Year of Release: 1961Country of Origin: USA
Director: Irwin Allen
Cast: Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine, Barbare Eden, Peter Lorre, Robert Sterling
Plot outline: The captain of a nuclear submarine defies his commander to save the Earth from a deadly space fire (IMDb).
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was the forerunner of the TV series of the same name (which lasted for four seasons, 1964 -1968, and 110 episodes), which became Irwin Allen’s longest running show. The reason for Allen making the series seems solely based on shrewd commercial instinct - that he had expended $400,000 building a model and the interior set of the submarine, it was left over after making the movie so why not do something else with it. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is mounted with the dull stolidity, indeed it lays out the blueprint of the ensuing series: the wooden dialogue and characters, the laughable science, and the mindless spectacle of flashing lights. The characters are all forthright GI types hewn with shining patriotism; attempts to introduce characterization with a romance between Barbara Eden and Robert Sterling, and crewmembers expressing concern about their families have a dreadfully forced embarrassment. The science is, as it always was in Allen’s science-fiction, laughable; all the talk about a burning Van Allen belt and being able to blast it away with missiles is remarkable in its pseudo-scientific incompetence. Allen should have been ashamed about his failure to even check the most basic details in his science-fiction (if he did know better it does seem a remarkable contempt for his audience’s intelligence). But, the movie is not without its entertainment value. The middle scenes with the crew tensions pitted against commander Walter Pidgeon’s single-minded determination are conducted with a certain vigour. The effects work is particularly good, notably the scenes of the submarine cruising beneath the surface and the nicely done burning sky effects. Although the effects fall down when one sees that the Seaview model has only been built at one size and when it is focused on in tight closeup the lack of fine detail shows it up as just a model. (M)
My judgement: *1/2 out of 4 stars
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