Ice Station Zebra

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In a strange way Ice Station Zebra has more in common with classic Christie mysteries like "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Ten Little Indians" then the bullet laced thrillers of our own day. The half a dozen interchangeable American sailors are all equally tough and unflappable but a bit jollier. I felt that the pace of the book did not run hand in hand with the amount of information presented and digested in the plot. Much of the novel's characterisation involving the submarine's crew was jettisoned in favour of these new cinematic creations.

The escalating production costs of this film, along with the poorly-received The Shoes of the Fisherman at the same time, led to the transfer of MGM President Robert O'Brien to chairman of the board, though he resigned that position in early 1969, after both films were released and failed to recoup their costs. The film's climax involves a superpower confrontation between Soviet paratroopers and the US Marines at Ice Station Zebra itself, but concludes on a much more ambiguous note than the novel, reflecting the perceived thaw in the Cold War following the Cuban Missile Crisis. Nothing could distract me from that screen, not even several minutes of confused story-telling at the end of the film.Carpenter, and two other crew members alight a few miles near the station, and braving a blizzard, reach the station, where they are greeted with a scene of devastation. When Soviet and British agents arrived to recover the film capsule, the scientists were caught in the crossfire.

There's so much detail on the workings of a submarine, in fact, that it might deter many from reading on. He reveals that he is an MI6 officer, and that his real mission was to retrieve photographic film from a reconnaissance satellite (see Corona) that has photographed every missile base in the US. To quote a contemporary Maclean's writing style was "hit 'em with everything but the kitchen sink, then give 'em the sink, and when they raise their heads, drop the plumber on 'em" .In fact, the killer is revealed during the course of the book, as the author does drop a clue that would reveal the guilty party.