ship. Given a new command, Richardson drills his men to the point of mutiny as he relentlessly trains them for the battle ahead. At last, word comes of the destroyer's position, and, disobeying orders, Richardson finally confronts his foe, unaware that an even greater enemy lurks nearby...one who's been targeting him for a watery grave. Co-starring Burt Lancaster as Gable's executive officer, this gripping WWII adventure-thriller set a new standard for submarine pictures. "Severely, nail-bitingly tense" (The New York Times), Run Silent, Run Deep is the most exciting film about the "silent service" ever made. .com ---- A movie's lasting value can often be measured by its influence in the years and decades following its original release, and on that basis Run Silent, Run Deep is certainly a classic of sorts. It remains one of the seminal World War II submarine pictures, and its intelligent script and tautly executed action are clearly echoed in such later submarine dramas as Das Boot and especially Crimson Tide, which borrows liberally from this 1958 film. In one of his best and final roles (he appeared in only four films after this), Clark Gable plays a submarine captain without a command, having been saddled with a desk job after his previous ship was destroyed due to his overzealous pursuit of the enemy in dangerous Japanese waters. He finally gets another boat--this time with a vigilant first officer (Burt Lancaster), who stands poised to assume command if Gable puts his crew in unnecessary danger. The tension and mutual respect between these two principled men is superbly written and directed (Robert Wise was just two years away from his triumph with West Side Story), and the crucial inclusion of a strong supporting cast (including Jack Warden and Don Rickles) enhances the movie's compelling authenticity. Based on a novel by former submarine commander Edward L. Beach, Run Silent, Run Deep is rousing entertainment with the added benefit of paying honorable tribute to the men who navigated through the most frightening and claustrophobic channels of the Pacific theater. --Jeff Shannon