Ice Station Zebra (1968)

Director:

John Sturges

Writers:

Alistair MacLean (novel)
Douglas Heyes (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 October 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

It's a race for the secret ... or TOTAL DESTRUCTION

Plot:

Commander James Ferraday, USN, has new orders: get David Jones, a British civilian, Captain Anders, a tough Marine with a platoon of troops...

Plot Keywords:

Marine | Ice | Spy | Submarine | Nuclear

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Rock Hudson	...	Cdr. James Ferraday
Ernest Borgnine	...	Boris Vaslov
Patrick McGoohan	...	David Jones
Jim Brown	...	Capt. Leslie Anders
Tony Bill	...	Lt. Russell Walker
Lloyd Nolan	...	Admiral Garvey
Alf Kjellin	...	Col. Ostrovsky
Gerald S. O'Loughlin	...	Lt. Cdr. Bob Raeburn
Ted Hartley	...	Lt. Jonathan Hansen
Murray Rose	...	Lt. George Mills
Ron Masak	...	Paul Zabrinczski
Sherwood Price	...	Lt. Edgar Hackett
Lee Stanley	...	Lt. Mitgang
Joseph Bernard	...	Dr. Jack Benning
John Orchard	...	Survivor

Also Known As:

Base artica Zebra (Italy) [it]
Destination zebra: Station polaire (Canada: French title) [fr]
Destination: Zebra, station polaire (France) [fr]
Eisstation Zebra (West Germany) [de]
Estación polar Cebra (Spain) [es]
Estación polar Zebra (Spain) (DVD title) [es]
Jääasema Zebra (Finland) [fi]
Kutup harekâti (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Ledena stanica Zebra (Serbia) [sr]
Missão no Árctico (Portugal) [pt]
Mystiki vasis Zebra (Greece) [el]
Polarstation Zebra svarar ej (Sweden) [sv]
S.O.S. nordpolen (Denmark) [da]
Zebra station polaire (Canada: French title) [fr]

Runtime:

148 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track

Certification:

Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:G (Manitoba) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) (video rating) (1991) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Australia:PG | USA:TV-PG | West Germany:12 (f) | Brazil:Livre | Netherlands:6 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:11 | Norway:12 (1970) | Sweden:11 | USA:G | Singapore:PG | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Filmways Pictures

Trivia:

In the era before VCRs, Howard Hughes would call the Las Vegas TV station he owned and order them to run a particular movie. Hughes so loved this that it aired on his Las Vegas station over 100 times.

Goofs:

Continuity: After the sub spends several minutes at an impossible angle, the dishes in the wardroom are neatly on the shelves.

Quotes:

Cmdr. Ferraday: There's one thing that cannot happen on board a submarine by accident... is both ends of a torpedo tube open to the sea at the same time!
David Jones: You cross-connect the hydraulic manifold to the outside door mechanism so that the indicator reads shut when the door is actually open. The same sort of electrical cross on these two panels, and the open position reads green when it should flash red. Then you plug up the inlet to the test cock with chewing gum, sealing wax, anything... just so that it shows a dribble. And then you open the tube, and Good Night.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Big Bang Theory: The Monopolar Expedition (#2.23)" (2009)

A Ripping Good Cold War Yarn

This movie is a FAR better and more believable story than any of the cold-war James Bond pictures of the same period. All of the actors involved here are at the top of their game, especially Rock Hudson, who portrays a nuclear submarine captain as if he was born to it.

A very believable story, well acted, with lots of action sequences interspersed with tightly-delivered dialog. Ice Station Zebra moves along at a crisp pace, and builds to a gripping climax.

This movie is NOT to be missed if you like nuclear submarines, cold-war epics, or just well-acted and written movies in general.