Garner called the film "another piece of crap that Warner Bros. stuck me in while I was under contract."[3]
Plot
Lt. Kenneth Braden, a newly trained U.S. Navyfrogman, is unexpectedly ordered to report for duty without being able to notify his new girlfriend Sally Johnson. He learns that she is a naval intelligence officer responsible for a recent confirmation of his character and fitness for a special mission.
Submarine commander Stevenson, whose crew's morale has been shaken by the recent unnecessary death of a crew member, is ordered to take Braden to the island of Kusaie (Kosrae) to photograph a code book at a Japanese radio station. Stevenson waits in Lelu Harbor while Braden executes his covert mission.
After Braden returns, Stevenson dictates a letter accusing himself of endangering his submarine and crew in order to make Braden's mission easier. When they reach Pearl Harbor, Braden informs Stevenson that his crew "lost" the letter. To Braden's surprise and delight, Sally is waiting at the dock to greet him.
In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic A. H. Weiler wrote: "[I]t seems to run a familiar and somewhat undramatic course. ... Although there are moments of tension in 'Up Periscope,' it sails a movie course that is not particularly exciting. The bravery shown here is no longer unsung."[4]
