This is a wonderful movie depicting the experience of one United States Navy submarine during the Second World War. The "Silent Service" never looked better.
It is filmed in black and white, which is (possibly) a salute to the "Victory at Sea" series of a few years before, but this film would not work as well in color (in contrast with "Das Boot," which would not work as well in black and white). Like "Das Boot," the sets are realistic and give the viewer an intimate feeling of the claustrophobia that existed on these small subs.
The script is excellent, although I have one recommendation: Try to watch this film in a "closed caption" mode. I hear fine, but when I watched it a second time in closed captioned, I picked up even more, particularly the names of the crew.
Gable and Lancaster are a little too old for the roles they are playing. But, this is a small complaint in comparison to their remarkable performances. It's easy to think of Gable as "Rhett Butler," no more and no less, but this film illustrates what a very fine actor he was. Lancaster is excellent, and gives a preview of his Oscar-winning turn in "Elmer Gantry," just a year or two later.
This is an old-fashioned film made with the able assistance of the U.S. Navy, and one cannot help but feeling a little pride in our nation and gratitude for our brave WW II veterans, after watching it. Highly recommended.
