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.

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.

This is one of a series of films made by Alan Ladd on the downhill side of his career after he left Paramount. A lot of them were good routine action stuff that had made him so popular in the 1940s. But he was getting older and wouldn't transition into older character parts.The Deep Six concerns a naval reserve officer who because of his Quaker upbringing freezes in a combat situation. The men on the ship lose confidence in him and his only friend is the CPO on the destroyer, played by William Bendix.In fact Bendix gives the best performance in the film. Ladd and Bendix did several films together at Paramount in the 1940s and they had a deep friendship and an easy camaraderie that comes through in The Deep Six. Bendix was a cut above a lot of the other character actors at Paramount, whereas he may have been doing character roles at Paramount, from the mid 40s on he was a popular radio and then TV star with his Life of Riley series.The rest of the cast fills their roles out nicely. James Whitmore, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Dianne Foster, and especially Keenan Wynn as the ship's hardnosed executive officer who is Ladd's chief tormentor. Look for Joey Bishop in a small role as one of the sailors.

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.