Torpedo Run (C or 2/4 stars)
In the psychological WWII drama 'Torpedo Run' (directed by Joseph Pevney) Glenn Ford plays Capt. Barney Doyle, a hard-nosed, no-nonsense submarine commander who loves his family very much (who we see in lovely flashbacks), but is obsessed with sinking one particular Japanese aircraft carrier -- the carrier that led the attack on Pearl Harbor in '42. We also meet Barney's 2nd-in-command - and longtime, loyal friend - Lt. Archie Sloan (Ernest Borgnine), a man who is honest to a fault. Now, this mission to sink the Japanese aircraft carrier is classified as top-priority by the Navy.
But Capt. Doyle gets some bad early news ... that all 1,400 prisoners from a Philippine internment camp were placed on a freighter, which acts as a screener for the chased aircraft carrier. And with the stunning info that his own wife & child have been captured and are on that freighter(!), Barney must make a careful decision whether to fire on this screener freighter to get to the aircraft carrier or not. Archie tells him not to do it; that the odds of hitting the carrier are slim, & the odds of hitting the freighter are a near certainty. Capt. Doyle makes a near-impossible decision and, to his horror, his torpedoes sink the freighter. No one questions Capt. Doyle's patriotism, though his team sees how this tragic incident is transforming him into a merciless leader; hell bent on blowing the enemy aircraft carrier to bits.
Much to the film's credit, Glenn Ford's performance is credible, & one of the only reasons to sit through it. It was also a very good idea to show how much the captain cared for his family by showing the flashbacks; we needed to see the humanity in the man who could be viewed as otherwise. Ernest Borgnine is fine as Archie. The action scenes of the eventual showdown btwn. the rivals are ... okay. You know, this movie was made in 1958 and, seeing it now in 2013, you can certainly tell. The effects are not that great; yet, they were surprisingly nominated for an Academy Award for Best Special Effects. I've seen other movies from that year with superior effects. And ... I've seen many films made before 1958 with superior effects.
I also just couldn't get into the execution of the story. Dare I say, it bored me; didn't involve me. I tried. But I just couldn't drum up big interest in what was going on. A certain banality crept into the proceedings, when it should have been thoroughly compelling. And directly compared to another WWII torpedo film from the same year, 'Run Silent Run Deep' (starring Clark Gable & Burt Lancaster) ... 'Torpedo Run' just doesn't hold a candle to it.
But Capt. Doyle gets some bad early news ... that all 1,400 prisoners from a Philippine internment camp were placed on a freighter, which acts as a screener for the chased aircraft carrier. And with the stunning info that his own wife & child have been captured and are on that freighter(!), Barney must make a careful decision whether to fire on this screener freighter to get to the aircraft carrier or not. Archie tells him not to do it; that the odds of hitting the carrier are slim, & the odds of hitting the freighter are a near certainty. Capt. Doyle makes a near-impossible decision and, to his horror, his torpedoes sink the freighter. No one questions Capt. Doyle's patriotism, though his team sees how this tragic incident is transforming him into a merciless leader; hell bent on blowing the enemy aircraft carrier to bits.
Much to the film's credit, Glenn Ford's performance is credible, & one of the only reasons to sit through it. It was also a very good idea to show how much the captain cared for his family by showing the flashbacks; we needed to see the humanity in the man who could be viewed as otherwise. Ernest Borgnine is fine as Archie. The action scenes of the eventual showdown btwn. the rivals are ... okay. You know, this movie was made in 1958 and, seeing it now in 2013, you can certainly tell. The effects are not that great; yet, they were surprisingly nominated for an Academy Award for Best Special Effects. I've seen other movies from that year with superior effects. And ... I've seen many films made before 1958 with superior effects.
I also just couldn't get into the execution of the story. Dare I say, it bored me; didn't involve me. I tried. But I just couldn't drum up big interest in what was going on. A certain banality crept into the proceedings, when it should have been thoroughly compelling. And directly compared to another WWII torpedo film from the same year, 'Run Silent Run Deep' (starring Clark Gable & Burt Lancaster) ... 'Torpedo Run' just doesn't hold a candle to it.