Up Periscope
Up Periscope is a 1959 World War II submarine film drama directed by Gordon Douglas, produced by Aubrey Schenck and starring James Garner and Edmond O'Brien. The supporting cast features Andra Martin, Alan Hale Jr., Edd Byrnes, Warren Oates and Saundra Edwards. The film was shot and processed in WarnerScope and Technicolor and was distributed by Warner Bros. The screenplay was written by Richard H. Landau and Robb White, adapted from White's novel of the same name.
Not to be confused with Down Periscope.Up Periscope
Richard H. Landau
Up Periscope
1956 novel
by Robb White
Aubrey Schenck
Howard W. Koch
Edwin F. Zabel
John F. Schreyer
- March 4, 1959
112 minutes
United States
English
$2 million[1]
$1.5 million (est. US/ Canada rentals)[2]
Garner called the film "another piece of crap that Warner Bros. stuck me in while I was under contract."[3]
Plot[edit]
Lt. Kenneth Braden, a newly trained U.S. Navy frogman, is unexpectedly ordered to report for duty without being able to notify his new girlfriend Sally Johnson. He learns that she is a naval intelligence officer responsible for a recent confirmation of his character and fitness for a special mission.
Submarine commander Stevenson, whose crew's morale has been shaken by the recent unnecessary death of a crew member, is ordered to take Braden to the island of Kusaie (Kosrae) to photograph a code book at a Japanese radio station. Stevenson waits in Lelu Harbor while Braden executes his covert mission.
After Braden returns, Stevenson dictates a letter accusing himself of endangering his submarine and crew in order to make Braden's mission easier. When they reach Pearl Harbor, Braden informs Stevenson that his crew "lost" the letter. To Braden's surprise and delight, Sally is waiting at the dock to greet him.
Reception[edit]
In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic A. H. Weiler wrote: "[I]t seems to run a familiar and somewhat undramatic course. ... Although there are moments of tension in 'Up Periscope,' it sails a movie course that is not particularly exciting. The bravery shown here is no longer unsung."[4]