Tonight's Movie: Run Silent Run Deep (1958) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

The outstanding World War II submarine film RUN SILENT RUN DEEP (1958) has just been released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

I first saw this movie in 2013 and if anything I was more impressed after revisiting it for the first time in over a decade. Two big stars directed by the great Robert Wise in a perfectly paced 93 minutes. What's not to love?

The film is set in 1943. Clark Gable plays Commander Richardson, stuck on a desk job at Pearl Harbor since surviving the destruction of his submarine in combat one year prior.

Richardson persuades the navy to give him command of another sub, the Nerka, to the disappointment of Lt. Jim Bledsoe (Burt Lancaster), who had expected the Nerka to be his first command.

Richardson and Bledsoe clash not only due to a desire to be in charge but due to Richardson's plans to track down and destroy the ship which torpedoed his prior submarine...plans which go against the orders of Naval Command.

Bledsoe backs Richardson when the crew suggests mutiny, but he later threatens Richardson with relieving him of duty, only to have the senior man collapse with a concussion.

Ironically right about that time Bledsoe begins to understand Richardson's desire to attack the Japanese. Will he follow Richardson's plans, or turn around and return to Pearl Harbor for needed repairs?

This is an excellent film depicting two men who are each admirable despite their conflicts. I don't dislike Lancaster, who was in a great many good movies, but I confess I have often found him a bit on the bland side. In this case that's more apparent than ever watching him opposite Gable, who might have been the most charismatic star ever on screen.

Their disparate personalities rather work in this context, making it believable that Gable's character will take control of both the ship and the situations, even when he's close to incapacitated.

I'd add that in offscreen life Gable and Lancaster were both veterans. I felt when watching this film that Gable's performance, in particular, was probably informed by his having seen combat; he would fully understand the gravity of his character's decisions.

It's particularly noteworthy that beyond the film's interpersonal conflicts, director Wise's staging of the action is exceptional. (I've read that those with submarine experience considered it quite authentic.) The submarine procedures depicted are clear to the viewer while simultaneously he paces the action for maximum excitement.

The excellent supporting cast includes Jack Warden as a crewman loyal to Richardson and Brad Dexter as an officer who's a bit of a troublemaker. Don Rickles, Nick Cravat, Eddie Foy III, and Rudy Bond are among the other submarine crew members.

The movie was written by John Gay from novel by Edward L. Beach. The score was composed by Franz Waxman.

Russell Harlan filmed the movie in superb widescreen black and white. As I noted in my 2013 review, Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach, California, a street I know well, stands in for Richardson's Pearl Harbor address.

For those who notice such things, some posters and the trailer use a comma in the title, and a comma is also utilized on the Blu-ray case, but no comma appears in the movie's actual title card. As I recently wrote regarding a similar issue for MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET (1942), my practice is to use the opening credits wording and/or punctuation.

The Blu-ray print is outstanding. Kino Lorber said on Twitter that while this is the same print as their previous 2014 release, it's encoded at a higher bit rate on a layered disc and should look better than the older Blu-ray.

This is a Special Edition with a cardboard slipcase and reversible cover art. Disc extras consist of the trailer and a commentary track by Steve Mitchell and Steven Jay Rubin.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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