Gray Lady Down
| Gray Lady Down | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for Gray Lady Down | |
| Directed by | David Greene |
| Produced by | Walter Mirisch |
| Written by |
David Lavallee (novel) Frank P. Rosenberg James Whittaker Howard Sackler |
| Starring |
Charlton Heston David Carradine Stacy Keach Ned Beatty Stephen McHattie Ronny Cox Dorian Harewood |
| Music by | Jerry Fielding |
| Cinematography | Stevan Larner |
| Edited by | Robert Swink |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 111 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Gray Lady Down is a 1978 American submarine disaster film by Universal Studios starring Charlton Heston, David Carradine, Stacy Keach, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox and Rosemary Forsyth, and includes the feature film debut of Christopher Reeve. It is based on David Lavallee's 1971 novel Event 1000.
Plot
Aging, respected commander 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 Norweigian freighter in route to New York in heavy fog, and sinks to a depth of 1,450 feet (442 meters) on a canyon ledge above the ocean floor. A United States Navy rescue force, commanded by Captain 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 (DSRV) rescue submarine to complete its work.
A small experimental submersible, Snark, is brought in to assist with the rescue. Snark is very capable, but run by a nonconformist U.S. Navy officer misfit, Captain 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 forces both the Neptune and the Snark from the ledge and to the bottom of the sea. 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.
Production
Ronny Cox plays Neptune's executive officer, scheduled to take over command from Charlton Heston's character; Ned Beatty plays Snark's second crewman; and Christopher Reeve appears in his first film role.
Even though the submarine depicted in the movie is a Skate-class submarine, in the opening credits, footage of the real-life submarine USS Trout (SS-566) was filmed specifically for Gray Lady Down, depicting the fictional USS Neptune. Gray Lady Down also re-used submarine special-effect footage and the large-scale submarine model originally used to portray the fictional submarine USS Tigerfish in the 1968 movie Ice Station Zebra to depict USS Neptune. The US Navy's USS Cayuga (LST-1186) is also featured in the film as the rescue ship USS Cayuga. The USS Pigeon (ASR-21) and her DSRV were prominently featured in the movie.
Cast
- Charlton Heston as Captain Paul Blanchard
- David Carradine as Captain Gates
- Stacy Keach as Captain Bennett
- Ned Beatty as Mickey
- Stephen McHattie as Murphy
- Ronny Cox as Commander Samuelson
- Dorian Harewood as Fowler
- Rosemary Forsyth as Vickie
- Hilly Hicks as Page
- Charles Cioffi as Admiral Barnes
- Michael O'Keefe as Harris
- Charles Robinson as McAllister
- Christopher Reeve as Phillips
- Melendy Britt as Liz
- David Wilson as Hanson
- Robert Symonds as Secretary Of Navy