''Gray Lady Down'' is a 1978 American
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
disaster film
A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, military/terrorist attacks or global catastrophes such as ...
directed by
David Greene and starring
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist.
As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten C ...
,
David Carradine
David Carradine ( ; born John Arthur Carradine Jr.; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor best known for playing martial arts roles. He is perhaps best known as the star of the 1970s television series ''Kung Fu'', playi ...
,
Stacy Keach
Walter Stacy Keach Jr. (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor and narrator. He has played mainly dramatic roles throughout his career, often in law enforcement or as a private detective. His most prominent role was as Mickey Spillane's fictiona ...
,
Ned Beatty
Ned Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor and comedian. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 films. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in ...
,
Ronny Cox
Daniel Ronald Cox (born July 23, 1938) is an American actor, singer and songwriter. His best-known roles include Drew Ballinger in ''Deliverance'' (1972), George Apple in ''Apple's Way'' (1974–75), Ozark Bule in '' Bound for Glory'' (1976), Co ...
and
Rosemary Forsyth
Rosemary Forsyth is a Canadian-born American actress most notable for her role as Bronwyn opposite Charlton Heston in ''The War Lord'' in 1965.
Early years
Forsyth was born in Montreal, Quebec. Her father, David Forsyth, was Scots-Canadian; ...
, and includes the feature film debut of
Christopher Reeve
Christopher D'Olier Reeve (September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004) was an American actor, best known for playing the title character in the film ''Superman'' (1978) and three sequels.
Born in New York City and raised in Princeton, New Jersey, ...
. It is based on David Lavallee's 1971 novel ''Event 1000''.
Plot
Aging, respected Captain Paul Blanchard (Heston) is on his final
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
tour before promotion to command of a submarine squadron (
COMSUBRON). Surfaced and returning to port, the submarine, USS ''Neptune'', is struck by a Norwegian freighter en route to New York in heavy fog. With the engine room flooded and its main propulsion disabled, the ''Neptune'' sinks to a depth of 1,450 feet (442 meters or approx. 241.6
fathom
A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an International Standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally-accepted non-SI unit. Hi ...
s) on a
canyon
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...
ledge above the ocean floor. A
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
rescue force, commanded by Captain Hal Bennett (Keach), arrives on the scene, but ''Neptune'' is subsequently rolled by a gravity slide to a greater angle that does not allow the Navy's
Deep-submergence rescue vehicle
A deep-submergence rescue vehicle (DSRV) is a type of deep-submergence vehicle used for rescue of downed submarines and clandestine missions. While DSRV is the term most often used by the United States Navy, other nations have different designa ...
(DSRV) to complete its work. As technical malfunctions increase, the submarine's sections get flooded and men die, crewmen have nervous breakdowns and tensions grow between the commanding officers.
A small experimental submersible, ''Snark'', is brought in to assist with the rescue. ''Snark'' is very capable, but run by a U.S. Navy officer misfit, Captain Don Gates (Carradine). The tiny submersible is the only hope for a rescue. Ultimately, the surviving members of the crew are rescued by the DSRV, thanks to Gates sacrificing himself by using the ''Snark'' to jam the ''Neptune'' in place as another gravity slide begins while the rescue is taking place. Moments later the gravity slide pushes the ''Neptune'' and the ''Snark'' off the ledge and into the
ocean's abyss. The film ends with a somber Blanchard climbing out of the DSRV and being welcomed aboard the rescue ship
USS ''Pigeon'' by Bennett and his officers.
Cast
*
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist.
As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten C ...
as Captain Paul Blanchard
*
David Carradine
David Carradine ( ; born John Arthur Carradine Jr.; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor best known for playing martial arts roles. He is perhaps best known as the star of the 1970s television series ''Kung Fu'', playi ...
as Captain Don Gates
*
Stacy Keach
Walter Stacy Keach Jr. (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor and narrator. He has played mainly dramatic roles throughout his career, often in law enforcement or as a private detective. His most prominent role was as Mickey Spillane's fictiona ...
as Captain Hal Bennett
*
Ned Beatty
Ned Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor and comedian. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 films. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in ...
as Mickey
*
Stephen McHattie
Stephen McHattie Smith (born February 3, 1946)Other sources cite 1945, 1947, and 1948. is a Canadian actor. Since beginning his professional career in 1970, he has amassed over 200 film and television credits. He won the Genie Award for Best Sup ...
as Lieutenant Danny Murphy
*
Ronny Cox
Daniel Ronald Cox (born July 23, 1938) is an American actor, singer and songwriter. His best-known roles include Drew Ballinger in ''Deliverance'' (1972), George Apple in ''Apple's Way'' (1974–75), Ozark Bule in '' Bound for Glory'' (1976), Co ...
as Commander David Samuelson
*
Dorian Harewood
Dorian Harewood (born August 6, 1950) is an American actor, best known for playing Jesse Owens in ''The Jesse Owens Story'' (1984), Paul Strobber on '' Strike Force'' (1981–1982), and Rev. Morgan Hamilton in '' 7th Heaven'' (1996–2003).
