AN AMERICAN NUCLEAR SUB… A SKY FULL OF RUSSIAN PARATROOPERS… AND A RACE FOR THE SECRET OF ICE STATION ZEBRA!

An American nuclear sub heads for the North Pole on a rescue mission; on board is a British agent (Patrick McGoohan) who won’t tell anyone what he’s up to… as well as a traitor.

Curiously remembered as Howard Hughes’s favorite movie, this is in fact one of Hollywood’s weakest Alistair MacLean adaptations.

The visual effects are often good enough (except for the Styrofoam-looking ice floes), but there isn’t much tension and the cast fails to excite, with the exception of McGoohan as the agent who has a weak spot for whiskey.

1968-U.S. 148 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by John Sturges. Screenplay: Douglas Heyes, Harry Julian Fink, W.R. Burnett. Novel: Alistair MacLean. Music: Michel Legrand. Cast: Rock Hudson (James Ferraday), Ernest Borgnine (Boris Vaslov), Patrick McGoohan (David Jones), Jim Brown, Tony Bill, Lloyd Nolan, Alf Kjellin. 

Trivia: Initially, the film had a script by Paddy Chayefsky and a cast consisting of Gregory Peck, David Niven and George Segal, but delays and dissatisfaction with the script brought about changes.