Robert Wise's 'Run Silent, Run Deep' was a moderate commercial success upon its release in 1958. In the years since then its reputation has grown and its influence upon other films of the submarine sub-genre are clear, such as in Tony Scott's excellent 'Crimson Tide' from 1995. Both films, for instance, share a similar story line with an Executive Officer and Captain butting heads and the former taking command of the boat.
I wouldn't say that Robert Wise's direction is particularly visually dynamic like, say, Orson Welles or John Ford, but Wise always knew where to put the camera and coached great performances out of his actors. Gable and Lancaster are superb in this, especially Gable, whose Captain Ahab-esque character is the most interesting one in the picture.
While I wouldn't say that 'Run Silent, Run Deep' is the greatest of all submarine pictures (that goes to 'Das Boot'), I would say it's certainly one of the best. Wise himself was such a versatile director that he made great films in nearly every genre like 'The Haunting' in the horror genre, 'West Side Story' and 'The Sound of Music' in the musical genre, 'The Day The Earth Stood Still' in the sci-fi genre, and 'The Sand Pebbles' in the epic war genre. Like those films, 'Run Silent, Run Deep' stands out as an impressive addition to a sub-genre with few great films over the decades.
I wouldn't say that Robert Wise's direction is particularly visually dynamic like, say, Orson Welles or John Ford, but Wise always knew where to put the camera and coached great performances out of his actors. Gable and Lancaster are superb in this, especially Gable, whose Captain Ahab-esque character is the most interesting one in the picture.
While I wouldn't say that 'Run Silent, Run Deep' is the greatest of all submarine pictures (that goes to 'Das Boot'), I would say it's certainly one of the best. Wise himself was such a versatile director that he made great films in nearly every genre like 'The Haunting' in the horror genre, 'West Side Story' and 'The Sound of Music' in the musical genre, 'The Day The Earth Stood Still' in the sci-fi genre, and 'The Sand Pebbles' in the epic war genre. Like those films, 'Run Silent, Run Deep' stands out as an impressive addition to a sub-genre with few great films over the decades.