Ice Station Zebra

(John Sturges, US 1968, 148 min., 35mm)

Ernest Borgnine. Shot in both Cinerama and Super Panavision 70, Ice Station Zebra fills the screen with some spectacular underwater images and sweeping skyscapes while balancing a human drama played out in the confines of a US nuclear submarine. Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan, and Jim Brown are all dependably believable as the Cold War warriors fighting the elements, the Russians, and an unknown saboteur, in order to save a remote and vital US weather station in the frozen wastes of the Arctic. Director Sturges balances the micro and the macro in this big-screen adaptation of Alistair MacLean’s action-packed novel.