The Deep Six

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.

Alexander 'Alec' Austen (Alan Ladd) flirts with Susan Cahill (Dianne Foster). They work at an ad agency on Madison Avenue. It's September '42. He is called back to active duty in the Navy. He's a Quaker and has pacifist leanings. He struggles with his beliefs in the midst of the war.

My initial issue is Alan Ladd's age. He's in his mid-forties. It's a little old to be so conflicted in his beliefs. It's an interesting subject matter, but the movie is struggling to handle it. I don't know what he's doing in the Navy anyways. It would make more sense if he got drafted, but he's at the upper most age. He seems to be a lapsed Quaker, but he never says it outright. Maybe the point is that everyone is supposed to fight or there are no pacifists in the foxhole. Edge is too overly hateful. This ends up being an average war movie in its execution. That would be fine, but the interesting subject matter is lost in a muddle.

Early scenes : French Restaurant and Ladd's Beach House are Paradise Cove, Malibu area.

THE DEEP SIX made a big impression on me as a kid. (I don't recall seeing more than bits and pieces since then.) At that time, World War II movies were big, as were afternoon matinees. After watching this we turned a friend's backyard tree into a submarine conning tower, which gave us hours and hours of play.

Two scenes I particularly remember:

One is when the Japanese, on the pretext of surrendering on a beach, have a machine gun hidden on the back of one of their soldiers. Suddenly he bends over and the guy behind him opens fire with the machine gun, mowing down the helpless and gullible Yanks.

And of course the key scene is when the conscientious objector, played by Alan Ladd, finally fires his gun in defense of his fellow soldiers.

8 out of 10 for the fond memories of youth....

Raised by a peace-loving Quaker mother, artist Alan Ladd (as Alexander "Alec" Austen) is nevertheless enlisted for World War II service. This interrupts his romance with attractive younger Dianne Foster (as Susan Cahill). In the Navy, Mr. Ladd meets a typical group of movie sailors. These include frequent co-star William Bendix (as "Frenchy" Shapiro), secretive Keenan Wynn (as Mike Edge), commander James Whitmore (as Warren Meredith) and roommate Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (as Doctor Blanchard). Stand up comic Joey Bishop plays an oddly attractive young sailor, and future "Alvin and the Chipmunks" creator Ross Bagdasarian provides the crew with dozens of Armenian woman. Ladd is made gunnery officer, but his pacifist past causes him to freeze when it's time to shoot. Ladd must learn how to kill or put his crew in danger...

***** The Deep Six (1/15/58) Rudolph Mate ~ Alan Ladd, William Bendix, Dianne Foster, Joey Bishop