Bridge on the River Kwai kicked off the golden age of guys on a mission action films - Guns of Navarone, Zulu, Where Eagles Dare, McKenna's Gold. This one came towards the end of the cycle - it probably accelerated said ending because it was a box office disappointment. It's still a lot of fun - though never quite as good as you hope it's going to be (the title is surely one of the best of all time).
The set up is very good - secret Arctic base, crashed satellite, a Yank sub sent to get there before the Ruskies, a secret agent on board. As usual in Alistair Maclean adaptations someone is a mole, or are they - and there's spies who are seen to consistently change sides. Patrick McGoohan and Ernest Borgnine are enjoyable as dodgy spy types, Rock Hudson likeable as the decent American, the one you can trust (like Clint Eastwood in Where Eagles Dare).
But I think there's a lack of action - unlike the team in Navarone or Eagles there's never any sense the sub and its crew won't get back - you just think maybe a person or two will die, which is the case. I think maybe there needed to be some massive disaster on the sub, with it leaking and sinking and only a few survivors or something - to get the blood racing.
It's entertaining, don't get me wrong - there's a lot of tough guys acting tough. But the suspense and death count are lower. And the treacherous women who usually appear in Maclean novels are missed.
Still there is fine work from the (all male) cast, which also includes Jim Brown and Australia's Murray Rose.
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