“Torpedo Run” (1958) starring Glenn Ford & Ernest Borgnine / Z-View

Torpedo Run (1958)

Director: Joseph Pevney

Screenplay: Richard Sale, William Wister Haines

Stars: Glenn Ford, Ernest Borgnine, Diane Brewster, Dean Jones, L.Q. Jones, Philip Ober, Richard Carlyle, Don Keefer, Kimberly Beck, Biff Elliot, Al Freeman Jr., Frank Gorshin and Robert Reed.

Tagline:  The greatest submarine picture of them all !

The Plot…

Lt. Cmdr. Barney Doyle (Ford) commands the US submarine Greyfish.  Their orders are to find and destroy the Shinaru, the Japanese carrier that led the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Doyle learns that the Shinaru is protected by battleships and “shield” ships carrying US prisoners including women and children.  Two of those prisoners are Cmdr. Doyle’s wife and two year old daughter.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

Torpedo Run was nominated for one Academy Award: Best Effects, Special Effects (A. Arnold Gillespie, Harold Humbrock)

There are some tense scenes when the Greyfish goes into a mined harbor and later when a submarine crew needs to abandon ship underwater to another sub!

Ernest Borgnine is especially good as second-in-command Lt. Archer ‘Archie’ Sloan.

Glenn Ford’s character’s tough decision makes him unlikable and I didn’t feel there wasn’t a solid enough redemption arc.

Torpedo Run (1958) rates 3 of 5 stars.