Main Cast: Alan Ladd, William Bendix, James Whitmore, Dianne Foster, Keenan Wynn
Release Year: 1958
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
Plot
The conflict between duty and conscience is explored in the WWII drama The Deep Six. Alan Ladd stars as Naval gunnery officer Alec Austin, a Quaker whose sincere pacifist sentiments do not sit well with his crew members. When he refuses to fire upon an unidentified plane, the word spreads that Austin cannot be relied upon in battle (never mind that the plane turns out to be one of ours). To prove that he's worthy of command, Austin volunteers for a dangerous mission: the rescue of a group of US pilots on a Japanese-held island. The ubiquitous William Bendix costars as Frenchy Shapiro (!), Austin's Jewish petty officer and severest critic. If the film has a villain, it is Keenan Wynn as ambitious Lt. Commander Edge, who seems to despise anyone who isn't a mainline WASP.The Deep Six was based on a novel by Martin Dibner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The Deep Six wants to be a good war movie, and it is a good war movie -- once we get to the war. The problem is that director Rudolph Mate (working here as "R. Mate") handles the first 25 minutes or so of The Deep Six too sluggishly -- devoted almost entirely to the romance between the characters played by Alan Ladd and Dianne Foster, it just takes its time, and we also get a look at the Ladd character's Quaker upbringing. But by the time we get to where any of this is going to matter to the audience sitting down to this movie, whether it was in a theater in 1958 or in front of a TV monitor today, most people will have tuned out. It's too slow moving by more than half, and delays us getting to the heart of the story, about the conflict within Ladd between his Quaker upbringing and his duty to serve and defend his country in World War II. Additionally, Ladd was 45 years old when the movie was made and is simply too long-of-tooth for the role he's playing -- at least 10 years too old. All of this is a shame because there's a lot of good work here done by the actors, especially one we get aboard ship -- there are good, well-played scenes and, as with most of Mate's movies, the photography is excellent. But the overall pacing and that fundamental casting problem with the lead role ends up putting at all to waste. Even longtime movie buffs who might enjoy the presence of a solid supporting cast, including James Whitmore, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Joey Bishop, Keenan Wynn (in an unusually unpleasant part), and William Bendix, may not be willing to sit through the languid opening section to get to their part of the movie, though when we get to them things do liven up a bit. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
