The Deep Six

Director: Rudolph Mate Rudolph Mate

Overview

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.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/13/2014
UPC:	0888574012281
Original Release:	1958
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Language:	English
Time:	1:48:00
Sales rank:	32,788

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Alan Ladd	Alexander 'Alec' Austen,Ann
Dianne Foster	Susan Cahill
William Bendix	'Frenchy' Shapiro
James Whitmore	Cdr. Warren Meredith
Keenan Wynn	Lt. Cdr. Edge
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.	Lt. Blanchard
Joey Bishop	Ski Krakowski
Barbara Eiler	Clair Innes
Ross Bagdasarian	Slobodjian
Jeanette Nolan	Mrs. Austen
Walter Reed	Paul Clemson
Peter Hanson	Lt. Dooley
Richard Crane	Lt. (j.g.) Swanson
Morris Miller	Collins
Perry Lopez	Al Mendoza
Warren Douglas	Pilot
Nestor Paiva	Pappa Tatos
Robert Whiteside	Eddie Loomis
Robert Clarke	Ens. David Clough
Ann Doran	Elsie
Jerry Mathers	Steve
Franz Roehn	Waiter
Peter Hansen	Lieutenant Dooley
Steve Potter	Actor
David Sevile	Slobodjian
David Buttolph	Composer

Technical Credits

Martin Rackin

Derek N. Twist

Harry Brown

Rudolph Mate	Director
Martin Rackin	Screenwriter,Producer
Derek N. Twist	Screenwriter,Screenwriter
Harry Brown	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

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.

All Movie Guide - Bruce Eder