RUN SILENT RUN DEEP
DIRECTED BY ROBERT WISE
PRODUCED BY HAROLD HECT/ WILLIAM SCHORR
HILL-HECT-LANCASTER PRODUCIONS
(as Jeffrey Productions) Jeffrey Pictures Corp.
UNITED ARTISTS
Information from IMDb
Plot Summary
The captain of a submarine sunk by the Japanese during WWII
is finally given a chance to skipper another sub after a year of working a desk job
. His singleminded determination for revenge against the destroye
r that sunk his previous vessel puts his new crew in unneccessary danger.
Written by Kevin Ackley
Full Cast
Clark Gable ... Cmdr. 'Rich' Richardson
Burt Lancaster ... Lt. Jim Bledsoe
Jack Warden ... Yeoman 1st Class Mueller
Brad Dexter ... Ens. Gerald Cartwright
Don Rickles ... Quartermaster 1st Class Ruby
Nick Cravat ... Russo
Joe Maross ... Chief Kohler
Mary LaRoche ... Laura Richardson
Eddie Foy III ... Larto
Rudy Bond ... Sonarman 1st Class Cullen
Jimmy Bates ... Jessie (uncredited)
John Bryant ... Carl Beckman (uncredited)
John Close ... Co-ordinate Fixer at Bungo Straits (uncredited)
Wayne Dahmer ... (uncredited)
Rod Dana ... Man (voice) (uncredited)
Joel Fluellen ... Bragg (uncredited)
John Gibson ... Capt. Blunt (uncredited)
Ken Lynch ... Frank (uncredited)
Maurice McEndree ... Radio Operator (uncredited)
Teru Shimada ... Japanese Submarine Commander (uncredited)
Russell Thorson ... Submarine Crewman (uncredited)
Skip Ward ... (uncredited)
H.M. Wynant ... Corpsman Hendrix (uncredited)
Writing Credits
John Gay (screenplay)
Edward L. Beach (novel "Run Silent, Run Deep") (as Commander Edward L. Beach)
Produced
Harold Hecht .... producer
William Schorr .... associate producer
Original Music
Franz Waxman
Cinematography
Russell Harlan (photographed by)
Trivia
Albert Salmi was first choice for the role of Mueller, but dropped out due to a personality clash with Clark Gable.
Frank Gorshin was originally due to test for the role of Petty Officer Ruby but refused to fly to the testing. Instead he drove and was involved in an accident, leaving him with a fractured skull. After 4 days in hospital he awoke to find the role had been given to Don Rickles.
The destroyer Cmdr. Richardson (Clark Gable) is obsessed with finding, the "Akikaze", was an actual Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer. She was commissioned on September 16, 1920, and was quite old for ship standards by the time World War II began. As such, she was used as a fast troop transport and convoy escort. On November 3, 1944 she was escorting the carrier "Junyo" and light cruiser "Kiso" toward Brunei in the Philippines. The American submarine "U.S.S. Pintado (SS-387)" attacked the formation and fired torpedoes at the "Junyo", but the "Akikaze" deliberately intercepted the torpedoes intended for the carrier, causing her to blow up and sink with her entire crew of 148 officers and men.
The older / younger dynamic (deskbound older commander taking the reins of what was to be the younger commander's first ship, yet keeping the younger officer on as the Exec) was featured prominently in another Robert Wise film some 20 years later: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).
Film debut of Don Rickles.
Although at the time of its release the movie was hailed as a fairly realistic portrayal of a submarine in World War II, there was also some controversy since both Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster were much older than real US Navy captains and lieutenants in wartime.
In March 1958, United Artists distributed this film in the USA on a double bill with Tiger by the Tail (1955) starring Larry Parks. (Tiger by the Tail (1955) was distributed under the title "Cross-Up").
Despite receiving generally favorable reviews, the film proved to be only a moderate hit at the box office. This may have been partly due to the fact that it was released at the same time as Teacher's Pet (1958), also starring Clark Gable.
Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster did not get along during filming, partly due to Lancaster making jokes about Gable's age. There was one major argument when Gable refused to allow the crucial plot development of Lancaster's character to take control of the submarine, because he felt this went against the image he had built up for more than twenty years at MGM. After refusing to work for two days, Gable eventually agreed to return to the studio when it was decided that his character would fall ill, necessitating Lancaster taking command.
Exterior shots of the USS Nerka at Pearl Harbor were really the USS Redfish (SS-395) at the naval submarine base in San Diego, California. This is where the film was partially shot. The US Navy lent the USS Redfish to the production for filming this movie. 'The Hollywood Reporter' announced in August 1957 that filming would be conducted on the USS Redfish.
Interior scenes were filmed at the Samuel Goldwyn Studio with more than $500,000 worth of real submarine equipment on loan from the Navy. The 'Los Angeles Times' reported in September 1957 that this amount worth of equipment and instruments had been dispatched by the US Navy Department for the interior sets of this movie's submarine. As such, these sets were authentic with no dummy, fake or mock-up sub sets.
