''Gray Lady Down'' is a 1978 American submarine disaster film directed by David Greene and starring Charlton Heston,

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, Ned Beatty,

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and

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, and includes the feature film debut of

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. It is based on David Lavallee's 1971 novel ''Event 1000''.

Plot

Aging, respected Captain Paul Blanchard (Heston) is on his final submarine 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 fathoms) on a canyon 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 design ...

(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 as Captain Paul Blanchard *

as Captain Don Gates *

as Captain Hal Bennett * Ned Beatty as Mickey *

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as Lieutenant Danny Murphy *

as Commander David Samuelson *

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as Lieutenant Fowler *

as Vickie Blanchard *

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as HM3 Page * Charles Cioffi as Vice Admiral Michael Barnes * William Jordan as Waters *Jack Rader as Chief Harkness *

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as RM2 Harris * Charlie Robinson as McAllister *

as Lieutenant (JG) Phillips *

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as Liz Bennett *Lawrason Driscoll as Lieutenant Bloom *David Wilson as SK1 Hanson *

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as Secretary of Navy * Ted Gehring as Admiral at Pentagon Meeting * Charles Cyphers 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) *

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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 ''

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'' 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.

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

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

External links