Like his earlier 'The Satan Bug' ( 1964 ), John Sturges' 'Ice Station Zebra' is based on a novel by Alistair Maclean. Rock Hudson is 'Ferraday', commander of U.S.S. submarine Tigerfish, assigned to go to Drift Ice Station Zebra, a British weather station at the North Pole. Something has gone wrong; distress messages are being sent, but no-one knows why. Air rescue is impossible due to the severity of the weather. But there is more to the mission than simply rescuing people - there is another reason, one which could have terrible repercussions for the entire world. Ferraday is given an passenger - mysterious British secret agent 'David Jones' ( Patrick McGoohan ). Jones is an arrogant character who sleeps with a gun under his pillow and won't tell the Captain what is really going on. After picking up Russian defector 'Boris Vaslov' ( Ernest Borgnine ) and 'Captain Anders ) things start to go wrong. The submarine is almost sunk when one of the torpedo tubes is opened. Sabotage? Jones suspects Anders...
It all sounds typically Maclean - a dangerous mission endangered by a traitor. Douglas Heyes and Harry Julian Fink's script adds a new element - superpower confrontation. The film opens with radar dishes tracking a Russian spy satellite as it comes down near the North Pole ( it was supposed to have landed in Siberia, but one of the retro rockets failed ). The camera it contains took more pictures than it should have, not only of American missile bases but Russian ones too.
The main problem with this is that it promises more adventure than it delivers. The first ten or so minutes give the impression it is going to be fantastic. Shot in Cinerama and Super Panavision, with bombastic Michel Legrand music, it looks and sounds sensational. Then the sub sets off from Scotland, and the pace grinds to a halt. Nothing much happens until the aforementioned sabotage attempt. What keeps the picture from descending into total boredom is Patrick McGoohan. He acts everyone - Hudson in particular - off the screen. It is surprising he did not become a major star on the back of this. The resemblance between 'Jones' and 'John Drake' from 'Danger Man' is as strong as the one between 'Drake' and 'Number Six'. He used the alias 'Smith' in 'The Prisoner', so why not Jones? It is not difficult to see 'Zebra' as the missing link between the two shows. After leaving Japan at the end of 'Shinda Shima', Drake is given a new identity and sent to the North Pole. Failing to correctly identify the traitor, he is ashamed of himself, goes back to London, and resigns. Its a plausible theory.
There is some action towards the end, but is over all too quickly and the film does not warrant its two-hour plus running time. I never saw it in a cinema alas. B.B.C.-1 premiered it on Christmas Eve in 1973. The snowy scenes made it seem perfect festive viewing.
It all sounds typically Maclean - a dangerous mission endangered by a traitor. Douglas Heyes and Harry Julian Fink's script adds a new element - superpower confrontation. The film opens with radar dishes tracking a Russian spy satellite as it comes down near the North Pole ( it was supposed to have landed in Siberia, but one of the retro rockets failed ). The camera it contains took more pictures than it should have, not only of American missile bases but Russian ones too.
The main problem with this is that it promises more adventure than it delivers. The first ten or so minutes give the impression it is going to be fantastic. Shot in Cinerama and Super Panavision, with bombastic Michel Legrand music, it looks and sounds sensational. Then the sub sets off from Scotland, and the pace grinds to a halt. Nothing much happens until the aforementioned sabotage attempt. What keeps the picture from descending into total boredom is Patrick McGoohan. He acts everyone - Hudson in particular - off the screen. It is surprising he did not become a major star on the back of this. The resemblance between 'Jones' and 'John Drake' from 'Danger Man' is as strong as the one between 'Drake' and 'Number Six'. He used the alias 'Smith' in 'The Prisoner', so why not Jones? It is not difficult to see 'Zebra' as the missing link between the two shows. After leaving Japan at the end of 'Shinda Shima', Drake is given a new identity and sent to the North Pole. Failing to correctly identify the traitor, he is ashamed of himself, goes back to London, and resigns. Its a plausible theory.
There is some action towards the end, but is over all too quickly and the film does not warrant its two-hour plus running time. I never saw it in a cinema alas. B.B.C.-1 premiered it on Christmas Eve in 1973. The snowy scenes made it seem perfect festive viewing.