The Deep Six

The Deep Six (1958)

We'll get there and we'll get 'em out!

The conflict between duty and conscience is explored in the WWII drama The Deep Six. Alan Ladd stars as Naval gunnery officer Alec Austin, a Quaker whose sincere pacifist sentiments do not sit well with his crew members. When he refuses to fire upon an unidentified plane, the word spreads that Austin cannot be relied upon in battle (never mind that the plane turns out to be one of ours). To prove that he's worthy of command, Austin volunteers for a dangerous mission: the rescue of a group of US pilots on a Japanese-held island. The ubiquitous William Bendix costars as Frenchy Shapiro (!), Austin's Jewish petty officer and severest critic. If the film has a villain, it is Keenan Wynn as ambitious Lt. Commander Edge, who seems to despise anyone who isn't a mainline WASP.

Date of release
1958-01-15
TMDB
5.7 / 10 (13)
Runtime
1h 45m
Genres
War, Drama
Director
Rudolph Maté

Casting

Interesting facts

The Deep Six is a 1958 American World War II drama film directed by Rudolph Maté, loosely based on a novel of the same name by Martin Dibner. The film stars Alan Ladd, who co-produced it, William Bendix, Dianne Foster, Keenan Wynn, James Whitmore, Ross Bagdasarian and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. It also marked the film debut of Joey Bishop. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Production

The novel was published in 1953 and became a bestseller.

Rights to the novel were bought by Ladd's Jaguar Productions in 1955. The film was always envisioned as a starring vehicle for Ladd; possible co-stars included Fredric March and Edward G. Robinson. Eventually, William Bendix was cast in the role.

At one point, Doris Day was announced as the film's female lead as part of a three- picture deal to be made over three years; she and Ladd would co-star in two films. This did not happen, however, and Dianne Foster was cast instead.

The Deep Six was to be the first of a ten-picture deal between Jaguar and Warner Bros. to be made over three years. Ladd wanted to use Jaguar to develop new talent and hoped to showcase them in the film.

The screenplay incorporated several subplots (primarily the portraits created by Austen) and characters/back stories from Dibner's 1953 novel, but the plot of the film largely focused on Alec Austen's spiritual crisis of pacifism versus duty, which in the novel did not occur.

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