10 Best Submarine Movies You Probably Haven't Seen
7. Destination Tokyo (1943)
The directorial debut of Delmer Daves, Destination Tokyo is seen as the spiritual predecessor to films like U-571 and Das Boot. The submarine USS Copperfin, under the command of Captain Cassidy is instructed to travel to Tokyo and place a spy ashore, in order to gather intelligence for the first bombing raid over the Japanese capital. Released at the heights of World War Two, the film often feels at times like a propaganda reel, intended to galvanise the spirits of the American public who would be coming to see the movie in theatres.
Destination Tokyo proves to be a sensationally exciting film, one unmistakably drawn down the lines of good and evil that US audiences were becoming familiar with at the time. According to his autobiography, Destination Tokyo motivated Ronald Reagan to star in a later submarine adventure, Hellcats of the Navy (1957), some 24 years before he became President of the United States.
The film also encouraged a young Tony Curtis to join the navy in 1943, inspired by Grant's role as the submarine commander. Grant and Curtis would later star together in another classic submarine adventure, albeit one that differed in outlook compared to this patriotic thriller.