Ice Station Zebra (1968) - Turner Classic Movies

Ice Station Zebra


2h 28m 1968
Ice Station Zebra

Brief Synopsis

A sub commander on a perilous mission must ferret out a Soviet agent on his ship.

Film Details

MPAA Rating
Genre
Adventure
Action
Adaptation
Drama
Spy
Thriller
Release Date
Jan 1968
Premiere Information
Los Angeles opening: 23 Oct 1968
Production Company
Filmways, Inc.
Distribution Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Ice Station Zebra by Alistair MacLean (London, 1963).

Technical Specs

Duration
2h 28m
Sound
70 mm 6-Track
Color
Color (Metrocolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.20 : 1

Synopsis

U. S. Navy Comdr. James Ferraday, stationed in Scotland, receives orders from Admiral Garvey to take his nuclear submarine to a British North Pole weather station called Ice Station Zebra. Ferraday's mission, which he does not yet know, is to recover a capsule from a grounded Russian space satellite containing reconnaissance photographs of all U. S. and Russian missile sites. Also aboard the sub are two British agents, David Jones and Boris Vaslov, the latter a communist defector, and two U. S. Marine officers, Lieut. Russell Walker and Capt. Leslie Anders. En route, the vessel is sabotaged and almost exceeds its implosion depth before the crew can repair the damage and regain normal depth. Ferraday's suspicions that Vaslov is responsible are rejected by Jones, who vouches for his associate's loyalty and, instead, accuses Anders of sabotage. Once the sub reaches Ice Station Zebra, a search party finds only fire-gutted buildings and the frozen corpses of the base personnel. As the search for the capsule begins, Ferraday learns from the sub's radar that Russian aircraft are approaching. Jones is knocked unconscious and recovers to find Anders and Vaslov fighting; assuming that Anders is the spy, Jones kills him. Later, as the capsule is recovered, Russian paratroops under the command of Colonel Ostrovsky land in the area. Vaslov now reveals his traitorous nature by attempting to hand the capsule over to the Russians, but Jones hurls Vaslov against an iceblock and strangles him. Though Ferraday is obliged to give up the capsule, he destroys it as the Russians are lifting it by recovery aircraft. With the photographs lost to both sides, Ferraday and Ostrovsky agree that the incident shall be publicized as an example of the friendly cooperation between two great nations.

Photo Collections

Ice Station Zebra - Movie Posters
Here are a few movie posters from Ice Station Zebra (1968), starring Rock Hudson, Jim Brown, Ernest Borgnine, and Patrick McGoohan.

Videos

Movie Clip

Ice Station Zebra (1968) -- (Movie Clip) My First Name Is Captain At a Scottish naval base, American sub commander Ferraday (Rock Hudson) and crew (Ted Hartley, Sherwood Price) receive smug British agent Jones (Patrick McGoohan) who’s not explaining his mission, relating to a polar research outpost, in Ice Station Zebra, 1968, from an Alistair MacLean novel.
Ice Station Zebra (1968) -- (Movie Clip) If You Must Have A Suspect British spy Jones (Patrick McGoohan), Russian defector Vaslov (Ernest Borgnine) and Commander Ferraday (Rock Hudson) discuss a submarine sabotage attempt in Ice Station Zebra, 1968, from the Alistair MacLean novel.
Ice Station Zebra (1968) -- (Movie Clip) Now Now, Comrade! Commander Ferraday (Rock Hudson) surfaces to pick up Russian defector Vaslov (Ernest Borgnine), warmly greeted by British spy Jones (Patrick McGoohan) in John Sturges' Ice Station Zebra, 1968, from the Alistair MacLean novel.
Ice Station Zebra (1968) -- (Movie Clip) I Measure An Officer's Weakness Commander Ferraday (Rock Hudson) has just met tough Marine captain Anders (Jim Brown), brought aboard his sub to command an untested combat team, taking over for junior Lt. Walker (Tony Bill), in writer Alistair MacLean’s Cold War espionage thriller Ice Station Zebra, 1968.
Ice Station Zebra (1968) -- (Movie Clip) Opening Credits Impressive, symphonic and spacey opening credit sequence, NASA guys monitoring the Arctic landing of a Russian capsule, from director John Sturges' Ice Station Zebra, 1968, starring Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine and Patrick McGoohan, from the Alistair MacLean novel.

Trailer

Hosted Intro

Film Details

MPAA Rating
Genre
Adventure
Action
Adaptation
Drama
Spy
Thriller
Release Date
Jan 1968
Premiere Information
Los Angeles opening: 23 Oct 1968
Production Company
Filmways, Inc.
Distribution Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Ice Station Zebra by Alistair MacLean (London, 1963).

Technical Specs

Duration
2h 28m
Sound
70 mm 6-Track
Color
Color (Metrocolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.20 : 1

Award Nominations

Best Cinematography

1968

Best Special Effects

1969

Articles

Ice Station Zebra - Ice Station Zebra


Ice Station Zebra (1968) is a nifty thriller of spies, submarines and saboteurs that captivated no less a personage than Howard Hughes, who reportedly watched it hundreds of times. You certainly won't regret watching it once and TCM has spared you the expense of a personal screening room. Director John Carpenter also picked it as one of his guilty pleasures stating, "Why do I love this movie so much?"

The film kicks off with a special mission for a submarine captained by Rock Hudson. He's sent to a British weather station at the North Pole in response to garbled and faint distress calls but Hudson barely suspects the real reason: A Soviet satellite with photos of numerous missile sites crashed to Earth somewhere in the station's vicinity. Until the sub's arrival, Hudson has his hands full with the bickering suspicions of a Soviet defector (Ernest Borgnine from The Wild Bunch, 1969), a U.S. officer (Jim Brown, former Cleveland Browns fullback) and a British intelligence agent (Patrick McGoohan of the cult classic The Prisoner). Their suspicions turn out to be accurate when somebody sabotages the submarine but even more surprises await them at the weather station.

