Ice Station Zebra (1968)

Spy thriller based on a novel by Alistair Maclean: Rock Hudson stars as a nuclear submarine captain who, in a secret meeting with an admiral (Lloyd Nolan), is ordered to head with his sub to the Arctic, where he ostensibly is to rescue members of a scientific research team, quartered at the code-named Ice Station Zebra. But, the real mission is to retrieve film, taken by a new camera in orbit, which had fallen somewhere in that Arctic region due to a malfunction. To facilitate the success of this mission, the sub is also boarded by a secret agent (Patrick McGoohan) and a Soviet defector (Ernest Borgnine). In charge of the marines on board is the tough, no-nonsense Capt. Anders (Jim Brown); Tony Bill plays a 1st Lieutenant.  Of course, in a story such as this, not everyone is who he seems to be.
Before the sub reaches its destination, it becomes apparent that there's a saboteur aboard. This was very much like a James Bond adventure without James Bond - McGoohan as the mysterious spy on  board fills those shoes to some extent, but the real cool thing about his role is that this is McGoohan's follow-up to his TV secret agents, Danger Man and The Prisoner, as if one of those characters were plugged into a big budget movie.  It's not as exciting as a typical Bond film, having more to do with routine spy intrigue than action, but the final act has a lot of tension, especially when the Soviet soldiers arrive.  Also, the entire feel of the locale after they reach the Arctic has this sci-fi tone to it, as if the protagonists are dealing with their situation in some alien land, almost like on another planet. It all also had the feel of a studio set to me, but maybe that couldn't be helped. BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10
Trivia From the Ice Station: Sturges also directed a previous Alistair MacLean adaptation - The Satan Bug (65); McGoohan was still filming episodes of The Prisoner when he played his role here; as a result, he had one episode of his series rewritten so that he didn't have to appear; at one point, Gregory Peck & David Niven were planned to star in the roles of Hudson and McGoohan, sort of like a reprise of their roles in The Guns of Navarone (61); Charlton Heston was also offered Hudson's role, but declined it. The film was a box office hit and revitalized Hudson's flagging career. Footage from this film was used in later films such as Grey Lady Down (78) and Never Say Never Again (83).