Silent Service

Ballista got thinking about submarines the other day. Grandfather served on a sub in the Pacific theater during WWII - probably on an S-class boat for at least part the war. Duty sent him from Hawaii to Australia to Palau and back again. When the war ended and his sub was ordered back to Pearl Harbor, the boat was more than a week overdue and the crew was listed as missing for a short time. Grandpa never talked his time in the Navy. When asked a question he would usually reply that he didn't remember. Ballista recalls him as a reserved man, so it is difficult to discern whether he genuinely could not remember or he did not want to talk about a nasty time from his past.

The men of the Silent Service accomplished amazing feats during WWII. Thinking about them tangentially led Ballista to thinking about movies about submarines. No replacement for some of the books written about sub fleet, numerous films made during and after the war make for good entertainment. Ballista here offers a quick review, in no particular order, of those set in the Pacific.

• Run Silent, Run Deep. (1958). Clark Gable must recover from the disastrous sinking of his previous boat to command a new sub. But Burt Lancaster and crew are unsure of their new skipper and his decision to venture into an area that the Fleet brass have deemed off-limits. Does Gable have an ulterior objective and to what length will he go to achieve it? Don Rickles guest stars to insult the Japanese into capitulating.
  
• Up Periscope. (1959). James Garner is a UDT expert (forerunner to a SEAL) and is sent to destroy a Japanese radar station that could undermine an upcoming Allied offensive. Gruff sub skipper Edmond O'Brien must overcome his own demons to hold his crew together and help Garner complete his mission.
  
• Operation Pacific. (1951). John Wayne. In a submarine. Does Ballista really need to say more?
  
• Torpedo Run. (1958). Glenn Ford and Ernest Borgnine must sink Japan's newest aircraft carrier. But reports say the ship is transporting American prisoners as a human shield. Is Glenn Ford's wife one of those prisoners?
  
• Destination Tokyo. (1943). Cary Grant leads his crew into the heart of enemy territory, Tokyo Bay. His mission is to snoop around and report intelligence to the carrier fleet transporting Jimmy Doolittle's bombers for their daring raid. The only hitch is that one of the submariners falls gravely ill and needs surgery, stat! Watch the dashing Grant confront ethical dilemmas and Japanese warships in this thriller made in the middle of the war.
• Operation Petticoat. (1959). Cary Grant returns. This time he must get his damaged sub back to base while avoiding the rapidly advancing Japanese in the days immediately following the Pearl Harbor attack. Along the way he picks up a "resourceful" and womanizing (hehe) Tony Curtis and a half dozen stranded nurses. Buxom nurses. More comedy than action/drama, but still worthy of mention.
  

Stay tuned for a review of films set in the Atlantic.