MovieChat Forums > Down Periscope (1996) Discussion > Harry Dean Stanton

Harry Dean Stanton

posted 19 years ago by Flint-8
21 replies | jump to latest

It would be nice to have the back story to Harry Dean Stanton's character in the movie. Obviously he was a diesel sub guy that they brought back to run the engine on the Stingray.

[–] knsevy 19 years ago

I always assumed they just found him living on the boat when they recommissioned it.

[–] bornturun 19 years ago

I BOUGHT THE DVD HOPING IN THE EXTRAS THEY WOULD EXPLAIN WHAT HE WAS DOING ON THE BOAT BUT NO EXTRA FEATURES ON THE DVD VERY DISAPOINTING .

[–] knsevy 19 years ago

There must have been some filmed scenes to explain his presence, that didn't make it into the movie. I, personally, LIKE the explanation that he's been living on the boat since it was decommissioned in the late 70s.

[–] Roy_L_Fuchs 18 years ago

H. D. Stanton has 106 films to his credit. He even hosted Saturday Night Live once. That was in '86

[–] silstar 19 years ago

Guys, the Navy maintains a crack crew on the USS Constitution, a 3-Masted Schooner still in the Navy. They sailed her in the NY Harbor for 4th of July about 10 years ago, standing on the yard-arms and all like the old days. They still maintain maintanence on those boats, which would require someone who knew what they were doing. He probably hadn't seen sea duty in decades, but he'd probably been the chief engineer for that boat (or another diesel) for a while. Just because a ship doesn't sail out on active duty DOESN'T mean it is abandoned completely.

Does anyone care for fruit..... or dessert?

[–] drcampbell 19 years ago

"Just because a ship doesn't sail out on active duty DOESN'T mean it is abandoned completely."

I'm sure that's true of the real Navy, but it sure looked to me like the boat in the movie had been completely abandoned. Then again, it was still afloat, so at least one bilge pump was functioning.

[–] WildMountainThyme 19 years ago

Guys, the Navy maintains a crack crew on the USS Constitution, a 3-Masted Schooner still in the Navy

Actually a frigate, just to be as technical as possible

For England, for home, and for the prize!

[–] silstar 18 years ago

Sorry about the classification error - I've never been able to tell the differece between firgate and corvette, and etc... but, as to my point, if it's still aloat, the US Navy maintains at LEAST a maintenance crew to make sure that she doesn't sink in the harbor...

Does anyone care for fruit..... or dessert?

[–] WildMountainThyme 18 years ago

Believe me, I couldn't tell you the precise difference between a caravel, carrack, catboat, cog, fluyt, ketch, snow or xebec if my life depended on it.

A good (vague) rule of thumb though, look at the sails. Schooners have their sails rigged "fore and aft" (think of that sailboat you saw on the lake the other day).
A frigate will have "square-rigged" sails, like the large warships in Pirates of the Caribbean.

In any case, you are entirely correct about her crew. She is also a fully commissioned warship in the United States Navy that just happens to tolerate visitors on a regular basis

For England, for home, and for the prize!

[–] silstar 18 years ago

I love the fact that she is still considered a commissioned warship. Can you imagine the honor involved in being on her crew?

Does anyone care for fruit..... or dessert?

[–] WildMountainThyme 18 years ago

Huge honor. You are basically a "recruiting poster sailor".
Lot of work too, since she is nowhere near having her normal complement.
Not as critical if she doesn't leave port (not counting the turnaround) but there is still a lot of work to be done and no usual horde of deck apes and warm bodies to do it.
Their website gives a LOT of great details.

For England, for home, and for the prize!

[–] carpandean 18 years ago

Maybe they took him from USS Dolphin. She's the Navy's only operational (at the time; I believe she is no longer operating after a recent accident) diesel-electric sub. They use her for research - holds several depth records, including the deepest operating depth of over 3,000 ft! I don't know if her engineering officer is quite so crusty (salty), though.

[–] silstar 18 years ago

What would really be bad is if the Navy got to the point of being desperate enough to say ' this is a commissioned warships.... hmmm.... so many 9 pounders, so many rifled guns, etc'.

Regardless of the amount of work requireded to be a sailor on a ship that is so outdated, the sheer adrenoline (spelling?) rush when coming into port while standing on the yard-arms, just wow. My marching band in H.S. used to rely not on mechanics and straight lines, but on shock value of how entertaining we were. I can imagine the thrill of sailing into harbor on her while standing on her masts MUST be almost orgasmic! (pardon the crudeness)

Does anyone care for fruit..... or dessert?

[–] Longslide_1911 18 years ago

You idiot, the USS Constitution is a post-revolutionary war frigate. 44 cannons 3 masts. It's a frigate you fool. And the cannons really work. The USS constitution wasn't decommisioned she's the oldest warship floating in the world. She is completely seaworthy but they won't take her out because she's a historical Bostonian landmark.

[–] Roy_L_Fuchs 18 years ago

Ligthen up, Chuck! You wouldn't want to make us UpChuck!

[–] davcrav-1 18 years ago

Oldest warship apart from HMS Victory: from the USS Constitution's website, it was floated 1798, and construction started in 1794. HMS Victory was launched in 1765 and commissioned in 1778, about two decades before the USS Constitution. Of course, the Guinness Book of Records (incidentally, now American although originally British, or Irish, depending on how you look at things) maintains that it's the USS Constitution that's the longest-serving commissioned warship, so we shouldn't argue.

Edit: I suppose since the Victory is in drydock, you're going to have a go at that. If we talk about commissioned ships, it's the Victory. If we talk about floating ships, it's the Constitution. Once again, it's a matter of viewpoints.

[–] Longslide_1911 18 years ago

The victory isn't floating. The constitution is. PWNT!

[–] BohmPS 18 years ago

When the Navy re-activated the Iowa class battleships in the early 80s, they actually had to recall original crewman from the WWII era, as they were the only ones who new how to fully operate the ship's systems, many of which-such as fire coputers-worked as well if not better than modern computerized stuff.

A guy I talked to who served on one of these battlewagons in the 80's said that his Command Master Cheif was almost 80 years old!

[–] silstar 18 years ago

To jmsigadel:

Yes, we understand that she is a frigate or whatever (we don't care the actual classification) with such-and-such cannons and masts. Yes it is a frigate (see above) and it is still an operational warship. We understand that. She actually went out a few years ago and sailed to NY for the 4th of July or September 17th (for those who don't know - Constitution Day) or something.

Does anyone care for fruit..... or dessert?

[–] intrepidjournalist 17 years ago

You idiot, the USS Constitution is a post-revolutionary war frigate. 44 cannons 3 masts. It's a frigate you fool. And the cannons really work.

Lighten up, smart guy. And before you go calling people stupid, you might want to get your facts straight. The USS Constitution has 52 guns and carronades, "44 Gun" is just a rating, not an accurate count of her cannons.

"NPH wouldn't do that!"

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]