Nice little gem of a movie dishing out suspense, thrills and drama using predator prey dynamics to capture the viewer's interest and hold it. We are taken aboard a military ship with a captain that has the power and never lets anyone forget it. Its not that he is mean but instead an on the edge leader that uses power and discipline to command a potent combination I might add and you will soon see. The crew apparently likes living on this edge with the Captain as explained in the film so pay attention to the dialogue. Making us sit-up and take notice is no less that three fine performances namely Richard Widmark, Sidney Pointer and Martin Balsam. None of them hold back when it is their turn and the supporting actors make it seem the necessary real to help us relate. At some point, the viewer believes they are on board this ship and involved in what is going on which is what fine movies should be doing. Look for a nice touch brought to us by a character who plays a German ex-sub commander giving feedback and input to the surface Captain (predator) which makes it as real as it can get. This guy knows what the sub Captain (prey) is thinking, feeling and wanting giving a supposed edge to the American Captain. One of the themes that play out is the question of how long can a crew stay at general quarters? A person can only maintain the highest alerts for only so long. We find out just how long that can be thus the drama in this movie. Good snack movie here with a tasty drink and the ending is classic in its bringing closure to the story in the most unusual way. The viewer is left to supply the details for themselves within seconds of the ending courtesy of the actors who actually deliver it and set it up that way. The Director drives home the point even more as you shall see. Enjoy the final few moments but before that, the set-up (movie)

I must confess I'd not heard of this film as it was off my radar (no pun intended) despite starring those two fine actors Sidney Poitier and Richard Widmark in the leads and the solid Martin Balsam in support. More fool me as it proved to be a fine, gritty Cold War thriller, highlighting explicitly then and still, I'd contend, now, that one wilful or accidental action in the heat of the moment could lead to catastrophe for the world. The film skilfully combines a study of men under pressure with the wider political picture, at the same time cleverly invoking the classic story of Moby Dick, with Widmark's Captain Freelander as obsessed with catching a fleeing Russian submarine as old Captain Ahab was his pesky whale.All the action takes place on Freelander's US navy destroyer encompassing a gradually increasing character examination of the wilful Captain, driving his crew to exhaustion and the end of their wits by keeping them constantly at attention or GQ as it's called here, so that in the end a simple misunderstanding by a pressurised, even terrorised young officer of a phrase used by the captain in conversation leads to disaster. The abrupt ending is particularly memorable, the better for being so inevitable and brutal.Widmark as the crusty old captain is excellent in his portrayal of this particular single-minded sailor, while Poitier is also fine as the journalist who by questioning the captain's methods effectively acts as the conscience of the film, for once his skin colour having no bearing on his character''s relevance to the plot. Balsam too steps up as the passed over new medical officer who yet predicts the climactic outcome from way back.Tautly directed in black and white, the tension is palpable as the American ship closes in on its prey and nerves become frayed to breaking point on the bridge, in so doing making an early case for greater psychological consideration due to crew members as advocated by Balsam's character.Topical and relevant, especially with recent events echoing even today in Syria, this is an unflinching and superbly acted contemporary thriller which deserves to be better known.

This is a very, very taut Cold War film--very much in the same mold as "Fail-Safe" and even a bit like "Dr. Strangelove". So, while you might think this is a very pro-war sort of film, it isn't--it's about the dangers of overzealous folks who might be propelling us to nuclear disaster.The film is set on a US destroyer--a naval ship whose job it is to track Soviet subs near Greenland. Its captain is a very efficient and hard-driven man (Richard Widmark). Onto this very business-like ship come a new ship's doctor (Martin Balsam) and reporter (Sidney Poitier). While the reporter character seemed very unrealistic, Poitier did fine in this role. Most of the film consists of the captain playing a cat-and-mouse game with an unidentified sub--one the captain is determined not to let go. Unfortunately, he's so determined, he's almost like Captain Ahab! Where is all this going to end? See the film and find out.This movie works very well because the sense of tension was THICK and the acting was quite good. It also has nice production values and looks like you are at sea, as the models used are pretty good ones. It's also a bit disconcerting--and the filmmakers clearly intended this.By the way, the game played in the film with the sub might have been timely in 1965, but with the proliferation of nuclear subs, these ships no longer needed to surface for air like the one in the film. Also, look closely near the beginning of the film and you'll see a young Donald Sutherland working in the lab.

I served for six years as a destroyer sonarman in the early to late 70's hunting the Great Steel Whales and actually found seven confirmed Soviet subs in a time when most ping-jockeys like me never found any. My list of confirmed subs were 2 Foxtrot-class diesel boats, 1 November SSN, 2 Echo II SSGNs, 1 Victor I SSN and 1 Yankee SSBN. I just watched this film on TCM for the first time in many years and was struck by how realistic and relevant it still is. As one reviewer pointed out, the film echoes a true incident involving a US Diesel sub trapped in Soviet territorial waters in 1958 that is also spotlighted in the book, "Blind Man's Bluff". My watch station was similar to Wally Cox's character standing sonar watches and my battle station was firing the Underwater Weapons Battery like James McArthur's character. So I'm VERY familiar with both the attraction AND danger of the Ultimate Hunt of the Leviathan.Many comparisons have been made of this film to Moby Dick and Widmark's Capt. Finlander to Ahab, including how Finlander, like Ahab, inspired his crew to go along with his doomed hunt. For me, I compare Finlander to Robert Mitchum's Destroyer captain in "The Enemy Below". Both are tough, tenacious captains who drive their crews to the limit of endurance in pursuit of their submerged adversaries. Both have compelling reasons for engaging in that behavior. The difference is Finlander's ultimate obsession with the hunt dooms him and his ship like Ahab, while Mitchum's captain is ultimately redeemed by his rescue of his enemies' lives even while his ship is destroyed in destroying the submarine.The other compelling character for me is the former U-boat Captain who corrects Poitier's reporter that it was Admiral Doenitz's Navy, not Hitler's. This I find especially relevant since Doenitz actually had Admiral Lockwood, commander of the US submarine force in the Pacific during WW2, testify in his defense during Doenitz's war crimes trial since Lockwood used the exact same strategy to defeat Japan that Doenitz used against the Allies. To me, he also presages Jurgen Prochnow's U-Boat captain in "Das Boot".Add in a great supporting cast that includes Martin Balsam and a young Donald Sutherland as one of the Corpsmen working under Balsam, the use of a Farragut-class DLG model and special effects that recreate the North Atlantic coast of Greenland quite effectively for it's time, and the constant drumbeat of the sonar transmission and echo that serves to heighten the tension even more and you have a great yarn. I've know many sub sailors who've had to endure being lashed with that sonar for hours to days at a time and told me how maddening that can get.Strangely enough, I ran into one of the crewmen from one of the Foxtrot subs I found and tracked over 20 years later when he towed my car home from Burbank Airport to Pasadena. At that time, they had just brought another Foxtrot sub called the Scorpion and had her on display next to the Queen Mary in Long Beach. I asked him if he'd ever been down there to go aboard for old times sake. his answer was No because he LIVED it for three years and had his bellyfull of it THEN.