While on my submarine kick during the writing of CRASH DIVE, coming in April, I stuck with nonfiction and episodes of THE SILENT SERVICE, which is based on nonfiction accounts of submarine adventures during WWII. I didn’t want to read the classics like DAS BOOT. Sometimes, when you write a certain type of novel, it’s good to read a lot in that genre, as it keeps you in the mood and can inspire some ideas. Other times, it’s a risk. You might end up reading that truly killer book that discourages you from writing your book, because you can’t get your head out of the story you just read and into your own. You find yourself trying too hard to either write or not write the classic, either of which spells trouble for a writer looking for his own story.

After seeing DAS BOOT, I knew the book might be like that, so I avoided it until after I was done writing. (I’m reading it now, and so far, so good.) Then I found out about another classic submarine tale, RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP by Edward Beach. It’s a good thing I didn’t, as there are some common elements between that story and CRASH DIVE. I’ll be reading the book soon, but enjoyed watching the 1958 film starring the great Clark Gable and, one of my favorite actors, Burt Lancaster.

The film is about two men who personally clash against each other and the Japanese during the Pacific War. One is Richardson (Gable), a senior submarine captain with a desk job at Pearl Harbor, who every day for a year broods over the loss of his boat to a Japanese destroyer that has a legendary ability to kill subs. Bledsoe (Lancaster) is an executive officer about to be promoted to command his own boat. Bad news for Bledsoe–Richardson has convinced the admiralty to give him Bledsoe’s command. His goal: Take it into the Bungo Straits and find the destroyer that destroyed his boat and career.

The film contains a lot of terrific elements: loyalty, courage, vendetta and honor, all against the backdrop of WWII. Richardson is obsessed, but as a commander with a crew’s lives in his hand, what price is he willing to pay to get what he wants? Bledsoe was shunted aside because of Richardson’s power play and openly resents it, but is he going to settle his own scores, or does he have the integrity to serve the rank if not the man who holds it?

After doing a ton of research into WWII submarines, I can tell you the film is as authentic as it gets in terms of what service was like on one of the fleet boats. It’s not surprising Beach, author of the book on which the film is based, actually served on submarines in the Pacific during the war against Japan.

Overall, I loved it, it was a great find. The story starts as an engaging personal conflict and ramps up the tension until it becomes a taut thriller that in my view could compete today with the best Hollywood thrillers.

The book has something of a different plot, and I look forward to reading it. The book is very hard to find, as it’s been out of print for years, but you can watch the film starting here:

Continuing my World War 2 movie kick, I watched BREAKTHROUGH (1979), starring Robert Mitchum and Richard Burton at his snarly best.

The story follows Sergeant Steiner (Burton) from the Eastern Front to the Western Front. He becomes embroiled, albeit at the very peiphery, in the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler and end the war. The question is whether the Americans will believe it and delay their attack, and whether the plot will succeed. Robert Mitchum plays the colonel of a tank battalion who believes Steiner.

It’s a strange movie. Lots of action, an interesting premise, but it’s fragmented, and the pieces didn’t hold together very well for me. Steiner is so cranky, and his relationships with almost everybody in the film so thin and forced, it’s hard to see him as a very likable protagonist. The stakes in the story kept changing. I can see what the film was aiming for, but while it had a lot of great moments, in my opinion it failed to reach it. The highlight of the movie was Mitchum, particularly his interactions with his cranky CO and the smartass sergeant who acts as his driver and personal aide.

Can’t say I’d recommend it, but if you’re into old war movies, you’ll probably want to give it a watch.

Click here to watch the complete movie on YouTube.
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In a fit of virtue, I started switching from my bookstore to the library to get most of my reading. I picked up WAR IN THE BOATS by William Ruhe, which describes in detail his experience onboard a variety of submarines in the Pacific during World War 2. I got totally hooked, so much so I’m working on a short military thriller that will read like Horatio Hornblower meets a Turner Classic submarine movie and with a Michael Crichtonesque attention to technical detail, making you, the reader, a part of the crew seeing what it was really like fighting a war beneath the sea.

During all this research, I found an old movie, THE ENEMY BELOW (1957), which describes the fight between an American destroyer and a German U-boat during the War of the Atlantic. Robert Mitchum plays the captain with a score to settle, while we also follow the story of the U-boat captain, who hates the Nazis and is tired of the war.

Both men are very good at what they do, resulting in a clever cat and mouse game that culminates in a classic finish. Unlike THE VICTORS, which I reviewed yesterday, THE ENEMY BELOW doesn’t present the noble aims of war and then contrast it with the grim reality of violence and human nature. Instead, it holds up the horror of war and then contrasts it with small acts of human kindness that provide genuine hope for humanity’s future.

The film stretches reality as to the foresight the captains showed, as real captains during the war had much less awareness and certainty, but it’s a fun movie if you like war movies, and takes you inside a destroyer and a submarine, natural enemies of the sea.

Click here to watch the movie in its entirety on YouTube.
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THE VICTORS (1963) is a war movie that takes its subject seriously but may be even more powerful as an anti-war film than the comedy DOCTOR STRANGELOVE, which came out the following year. It stars George Peppard, Eli Wallach and Melina Mercouri, and has an early film appearance by Peter Fonda.

The story, adapted from a collection of short stories titled THE HUMAN KIND by Alexander Baron, based on his war experiences (British, but changed to Americans in the film), follows several American soldiers as they fight their way across Europe in World War 2. Like the book, the film presents a series of short stories that tie together.

The film contrasts the grim reality of the war with seamlessly integrated American propaganda reels and speeches by President Roosevelt. The President is seen several times describing the war as a noble conflict, a war to end war, a war that will provide a lasting peace for our children.

Unlike other war movies of the time, THE VICTORS portrays the soldiers not as sacrificing heroes (though they could be seen that way), but as average guys doing their jobs while trying to stay alive. Most of the storytelling focuses on what happens during those long stretches of marching and occupation and carousing when the bullets aren’t flying. The soldiers are portrayed as entirely human and despite their flaws, very likable.

The anti-war element of the film is driven by the evident contrast between the war’s noble aims and its grim truths presented with an even hand and without sentiment. Despite the noble aims of the war, human nature is what it is. In one scene, White soldiers beat up a pair of Black soldiers. In other scenes, destitute and lonely women are sexually exploited by the occupiers. The soldiers are often unthinkingly cruel to other soldiers and the locals. They fight over women. These things are shown as a matter of fact and without moralizing, but the point is clear. The war got rid of Hitler (thank God) but people are people, and war will go on, making the notion of war itself seem futile.

Click here to watch the complete movie on YouTube.
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