Product Description

A navy lieutenant (James Garner "Maverick") during World War II is ordered aboard a submarine to get special photographs of a Japanese-controlled island.

DVD Features:
Featurette
Theatrical Trailer

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2699 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2006-12-19
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 112 minutes

Amazon.com
Anyone with a fondness for the conventions of the submarine picture will be content with the modest pleasures of Up Periscope, a World War II melodrama starring James Garner in one of his early Maverick-era roles. Pulled away from a week-long romance, Garner tags along with the sub to a Japanese-held island, where he will SCUBA ashore and copy a secret radio code. On top of the reliable suspense of a man alone behind enemy lines, the film also offers captain Edmond O'Brien, whose previous mission has his crew suspecting him of cowardice. Will he cut and run before Garner returns to the submarine? Director Gordon Douglas made a batch of entertaining pictures over the years (a bunch of Sinatra titles, the giant-bug classic Them!, In Like Flint) and he coolly finds some effective ways to photograph men in the close quarters of a sub. The main draw is James Garner in his youthful prime; even if the movie doesn't exploit his comic talent, it shows how effortlessly he connects with an audience. The supporting cast consists of the kind of actors who inevitably seem to people a WWII ship's crew: solid character actors (Alan Hale Jr., who performed similar undersea duties in Destination Tokyo), oddballs and one-offs (Frank Gifford, Edd "Kooky" Byrnes), and future names (Warren Oates). --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Another Good Submarine Film
It seemed that ever since the release of 1957's THE ENEMY BELOW, World War II submarine movies enjoyed great popularity during the late 50s. This is one of the better ones directed by Gordon Douglas with stalwart James Garner and cautious Edmond O'Brien. The scenes around the Japanese held island are suspenseful and well filmed by Carl Guthrie. Richard Landau's screenplay is pretty faithful to the novel by Robb White. It also features Edd Byrnes, Alan Hale Jr. and one of my favorite actors Warren Oates.

UP PERISCOPE
UP PERISCOPE IS A TOP NOTCH WORLD WAR II FILM STARRING JAMES GARNER & EDMOND O'BRIEN. WELL WORTH WATCHING. A TRUE FIND IF YOUR A WAR MOVIE BUFF LIKE ME.

patterned after book.
I bought this video because it appeared to be based on the book UP PERISCOPE writen by Robb White. I bought the book in about 1961 in grade school. I loved the book and read it several times. The movie has the same characters, Kenn Braden, Skipper Stevensen, Pat Malone, Si, etc. It roughly followed the book, except there was a big difference in one outcome. To be honest, I liked the book more, but I really enjoyed the movie. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had not read that book and tried to follow the two plots. It was a good movie, but, like the one goat said to the other goat as they were eating the film from a movie "I liked the book better!" Robb White also wrote a book called SECRET SEA, which I enjoyed almost as much as UP PERISCOPE.