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In no particular order, here are some u-boat movies which are, in my estimation, worth seeing. My reasons for liking a particular film in this list is probably incidental to the fact that it’s set in a submarine. In reality, it’s the drama and tension created by character interaction that’s the real draw in any superior sub movie; there’s only so much of it that can come from the same situational drama that had already become cliched by the 1950s: small landing parties in inflatable life rafts, mechanical and/or battery failure, depth charge avoidance, torpedo runs, limited number of torpedoes, limited air supply, and so on. See the notes for further elaboration on each title.

• Das Boot

  Arguably the best sub movie ever made.

• The Hunt for Red October

  Alec Baldwin and Sean Connery head all-star cast in Cold War thriller based on the Tom Clancy book... what's not to love?

• Crimson Tide

  Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman butting heads aboard a sub? Sign me on!

• K-19: The Widowmaker

  Engaging historical thriller set aboard a Soviet sub. Notable for being helmed by Kathryn Bigelow, with solid performances from Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson.

• Black Sea

  Thriller about a ragtag band of salvagers looking to recover gold from a sunken WWII-era u-boat; think Treasure of the Sierra Madre set underwater.

• Destination Tokyo

  Cary Grant and John Garfield in the grandaddy of all u-boat movies — a taut tale set in the early days of US operations in the Pacific during WWII.

• Crash Dive

  (See my review of this picture.)

• Run Silent, Run Deep

  Robert Wise directs Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster in another one of the WWII u-boat greats.

• Up Periscope

  James Garner as Navy Lt. assigned to Edmond O’Brien’s sub for transport to solo reconnaissance mission on Japanese island.

• Torpedo Run

  Glenn Ford, Ernest Borgnine, and Dean Jones in plodding tale of revenge — Ford stars as the skipper wrestling demons (on a previous mission, he had to blow up a Japanese transport that carried his captive family).

...plus 19 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

In no particular order, a list of films worth looking at that feature Borgnine in the cast. (Notes and updates will be added as I get to more films.)

• Marty

  Borgnine was never better, and won a richly deserved Oscar for his portrayal of the titular Bronxite.

• From Here to Eternity

  Borgnine gives a truly memorable performance as the sadistic Sgt. 'Fatso' Judson.

• Emperor of the North

  Borgnine shines as yet another sadistic heavy: Shack, a train conductor hellbent on catching hoboes hopping his freight, who then relishes beating them to death.

• Bad Day at Black Rock

  Borgnine is one of Robert Ryan's small-town henchmen in this contemporary revisionist western shot in CinemaScope. A scathing indictment of racism, bigotry, and small-mindedness; this should definitely be seen.

• The Wild Bunch

  Peckinpaw’s swan song to the Great American Western

• The Catered Affair

  Borgnine, playing opposite Bette Davis, is a NYC hack and the family patriarch in this bit of 1950s kitchen sink cinema adapted by Gore Vidal from the play by Paddy Chayefsky. Definitely worth a look.

• The Dirty Dozen
• The Vikings
• The Poseidon Adventure
• The Flight of the Phoenix

...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Movies focused, more or less, on thieves, grifters, con artists, and swindlers, that I have seen (some many times over) and enjoyed to some degree.

• The Hustler
• The Sting
• The Grifters
• Paper Moon
• Double Indemnity
• Gambit
• The Lady Eve
• The Color of Money
• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Nightmare Alley

...plus 34 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

The Duke appeared in something like 171 movies (in 20 of those as an extra or as a bit player); his character dies in 12. What follows is the breakdown and it should be completely obvious that it contains spoilers.

☠

On-Screen Deaths
7 deaths seen by the audience, with movies listed in reverse chronological order

1. The Shootist (1976) — dies shortly after he’s wounded in a saloon gunfight.

2. The Cowboys (1972) — dies shot up by Bruce Dern’s character.

3. The Alamo (1960) — as Davy Crocket, and after being lanced by a Mexican soldier, he dies in an explosion when he sets off the charges.

4. Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) — as he makes his way up Mount Suribachi, he’s killed by a sniper.

5. Wake of the Red Witch (1948) — drowns after he’s trapped by falling debris while retrieving gold from a sunken ship.

6. The Fighting Seabees (1944) — shot by a Japanese soldier, then the vehicle he’s driving smashes into an oil tank and explodes.

7. Reap the Wild Wind (1942) — killed by a giant squid.

☠

Offstage Deaths
5 deaths not actually seen by the audience, with movies listed in reverse chronological order

1. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962) — his character is dead at the beginning of the film, which is told in flashback by James Stewart’s character, who is attending his funeral.

2. The Sea Chase (1955) — presumed dead; Lana Turner and Wayne are on a ship when it sinks, but the possibility that the characters survived is left open.

3. The Deceiver (1933) — [not currently listed at Letterboxd] Ian Keith's character dies, but the corpse is played by John Wayne.

4. Central Airport (1933) — bit part as the co-pilot of an aircraft that crashes into the ocean.

5. Noah's Ark (1928) — [as an uncredited extra] drowned in the great flood.

☠

• The Shootist
• The Cowboys
• The Alamo
• Sands of Iwo Jima
• Wake of the Red Witch
• The Fighting Seabees
• Reap the Wild Wind
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
• The Sea Chase
• Central Airport

...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Films set in another age, with special emphasis on: evocative (and immersive) of the era portrayed a/o a lavishly produced costumer, in no particular order.