Ea ...
as Lieutenant Fowler
*
Rosemary Forsyth
Rosemary Forsyth is a Canadian-born American actress most notable for her role as Bronwyn opposite Charlton Heston in ''The War Lord'' in 1965.
Early years
Forsyth was born in Montreal, Quebec. Her father, David Forsyth, was Scots-Canadian; ...
as Vickie Blanchard
*
Hilly Hicks
Hilly Gene Hicks Sr. is an American character actor.
Early life
Hicks was born in Los Angeles, California.
Biography
The role for which Hicks is perhaps best known is Lewis Harvey (the younger son of Alex Haley's second great-grandfather Chic ...
as HM3 Page
*
Charles Cioffi
Charles M. Cioffi (born October 31, 1935) is an American film and television actor best known as Lt. Matt Reardon in ''Get Christie Love!'' opposite co-star Teresa Graves.
Born in New York City, he attended Michigan State University, where he ...
as Vice Admiral Michael Barnes
*
William Jordan as Waters
*Jack Rader as Chief Harkness
*
Michael O'Keefe
Michael O'Keefe (born Raymond Peter O'Keefe, Jr.; April 24, 1955) is an American actor, known for his roles as Danny Noonan in ''Caddyshack'', Ben Meechum in ''The Great Santini,'' for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Bes ...
as RM2 Harris
*
Charlie Robinson as McAllister
*
Christopher Reeve
Christopher D'Olier Reeve (September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004) was an American actor, best known for playing the title character in the film ''Superman'' (1978) and three sequels.
Born in New York City and raised in Princeton, New Jersey, ...
as Lieutenant (JG) Phillips
*
Melendy Britt
Melendy Britt (born October 31, 1943) is an American actress who has been active in television and voice acting since the 1970s.
Career
Britt's most notable animated work is for Filmation, voicing characters such as She-Ra, and the second a ...
as Liz Bennett
*Lawrason Driscoll as Lieutenant Bloom
*David Wilson as SK1 Hanson
*
Robert Symonds
Robert Symonds (December 1, 1926 – August 23, 2007) was an American actor. He was the associate director of the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center from 1965 through 1972.
Career
His stage credits with the Lincoln Center include producti ...
as Secretary of Navy
*
Ted Gehring
Theodore Edwin Gehring Jr. (April 6, 1929 – September 28, 2000) was an American film and television actor. He is known for playing the recurring role as "Charlie" on 16 episodes of the American sitcom television series '' Alice''.
Life and ca ...
as Admiral at Pentagon Meeting
*
Charles Cyphers
Charles Cyphers (born July 28, 1939) is an American actor who is known in the horror movie community for his work in the films of John Carpenter, especially his role as Sheriff Leigh Brackett in Carpenter's 1978 movie ''Halloween''. He reprised ...
as Larson
*William Bryant as Admiral at Pentagon Meeting
*Jeffrey Druce as Neptune Executive Officer
*James Davidson as Lt. Commander at SACLANT
*David Clennon as Neptune Crewmember
*
Michael Cavanaugh as P03 Peña (uncredited)
*Bob Harks as Radio Operator (uncredited)
*
Robert Ito
Robert Ito (born July 2, 1931) is a Canadian actor of Japanese ancestry. He is known for his television and film work, including the roles of Sam Fujiyama on the 1976–83 NBC series ''Quincy, M.E.'' and Larry Mishima on the 1980s CBS primetime s ...
as Jim, Lieutenant at SACLANT (uncredited)
*Sandra De Bruin as Irma Barnes (uncredited)
*John Stuart West as Submariner (uncredited)
Production
Even though the submarine depicted in the movie is a
''Skate''-class submarine, in the opening credits, footage of the real-life submarine was filmed specifically for ''Gray Lady Down'', depicting the fictional USS ''Neptune''. ''Gray Lady Down'' also re-used submarine special-effects footage and the large-scale submarine model originally used to portray the fictional submarine USS ''Tigerfish'' in the 1968 movie ''
Ice Station Zebra
''Ice Station Zebra'' is a 1968 American espionage thriller film directed by John Sturges and starring Rock Hudson, Patrick McGoohan, Ernest Borgnine, and Jim Brown. The screenplay is by Alistair MacLean, Douglas Heyes, Harry Julian Fink, and W ...
'' to depict USS ''Neptune''. The US Navy's
USS ''Cayuga'' (LST-1186) appeared in the film as the fictional USS ''Nassau''. The and her DSRV were prominently featured in the movie.
See also
*''
A Fall of Moondust
''A Fall of Moondust'' is a hard science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke, first published in 1961. It was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novel, and was the first science fiction novel selected to become a ''Reader's D ...
'', 1961 science-fiction novel about vehicle trapped under lunar surface with similar plot elements
External links
*
*
*
{{David Greene
1978 films
1970s disaster films
1978 action films
American action films
American disaster films
1970s English-language films
Films about the United States Navy
Films based on American novels
Films directed by David Greene
Films produced by Walter Mirisch
Films scored by Jerry Fielding
Submarine films
Universal Pictures films
1970s American films