Run Silent, Run Deep

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Run Silent, Run Deep
Directed by	Robert Wise
Produced by	Harold Hecht William Schorr (assoc)
Written by	Edward L. Beach (story) John Gay (screenplay)
Starring	Clark Gable Burt Lancaster
Music by	Franz Waxman
Cinematography	Russell Harlan
Editing by	George Boemler
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	March 27, 1958 (USA)
Running time	93 min.
Language	English
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Run Silent, Run Deep is a war film released in 1958, and the novel it was based on by Edward L. Beach. It was directed by Robert Wise and starred Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster; and featured the film debut of Don Rickles.

Contents 1 Movie plot 2 Novel plot 3 Other uses 4 External links

[edit] Movie plot

World War II United States Navy submarine Commander P.J. Richardson, (played by Gable) has an obsession with the Japanese destroyer that sank his previous boat. He is single-mindedly training the crew of his new boat, the USS Nerka, to return to the Bungo Straits (Bungo Suido in the book) and sink that destroyer, captained by the crafty ex-sub, now destroyer captain, Bungo Pete. The executive officer, Lieutenant Jim Bledsoe (played by Lancaster), is worried about the safety of his boat and his crew. They are mystified as to how Tokyo Rose can identify the crew of the boat, they later realize the Japanese are collecting their garbage.

Run Silent, Run Deep has a plot similar to Moby-Dick, with Richardson as Ahab and the Japanese destroyer as the whale.

[edit] Novel plot

Edward L. Beach's bestselling novel of submarine warfare begins after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The story is about an American submarine captain with orders to destroy Japanese shipping in the Pacific. After some successful missions, he encounters an infamous Japanese destroyer, the Akikaze, nicknamed Bungo Pete. A suspenseful submarine warfare drama ensues. Despite increasing tension between Executive Officer Bledso and him, the captain (Richardson) persists in preparing the crew with drills and then attacks a convoy and torpedoes a destroyer head-on followed by a fast dive. The success wins Richardson the support of most of the crew. He then sets course for the Bungo straits and confrontation with the Akikaze. Their first encounter is disastrous, resulting the death of several crew members and extensive damage to the sub. The second encounter with the destroyer is successful, but a lethal game of cat and mouse with a lurking Japanese submarine ensues. Beach commanded submarines in the Pacific during the war and this adds to the realism of the story.

There are a number of differences in the plot of the book, as compared to the movie. The period covered in the book is much longer — from just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941 until the end of the war. Like the movie, Richardson has two wartime commands in the book. Many plot elements are shared, such as Japanese gathering intelligence from their garbage.

However, he is ashore recovering from a broken leg and working on the torpedo exploder problem, when his submarine is lost, and Bledso is sunk when he takes over. The conflict with Bledsoe starts much earlier, in the old S-16. Richardson withdraws his recommendation that Bledsoe get his own command after Bledsoe fails a qualification test and nearly sinks the boat. Both men are in love with the same woman, and this intensifies their conflict. Another major difference is that Richardson dies in the movie, but goes to the woman at the end of the book.

In the book, Richardson gets to command another boat to go after Bungo Pete who sinks his first boat along with his old executive officer. When he sinks the destroyer, he also rams the lifeboats to make sure that Bungo Pete is put out of business for good.

[edit] Other uses

• "Run Silent, Run Deep" is also the name of a song by British rock band Iron Maiden, and an internet video made with a toy submarine also based on the book.

• Run Silent, Run Deep is also the name of a CSI: NY episode.

[edit] External links

• Run Silent, Run Deep at the Internet Movie Database
• George Chabot's Movie Review