grafspee Review of Up Periscope

Up Periscope (1959)

Superb World War Two submarine drama in the Pacific theater with good performances by the lead actors.

[23 September 2004]

This is a great film with a well done script about an American Naval Lieutenant Ken Braden played by James Garner assigned to a submarine commanded by Edmond O'Brien (a very underrated actor of his time) as Captain Stevenson. Braden's mission is to go ashore as a frogman on a Japanese held island to retrieve a wireless code unable to be cracked by U.S. intelligence. Stevenson is haunted by the loss of a rating on a previous sortie and wants to exact careful handling of his current mission at the expense of making Braden's operational plan a difficult one. With a submerged time deadline imposed on Braden to find and photograph the information he skilfully swims to the island and after activating an incendiary device to alight fuel drums at the Japanese base in order to create a diversion, successfully enters the radio room behind the back of the on duty officer and snaps the pages of the code. Returning to the sub he is behind the time deadline and oxygen on the sub is rapidly depleting. A crew member constantly taps a wrench on the sub's hull to guide Braden back and Stevenson gives in to just sufficient extra time to allow him to return. On arrival back at Pearl Harbor Braden sees Intelligence Officer Sally Johnson, played by a stunning Andra Martin, at the dock waiting to greet him. She had been commissioned at the beginning of the movie to evaluate his suitability for the assignment but a love affair blossomed to now give this movie a supposedly happy ever after ending. Mention must also be made of the role of Alan Hale Jr. (ex Gilligan's Island) as Ensign Malone who gives the movie a well deserved comedy touch. Absorbing viewing.