gordonl56 THE DEEP SIX 1958This 1958 film was a co-production between Warner Brothers and Alan Ladd's Jaguar Productions. The film is a WW2 drama with Alan Ladd in the lead. The rest of the cast includes, James Whitmore, Keenan Wynn, Efrem Zimbalist Jr, Dianne Foster, William Bendix and Joey Bishop. Alan Ladd plays ad artist who works for an agency in New York. He has the hots for his boss, Dianne Foster. Ladd makes a few moves on the pretty Miss Foster, but, before he can close the deal, he gets a letter calling him up for service. Ladd is a member of the Navy reserve and is assigned to a destroyer. Now we find out that Ladd is from a Quaker family, and has been raised to avoid doing harm to another person. Ladd has not been a practising Quaker for years. He joins his ship and is welcomed aboard by the Captain, James Whitmore. The welcome is far less friendly from the executive officer, Keenan Wynn. Wynn is not pleased with the fact that Ladd is a Quaker. Wynn is a bitter man having been at Pearl Harbor on December 7th. He had lost family when the USS ARIZONA had been sunk. Ladd is put in charge of a twin 40 mm anti-aircraft mount. His gun crew includes, Joey Bishop, (in his 1st role) Perry Lopez and Ross Bagdasarian. Also in the mix here is William Bendix as a Chief Petty Officer and Efrem Zimbalist Jr as the ship's doctor. Every chance Wynn has he insults Ladd, or complains to the Captain that Ladd will let them down in combat. This of course wears on Ladd causing inner conflict over his personal values. The ship stops off in San Francisco where Ladd gets a surprise leave. And who is waiting for him there? Miss Foster of course. She has fallen for Ladd and wants to introduce him to her family who just happen to live down the coast.Everything is going nicely when Foster's sister, Barbara Eiler, gets news that her husband was lost in combat. The man had been on a ship that went down off Guadalcanal. Ladd now feels guilty about asking Foster to marry him. He tells her that they must wait till the war is over. Ladd's ship is now sent to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. Ladd's problems come to a head, when a he can't bring himself to order his gun crew to fire on an approaching aircraft. It turns out to be an American plane, so no big deal. Ladd though goes to the Captain and tells him of his hesitation to fire. Ladd is taken off the gun and assigned to damage control. Wynn in now convinced he has been right about Ladd the whole time. Ladd shows that he is no coward when the ship is hit by a bomb during a Japanese air raid. The bomb fails to explode, so Ladd, along with William Bendix dig the thing out from between decks. They haul it topside and toss it overboard, where it explodes.The ship is now sent to pick up the crew of a downed recon plane stranded on one of the Japanese held, Aleutian Islands. Ladd volunteers to lead the rescue party ashore. The mission quickly goes sideways as the Japanese put in an unwanted appearance. There is a brisk battle with Ladd calling in supporting fire from the destroyer. Petty Officer Bendix is wounded forcing Ladd to decide to kill, or be killed. He uses his Thompson to mow down a group of attacking Japanese, collecting a round himself in the exchange. They cart Bendix and the rescued airmen back to the ship. Bendix does not make it back. The ship returns to San Francisco where the wounded Ladd is discharged into the waiting arms of Miss Foster. While all this has been going on, the ship's doctor, Zimbalist, has discovered that the exc, Wynn, has been stealing morphine from the drug locker. He has been self-medicating over a stomach problem.The film was directed by former cinematographer turned helmsman, Rudolph Mate. The 5 time Oscar nominated (Gilda, Sahara, Cover Girl, etc.) Mate cranked out several solid westerns and film noir as a director. These include DOA, THE DARK PAST, SIEGE AT RED RIVER, THE VIOLENT MEN and UNION STATION.The cinematography here was handled by Ladd favourite, John F Seitz. Seitz would be the director of photography on 22 diff Ladd films. Among these, SAIGON, CALCUTTA, THE GREAT GATSBY, APPOINTMENT WITH DANGER, BOTNAY BAY, THE BIG LAND and THIS GUN FOR HIRE. He also shot, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, THE LOST WEEKEND, SUNSET BLVD and THE BIG CLOCK. Seitz received 7 Oscar nominations over his 1916 to 1960 career. The film suffers from a rather meandering script which has little to do with the source novel by, Martin Dibner. The changes from the novel (which I have read) are not for the better. The usually reliable Mate seems somewhat "lost at sea" here. The cast are all okay, though Ladd is really a bit old for the part. (and I'm a Ladd fan) The film needed to be tightened up and cut down from the 108 minute run time. Worth a watch, but is not one of Ladd's better films. This was the seventh time William Bendix and Alan Ladd appeared in the same film. Both would die in 1964, Ladd at 50 and Bendix at age 58.

edwagreen This film is quite good. The romance element quickly gives way to an interesting story of World War 11 where Alan Ladd's Quaker faith is put to test in battle.As Frenchy Shapiro, William Bendix etched an unforgettable character. He uses Yiddish expressions interchangeably and gives a robust comic and dramatic performances. His facial expressions and comic timing were very similar to what he gave us in the memorable television series Life of Riley.Keenan Wynn plays a bigoted naval officer who harbors a major secret. James Whitmore, always excellent in war pictures, is rather subdued here as a naval commander.This is a story of the human spirit, bravery and a spirit that got us through the war years.

dbdumonteil The very subject of the movie eludes the director.The movie looks like some kind of cross between "Friendly Persuasion" (Wyler)and "the Caine Mutiny" (Dmytryk) Like Anthony Perkins in Wyler's movie,Alan Ladd's mom is a quaker and he was brought up that way and carefully taught;unfortunately he does not know where he stands anymore and whether he should or should not kill.Which is not that easy when you are in the navy.The lieutenant Commander,portrayed by Keenan Wynn ,recalls sometimes Humphrey Bogart in "the Caine Mutiny" ,(and also Richard Dix in Robson's "the ghost ship" )with his obsession with authority -he began his career as a private whereas Ladd went to college and became a reserve officer-Too bad the character is underwritten.The best does not come,IMHO,from the main plot ,but from the subplots:Frenchy,his missus and his Edith we get to know in a way,is an endearing character ,well played by William Bendix;the death of the two children's father is told with a great simplicity ,avoiding the maudlin side of melodrama;Private Aaron provides the comic relief with his numerous Armenian cousins;and there's a good scene between the Navy and the merchant marine about a jukebox.

rollo_tomaso The cast is terrific, especially the always under-appreciated Dianne Foster in a thankless role, and the dialogue is crisp. But most of the cast is considerably older than their roles, and this movie adds little new information. If you like character-study war movies, this is a good time. I give it 6/10.