Purposely excluded: Westerns and War films

• The Duellists
• The Virgin Spring
• Paper Moon
• A Man for All Seasons
• Ben-Hur
• Barry Lyndon
• Anne of the Thousand Days
• Amadeus
• The Elephant Man
• Sense and Sensibility

...plus 25 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Primarily known as the director of The Empire Strikes Back, Irvin Kershner was a versatile filmmaker who directed a number of quirky films. Here are 5 that I really dig.

• Never Say Never Again

  A non-Broccoli remake of Thunderball, the return of Connery as Bond, with a fine performance fom Klaus Maria Brandauer, giving us one of the best Bond villains ever. Other casting choices make this one to see: Edward Fox as M, Max von Sydow as Blofeld, and Bernie Casey becomes the sixth actor to play CIA agent Felix Leiter.

• Eyes of Laura Mars

  Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones in a thriller about a photographer who suddenly finds herself able to see through the eyes of a serial killer as the crimes are being committed.

• The Return of a Man Called Horse

  A Man Called Horse is swell, and here’s the sequel — possibly even better.

• The Flim-Flam Man

  Irrepressible con artist George C. Scott teaches army deserter Michael Sarrazin the finer points of the grift.

• A Fine Madness

  Sean Connery and Joanne Woodward in an oddball film about a frustrated poet with a huge libido and charm that women seem to find irresistible.

In alphabetical order (and by no means exhaustive), here's my THE list recommendations. The primary criterion is that the title be The + [single word]. And another thing: the film must be worthwhile. I've seen them all and have my reasons for endorsing them; while some fare better than others, there's not a real stinker in the bunch.

• The Artist
• The Beguiled
• The Birds
• The Bravados
• The Cameraman
• The Candidate
• The Collector
• The Comancheros
• The Conversation
• The Cowboys

...plus 71 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Not exhuastive. Schüfftan also worked uncredited on many films.

• Chappaqua
• The Doctor Speaks Out
• Three Rooms in Manhattan
• The Big Scare
• Lilith
• The Virgins
• Captain Sindbad
• Something Wild
• The Hustler
• Eyes Without a Face

...plus 33 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A dozen of Duke’s best.

1. The Searchers
2. The Quiet Man
3. Red River
4. True Grit
5. Rio Bravo
6. Stagecoach
7. They Were Expendable
8. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
9. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
10. Fort Apache

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Tennyson’s poem, first published in 1864, is the tale of a fisherman who becomes a merchant seaman to provide for his wife and children, only to be shipwrecked and presumed dead for more than 10 years. After his rescue from a desert island, he returns home to find his wife married to another man.

Over the years, its theme has been used and reused in various movies.

• Enoch Arden: Part I
• Enoch Arden: Part II
• Enoch Arden
• Too Many Husbands
• My Favorite Wife
• Tomorrow Is Forever
• Three for the Show
• Move Over, Darling

Sometimes an actor’s portrayal of a character—either from history or fiction—is so definitive that later, unrelated productions seek them out to reprise the role. This list attempts to identify as many films as possible where this is the case. I’ve excluded films that are outright sequels in a series (far too obvious and easy), but otherwise the criteria that apply are pretty open-ended.

An example of this: Bette Davis first played Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1939 in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, and later reprised the role in The Virgin Queen in 1955. (The first film was a Warner Bros. production, the second was 20th Century Fox.)

Cameos are acceptable, and so are remakes (which aren't really sequels).

Cameo example: James Cagney played George M. Cohan in the Oscar-winning Yankee Doodle Dandy and 13 years later makes a cameo appearance as Cohan in the Bob Hope film The Seven Little Foys.

Remake example: Ingrid Bergman played Anita Hoffman in both the original Swedish Intermezzo (1936) and the US remake, Intermezzo (1939).

While the list is not exhaustive, anything missing is likely to be a bit tricky, or will slide in on a technicality. Speaking of technicalities, I’ve allowed “an actor appearing as a fictionalized version of himself” in the case of Bill Murray because, well, Bill Murray, and because it’s very clear that these are fictional portrayals—so much so that in one of these roles his character actually dies.

There are 41 films here to start with, and I’m hard-pressed to think of more ATM.

If you have any to add, let me know.

☺

• The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

  Bette Davis as Queen Elizabeth I of England

• The Virgin Queen

  Bette Davis reprises role of Queen Elizabeth I of England

• Yankee Doodle Dandy

  James Cagney as George M. Cohan

• The Seven Little Foys

  In a cameo, James Cagney reprises role as George M. Cohan

• In Harm's Way

  Henry Fonda as iral Chester Nimitz

• Midway

  Henry Fonda reprises role as iral Chester Nimitz

• Intermezzo

  Ingrid Bergman as Anita Hoffman in Swedish original.

• Intermezzo: A Love Story

  Ingrid Bergman reprises role of Anita Hoffman in US remake.

• The President's Lady

  Charlton Heston as Andrew Jackson

• The Buccaneer

  Heston reprises role of Andrew Jackson

...plus 31 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.