Before October was red and the tide was crimson: "Run Silent, Run Deep"

If this weren't a family blog, I'd tell my favorite submarine joke. All right, since you really want to know ... "What's long and hard and full of seamen?" Pa dum dum. Now let's review a film that helped blaze a trail for such movies as "The Hunt for Red October," "U-571" and "Das Boot" (and ultimately its adult version, "Das Booty").

First, you gotta love just the name of this '50s flick, "Run Silent, Run Deep." Can you even say that without lowering your voice an octave and pausing for effect? Try it ... "Run Silent ... Run Deep." Dun-dun-DUN-duuunnnnn ...

But yes, there's actually a whole movie, and it's pretty solid, holding up well even after almost a half-century and all these other sub movies. We also get the treat of seeing Clark Gable play the grizzled old sub captain. Sure, Gable has been in a bunch of movies, but it's hard to think of him now as anyone other than Rhett Butler. As least it is for me.

"Run Silent" came out just a couple of years before Gable died, when it was clear he was in his 50s. That made him a great fit for the sub captain nearing retirement, especially after losing his boat in the movie's opening scene. He later gets another boat, to the chagrin of a rising young captain played by Burt Lancaster. Sure, Lancaster was in his 40s at the time, but he did look sort of fresh-faced. And this is coming from someone who doesn't really think Burt was all that.

Anyway, Gable doesn't go over too well with Burt and crew as their sub patrols the Pacific, pausing to blow of Japanese ships here and there. Some decent supporting players help build the tension, most notably Jack Warden and Don Rickles(!). Equally notable are the battle scenes, which seem pretty good for that period. I especially liked when Clark, Burt and the Gang finally went up against a Japanese sub. Good shots of the two playing cat and mouse in the days of simple sonar.

All in all, this was pretty easy to watch and moved along rather nicely, which isn't something you can say about old movies and even old war movies. I probably still favor "Red October" as my sub movie of choice -- "Das Boot" was too long, "U-571" and "Crimson Tide" were OK, and I haven't seen "K-19: The Widowmaker." As for comedies, I haven't seen "Operation Petticoat," either, and probably won't ever see "Down Periscope," although I hear it was robbed by the Oscar committee.