The World Premiere for this movie was held on 1st April 1958 on board the SS-313 USS Perch. The 'Los Angeles Times' in April 1958 reported that this movie was the first ever to have an Underwater Submarine Premiere. Attendees at this premiere included a wardroom full of US Navy submarine officers and media. The USS Perch submarine's location during the premiere was in the Pacific Ocean near Terminal Island.
Underwater shots were filmed with miniatures at the large inland Salton Sea in Southern California.
Joe Maross' film debut.
The 'The Hollywood Reporter' announced on 22 May 1957 that Nigel Balchin was co-scriptwriter on this film with John Gay but Balchin is not included as a writer in this film's credits so it is not known the extent to which his work (if any) contributed to the final shooting script.
According to 'Daily Variety' in 1965, this movie was at one time being developed as a television series but alas it never surfaced and its development ultimately crash dived.
Producers Hill and Burt Lancaster had the film re-edited after director Robert Wise finished his cut. Wise left the film after this point for the rest of post-production.
This movie's closing afterword states: "Our appreciation to the Department of Defense, the United States Navy, and the officers and men of submarine Flotilla 1 for the cooperation extended" .
Exterior shots of submarines seen moving during the undersea sequences were actually scale models manufactured by special effects personnel. These f/x were considered cutting edge at the time.
Both the 'Los Angeles Times' and 'The Hollywood Reporter' announced in September 1955 that 'Run Silent Run Deep' would be starring Cary Grant and be directed by Delmer Daves. The two, as star and director, had previously made Destination Tokyo (1943) for Warner Brothers about twelve years before this announcement was made. Neither Grant nor Daves ended up working on this picture.
Under the request of director Robert Wise, the cast were trained by real submariners so they could authentically depict the submariner duty including that under attack.
'Daily Variety' reported in May 1955 that United Artists had acquired the filming rights to the novel 'Run Silent Run Deep' by Commander Edward L. Beach. This apparently was the first time that the United Artists studio had acquired a property outright without a ready production schedule. Traditionally, United Artists, a studio of independents, had made movies in association with independent artists who already had their stories for their movies in development.
The comic character of Russo in this movie was played by Nick Cravat who was a circus partner colleague of Burt Lancaster's from his old circus days. Cravat was known as Lanacaster's old personal friend and for having many non-speaking parts alongside Lancaster. This film apparently marked a reconciliation between the two after a long period as well as Cravat having several lines of dialogue in a movie.
The movie went through a considerable number of script re-writes during production.
Goofs
Revealing mistakes: In one underwater shot you can see the side of the water tank.
Revealing mistakes: In one underwater shot looking up at a torpedo, the wires pulling it are visible.
Continuity: In the first attack in the opening scenes the range to the target is given verbally as 1,500 yards. The range to target on the TDC is shown a few seconds later as 4,400 yards.
Continuity: Torpedo tubes on submarines are numbered odd on the port side and even on the starboard side. When they fired #1 it comes out the starboard side from # 2 tube. In fact, all the shots come out of the same tube.
Continuity: In the opening shot on the Nerka, Mr. Bledsoe is in the control room and exits through the door to the forward battery compartment. In the next shot he is entering the after battery compartment which is the opposite way.
Factual errors: The Japanese destroyer classes "Akikaze" nor "Momo" do not exist. The destroyer "Akikaze" was an old (1919) "Minekaze class" destroyer, and the "Momo" a "Matsu class"... but the first one of them was launched in 1944, a year after sinking it in the movie.
Anachronisms: The action of the film takes place in 1943; but the song "It's Been a Long, Long Time" featured in one of the scenes was written and copyrighted by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn in 1945.
Continuity: Near the end of the film, Lancaster has confronted Gable. When Gable faces the camera, his entire right arm is at his side. When the camera is behind Gable, his right hand is on his hip.
Revealing mistakes: Wires pulling torpedoes and submarines are visible in numerous underwater shots.
Revealing mistakes: In several underwater scenes, the bottom of the tank the film is being shot in can be seen - it has a very flat, level bottom, and light can be seen reflected on it.
Incorrectly regarded as goofs: There's a black man on the sub, though in WWII the armed forces weren't yet fully integrated; however, black men did serve as mess cooks and stewards on submarines.
Revealing mistakes: The depth gauge on the Japanese sub is identical to the one on the USS Nerka, only Japanese characters haave been added.
Continuity: In the early part of the film where Lancaster meets Gable where he's pruning a tree, in the background you see the same half dozen cars driving back and forth constantly. Among the vehicles appears to be a '49 Buick convertible.
Anachronisms: When Gable and Warden are playing sink "Bungo Pete" in Gable's office, a model battleship is on Gable's desk. This was obviously a Revell kit, likely a model of the USS Missouri, that dates from the mid 50's.
Miscellaneous: The rope used to secure the hatch until repairs are made is too loose when Gable touches it. It should be taut, like a fiddle string.
Factual errors: SPOILER: After the Japanese submarine is destroyed, the radar operator reports an aircraft contact on the SJ set. The SJ was a surface-search radar, not an air-search (which was designated SD).
Filming Locations
Imperial County, California, USA
Samuel Goldwyn Studios - 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, USA
San Diego, California, USA
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