tt0044085.mp4
Submarine Command (1951)
Directors
Stars
Submarine Command
Overview
As executive officer, on the last day of World War II, Lt. Cmdr. White makes the split-second decision to leave the captain, Cmdr. Joshua Rice and the quartermaster, both wounded by a strafing fighter on the bridge while the attack continues from the fighter and a destroyer above. As he surfaces, he learns that Japan has surrendered. He blames himself, as do some of the crew, for not taking the time to recover the two dead or wounded from the bridge before diving. As time passes this haunts him to the breaking point and threatens to destroy his marriage. His peacetime job is to manage the mothball submarine fleet. At the moment where he decides to leave the Navy, the Korean War starts and his old sub is returned to active service with him as captain. In the course of a dangerous mission, he risks his ship in an minefield and facing shore batteries as an acceptable loss for the good of the mission. The sub is shelled and sunk but not before all hands are able to escape. His wife ends the film by christening the next USS Tiger Shark.
Submarine Command Film Details
Overview: Submarine commander Ken White reminisces about his wartime years aboard submarine USS Tiger Shark and struggles with feelings of personal guilt.
Tagline: Drama War
Review: The problem that Submarine Command had from the start is that it came out in the same year as Operation Pacific which had similar plot situations. It might be better known today if that were not the case. As it is it’s not a bad action adventure film and no disgrace to its star William Holden or any of the supporting cast. When I reviewed Operation Pacific I said that I like submarine films, but inevitably the same situations and clichés follow into each film. In this case William Holden was a newly assigned Executive Officer to the USS Tiger Shark and he was a recent Annapolis graduate who had just done a few shakedown cruises and had never seen any real combat. And it’s the summer of 1945. In action Holden like John Wayne in Operation Pacific is forced to leave his wounded captain, John Gregson on top and dive the submarine and take command. This gains the enmity of CPO William Bendix who was devoted to captain Gregson. Wouldn’t you know it, the day this happens, Holden’s only experience under fire during World War II is the day the Japanese surrender and news of it comes when the Japanese suddenly break off an engagement with the Tiger Shark. Unlike the Duke who got an opportunity in this war to redeem himself in a few eyes, Holden had to wait until Korea for his chance. In the meantime he marries Nancy Olson. Submarine Command was their fourth and final film together, the two had been teamed for Sunset Boulevard, Union Station, Force Of Arms, and now Submarine Command. Three good films and one classic isn’t a bad record. Olson seemed to be Paramount’s answer to MGM’s June Allyson in those good girl next door roles. She and Holden clicked very well on screen. Of course the incomparable William Bendix is here as well. That man never gave a bad performance in anything he was in. He and Holden worked together at Paramount in Blaze At Noon and Streets Of Laredo. They would not be teamed again as well. Although I liked Operation Pacific better, Submarine Command is a fine film on its own that just suffered from bad timing. Fans of William Holden will like it.
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 87 min
Genre: Drama, War
Also known as: Submarine Command,Tiikerihai,Comanda de submarin,Duel sous la mer,Ubåt tigerhajen,The Submarine Story,La amarga obsesion,Denizaltı harbi,Onderzee commando,O Tigre dos Mares,U-båds-kommando,Μονομαχία στις θάλασσες της Κορέας,Comando submarino,I teleftaia imera tou polemou,U-Kreuzer Tigerhai,Squali d’acciaio,Gerakia ton 5 thalasson,Monomahia stis thalasses tis Koreas,太平洋の虎鮫
