Run Silent Run Deep

Directed by Robert Wise, Run Silent Run Deep details the tension and conflict that arises aboard a World War II submarine after its new captain (Clark Gable’s Commander Richardson) embarks on a campaign of revenge against the Japanese naval ship that sank his previous vessel. There’s little doubt that Run Silent Run Deep gets off to a less-than-successful, distressingly uninvolving start, as the movie suffers from a mostly tedious first half that’s compounded by an exceedingly, excessively deliberate pace and continuing focus on seemingly accurate but entirely dull technical matters. (There is, for example, a relentless emphasis on the various drills Richardson puts his far-from-enthusiastic crew through.) It’s clear, then, that the picture, in its early stages, benefits substantially from its superb performances and smattering of overtly entertaining sequences, including a tense initial meeting between Richardson and his new executive officer (Burt Lancaster’s Jim Bledsoe), and the movie does, once it passes a certain point, become precisely the sort of engaging, suspenseful war-themed thriller one might’ve anticipated and expected – with the third act, which boasts one impressively electrifying sequence after another (eg the crew must remain whisper quiet to avoid detection by a nearby enemy sub), paving the way for a satisfying finale that ultimately cements Run Silent Run Deep‘s place as an erratic yet rewarding World War II film.

*** out of ****