In 1963, Alistair MacLean's novel Ice Station Zebra was the latest of his popular string of smart thrillers. The rights were snapped up the following year by producer Martin Ransohoff hoping to capitalize on the success of another MacLean adaptation The Guns of Navarone (1961). Filming was set to begin in April 1965 with Gregory Peck playing the sub captain and David Niven, Edmond O'Brien and George Segal in the other key roles. But scheduling conflicts and an objection from the Department of Defense that the film incorrectly portrayed military life derailed production. A new script was written but due to conflicts the original cast was replaced when shooting finally began in Spring 1967. It lasted for nineteen weeks ending that October. The film was released in fall of 1968 and turned out to be a hit that gave a needed boost to Rock Hudson's career. It also received two Oscar® nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Special Effects. Somewhere along the line W.R. Burnett--who wrote the novels Little Caesar (1930) and High Sierra (1941)--worked on the screenplay uncredited. Tony Bill (who played Lt. Walker) later started a busy career as a director with My Bodyguard (1980).

Director: John Sturges
Producer: James C. Pratt, Martin Ransohoff
Screenplay: Douglas Heyes
Cinematography: Daniel L. Fapp
Editor: Ferris Webster
Art Direction: George W. Davis, Addison Hehr
Music: Michel Legrand
Cast: Rock Hudson (Cdr. James Ferraday), Ernest Borgnine (Boris Vaslov), Patrick McGoohan (David Jones), Jim Brown (Capt. Leslie Anders), Tony Bill (1st Lt. Russell Walker).
C-152m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning.

by Lang Thompson
Ice Station Zebra  - Ice Station Zebra

Ice Station Zebra - Ice Station Zebra

Ice Station Zebra (1968) is a nifty thriller of spies, submarines and saboteurs that captivated no less a personage than Howard Hughes, who reportedly watched it hundreds of times. You certainly won't regret watching it once and TCM has spared you the expense of a personal screening room. Director John Carpenter also picked it as one of his guilty pleasures stating, "Why do I love this movie so much?" The film kicks off with a special mission for a submarine captained by Rock Hudson. He's sent to a British weather station at the North Pole in response to garbled and faint distress calls but Hudson barely suspects the real reason: A Soviet satellite with photos of numerous missile sites crashed to Earth somewhere in the station's vicinity. Until the sub's arrival, Hudson has his hands full with the bickering suspicions of a Soviet defector (Ernest Borgnine from The Wild Bunch, 1969), a U.S. officer (Jim Brown, former Cleveland Browns fullback) and a British intelligence agent (Patrick McGoohan of the cult classic The Prisoner). Their suspicions turn out to be accurate when somebody sabotages the submarine but even more surprises await them at the weather station. In 1963, Alistair MacLean's novel Ice Station Zebra was the latest of his popular string of smart thrillers. The rights were snapped up the following year by producer Martin Ransohoff hoping to capitalize on the success of another MacLean adaptation The Guns of Navarone (1961). Filming was set to begin in April 1965 with Gregory Peck playing the sub captain and David Niven, Edmond O'Brien and George Segal in the other key roles. But scheduling conflicts and an objection from the Department of Defense that the film incorrectly portrayed military life derailed production. A new script was written but due to conflicts the original cast was replaced when shooting finally began in Spring 1967. It lasted for nineteen weeks ending that October. The film was released in fall of 1968 and turned out to be a hit that gave a needed boost to Rock Hudson's career. It also received two Oscar® nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Special Effects. Somewhere along the line W.R. Burnett--who wrote the novels Little Caesar (1930) and High Sierra (1941)--worked on the screenplay uncredited. Tony Bill (who played Lt. Walker) later started a busy career as a director with My Bodyguard (1980). Director: John Sturges Producer: James C. Pratt, Martin Ransohoff Screenplay: Douglas Heyes Cinematography: Daniel L. Fapp Editor: Ferris Webster Art Direction: George W. Davis, Addison Hehr Music: Michel Legrand Cast: Rock Hudson (Cdr. James Ferraday), Ernest Borgnine (Boris Vaslov), Patrick McGoohan (David Jones), Jim Brown (Capt. Leslie Anders), Tony Bill (1st Lt. Russell Walker). C-152m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning. by Lang Thompson

Quotes

If 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!
- Cmdr. Ferraday
You cross-connect the hydraulic manifold to the outside door mechanism so 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.
- David Jones
It wasn't sealing wax. It wasn't chewing gum. It was epoxy glue. And all of a sudden you know a whole damn lot about submarines.
- Cmdr. Ferraday
Oh, I know how to wreck them, and I know how to lie, steal, kidnap, counterfeit, suborn and kill. That's my job. I do it with great pride.
- David Jones
On this submarine, we are all on a first name basis. My first name is "Captain".
- Cmdr. Ferraday
All right sir, I'm impressed. Not enlightened - but impressed.
- Cmdr. Ferraday

Trivia

Patrick McGoohan was filming his famous TV series "Prisoner, The" (1967) at the time he appeared in this movie. In order to allow him to take time off from his TV series, the episode "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" was written in which McGoohan's character, Number Six, has his mind transferred into the body of another man!

This film was originally shown in Cinerama venues. In order to put it into these theatres, MGM pulled 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) while it was still having a successful run.

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 Ice Station Zebra that it aired in Las Vegas over 100 times.

Notes

Road shows presented in Cinerama.

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States Fall October 1968

Released in United States on Video January 10, 1989

Released in United States on Video January 10, 1989

Released in United States Fall October 1968