Up Periscope (1959)

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writers:

Richard H. Landau (screenplay)
Robb White (novel)

Release Date:

28 August 1959 (Finland)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

Warner Brothers' "Maverick" Man! Bigger Than Ever Now and Ready Right Now in his Big-Screen Big-Excitement Technicolor Smash!

Plot:

Lieutenant Braden discovers that Sally, the woman he's been falling in love with, has actually been checking out his qualifications to be a U.S...

Plot Keywords:

Submarine | U Boat | Bare Chested Male | Submarine Movie | World War Two

Cast

James Garner	...	Lt. j.g. Kenneth M. Braden
Edmond O'Brien	...	Commander Paul Stevenson
Andra Martin	...	Sally Johnson
Alan Hale Jr.	...	Lt. Pat Malone (as Alan Hale)
Carleton Carpenter	...	Lt. Phil Carney
Frank Gifford	...	Ensign Cy Mount
William Leslie	...	Lt. Doherty
Richard Bakalyan	...	Seaman Peck
Edd Byrnes	...	Pharmacist Mate Ash (as Edward Byrnes)
Sean Garrison	...	Seaman Floyd
Henry Kulky	...	Chief Petty Officer York
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Aiken	...	Seaman Ford (uncredited)
Fred C. Blau Jr.	...	Junior (uncredited)
Carl Christian	...	Ships Crewman (uncredited)
Robert Christopher	...	Ship's Officer (uncredited)
Mary Lou Clifford	...	Grass Hut Girl (uncredited)
George Crise	...	Murphy, Radio Operator (uncredited)
Francis De Sales	...	Captain Quinn (uncredited)
Ann Duggan	...	Grass Hut Girl (uncredited)
Sandra Edwards	...	Grass Hut Girl (uncredited)
Rian Garrick	...	Chase (uncredited)
Bernie Hamilton	...	Weary (uncredited)
Chuck Hicks	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Yoneo Iguchi	...	Japanese (uncredited)
Glenn Jacobson	...	Sloan (uncredited)
Joe Jenckes	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Clifford Kawada	...	Japanese (uncredited)
Harry Landers	...	Adams (uncredited)
William Lovett	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Rod Lynn	...	Crew Member (uncredited)
Peter Mallen	...	Shelton (uncredited)
Leonard A. Mazzola	...	Johnny (uncredited)
Peggy Moffitt	...	Jukebox Girl (uncredited)
Warren Oates	...	Seaman Kovacs (uncredited)
Bob Okazaki	...	Japanese (uncredited)
Michael Pierce	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Paul Togawa	...	Japanese (uncredited)
Frank Watkins	...	Gruber (uncredited)
Robert Whiteside	...	Collins (uncredited)
James Yagi	...	Japanese (uncredited)

Directed by
Gordon Douglas

Writing credits
Richard H. Landau		(screenplay) (as Richard Landau)
Robb White		(novel)

Produced by
Aubrey Schenck	....	producer
Howard W. Koch	....	producer (uncredited)
Edwin F. Zabel	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Carl E. Guthrie		(director of photography) (as Carl Guthrie)

Film Editing by
John F. Schreyer		(as John E. Schreyer)

Art Direction by
Jack T. Collis

Set Decoration by
William Wallace

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup supervisor
Louis Phillipi	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
C.M. Florance	....	assistant director
Joe Nayfack	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Francis E. Stahl	....	sound (as Francis J. Stahl)

Special Effects by
Ralph Ayres	....	special effects (uncredited)
Doug Hubbard	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Vic Johnson	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Bill Klein	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Dudie Maschmeyer	....	grip (uncredited)
Jay Dee Skidmore	....	underwater camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bob Richards	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
Ray Heindorf	....	music supervisor
Daniele Amfitheatrof	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Adolph Deutsch	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Ray Heindorf	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Erich Wolfgang Korngold	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Max Steiner	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Franz Waxman	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Roy Webb	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Harry Zubrinsky	....	transportation gaffer (uncredited)

Other crew
Charles A. Lockwood	....	technical adviser (as Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood U S N {Ret.})
Ken Cox	....	location manager (uncredited)
Richard Michaels	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Lakeside Productions

Distributors

• Warner Bros (1959) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1959) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Department of Defense, The  our grateful thanks to: for their cooperation and aid in making this picture possible (as the Department of Defense)
• Officers and Men of the Submarine Force Pacific Fleet, The  our grateful thanks to: for their cooperation and aid in making this picture possible (as the Officers and Men of the Submarine Force Pacific Fleet)
• United States Navy, The  our grateful thanks to: for their cooperation and aid in making this picture possible (as the United States Navy)

Also Known As:

"Up Periscope!" - USA (poster title)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | UK:U | USA:Approved (certificate #19139) | West Germany:12 (re-rating) | West Germany:16 (f) (original rating) | Australia:PG | Norway:16

Company:

Lakeside Productions

Trivia:

Up Periscope (1959) was released in '59 (1959). Many years later a parody of the submarine movie genre would be made both in a year with a reverse of this film's year of release (i.e. in '95 (1995)) and with also a title that reverses this movie's title (i.e. Down Periscope (1996)).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The aqua-lung was developed by Emile Gagnan and Jacques-Yves Cousteau only in 1943, hence it was unavailable by the time the action took place (1942).

Quotes:

Commander Paul Stevenson:Oh, uh, one more thing, Mr. Braden, you don't get captured.
Lt. j.g. Kenneth M. Braden:Mm-hmm. I wouldn't think of it, sir.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Destination Tokyo (1943)

Soundtrack:

Don't Give Up the Ship

A superior cast bolsters this otherwise routine war drama.

O'Brien is the sub commander, who loses the trust of his crew, Garner the naval officer assigned a commando mission-but the real story here is the vintage cast-Richard Bakalyan and Warren Oates are joined by TV's familiar faces: Edd (Kooky) Byrnes, Henry (Otto Schmidlapp from "Life of Riley") Kulka, and Alan (the Skipper from "Gilligan's Island") Hale Jr. The fine performances are punctuated by adequate action scenes that result in a very watchable picture.