The Atomic Submarine
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| The Atomic Submarine | |
|---|---|
 The DVD cover. |
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| Directed by | Spencer Gordon Bennet |
| Produced by | Alex Gordon |
| Written by | Irving Block Jack Rabin Orville H. Hampton |
| Starring | Arthur Franz Dick Foran |
| Music by | Alexander Laszlo |
| Cinematography | Gilbert Warrenton |
| Editing by | William Austin |
| Distributed by | Allied Artists Pictures Corporation |
| Release date(s) |  November 29, 1959 |
| Running time | 72 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Atomic Submarine is a 1959 science fiction film starring Arthur Franz, Dick Foran and Brett Halsey, with John Hillard as the voice of the alien. The film was directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet, the script was adapted by Orville H. Hampton from a short story by Jack Rabin and Irving Block. It is a space invasion story that showcases the then new technology of nuclear submarines.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The plot begins with a brief prologue. The film's narrator (Pat Michaels) describes how in 1919, Robert Peary had a world of trouble reaching the North Pole. He postulates that Peary would have been amazed about how in a few decades that same pole he had such trouble reaching had become a major thoroughfare for civilian and military shipping. The prologue ends when the film tells of a futuristic prediction of cargo carrying atomic submarines. One of those submarines is shown being destroyed by a mysterious undersea light. The loss of this submarine and several other ships alarms the world. Governments temporarily close down the pole to traffic and convene an emergency meeting at the Pentagon.
Present at the meeting is Captain Dan Wendover (Dick Foran), the captain of the Tigershark. and Nobel Prize winning scientist Sir Ian Hunt (Tom Conway). The United States' Secretary of Defense leads the meeting. He explains all that is known about the disasters in the Arctic. The Secretary then describes the high-tech capabilities of the Tigershark. These include a special hull and a mini-sub, the Lungfish, that can be stored inside the larger sub. The Secretary finishes the meeting by telling Captain Wendover that he is to take Hunt and the rest of the Tigershark's crew to find the cause of the ship sinkings and, if humanly possible, eliminate it.
The next several scenes introduce the audience to Commander Richard "Reef" Holloway (Arther Franz). Also shown is how a submarines gathers its crew together on short notice and sets sail. Commander Holloway is told that he will be bunk mating with the inventor of the Lungfish, Dr. Carl Neilson. At first he is thrilled. The Commander believes that his bunkmate is Neilson Sr., a scientist he reveres. To his dismay, Holloway learns that his bunkmate is Dr. Carl Neilson Jr. (Brett Halsey), a pacifistic scientist he dislikes.
The scenes after that show day-to-day life on a atomic submarine. After a time, the submariners do finally find the cause of the disasters: an extraterrestrial spacecraft with a strange light coming out of a eye shaped window. The window is located at the top and in the center of the ship's upper dome. Inspired by the window, the crew nickname the spacecraft "Cyclops".
Captain Wendover orders the submarine's most powerful missiles fired on the saucer. The missiles are than deflected or absorbed by the spacecraft's gel-like exterior. While dismayed by this failure, the captain knows that he has to do something to stop these ship sinkings, so he orders the Tigershark to ram the spacecraft. The submarine's nose breaks into the lower side of the saucer and becomes trapped.
Commander Holloway and Dr. Neilson lead a team aboard the Lungfish and enter the spacecraft. Once inside, Commander Holloway and crew find dark hallways with little illumination. It is then that Holloway gets his first telepathic message from the spacecraft's sole occupant, an octopus like creature with only one eye. The alien proves his hostile intent by savagely killing several submariners. The creature furthers proves hostile by announcing to Holloway that it plans to bring several human specimens to its home planet and eventually return with more of his kind take over the Earth. Now realizing that he has a lot more to worry about a few ship sinkings, Commander Holloway blinds the alien with a flare. He than escapes back to the Tigershark with Dr. Neilson.
Holloway than tells Captain Wendover "Captain, if that thing ever gets back to where it came from the Earth and everyone on it is doomed". The Tigershark's group of scientists find a way to rig the submarines missiles. This time, the missiles are fired, the spaceship is hit and destroyed, thus saving the Earth.
[edit] Background
This was the last film to be made by the team of Jack Rabin, Irving Block and Louis DeWitt, the trailers for the movie suggested that it was a more traditional military action movie by playing down the science fiction elements. It should be added,that the plot is driven by the extraterrestrial presence. For that reason alone,The Atomic Submarine can only be called a Science Fiction film. The movies near future setting also mandate that the film be placed in that category.
This film was made at a time when atomic submarines were very new. They must have really caught peoples imagination in order to have been the basis of Science Fiction movies. This is one of several such movies from that era to use them. In fact much of this movie serves as an introduction to the day to day routine and technology of such vehicles. Atomic Submarines must have also seemed very futuristic,just like a spaceship,as well.
The oceans are very big,very beautiful and largely unexplored. Those are several reasons that they have made a good setting for Science Fiction movies. They were used that way before and after this film.
The films few futuristic predictions include cargo carrying nuclear submarines and a mini-sub within a submarine. The film basically depicts 1959 Naval life with a few High-Tech additions. The impression being conveyed is that this is the future but not far in the future.
The 1950s are often called the Atomic age because people were gung-ho about Atomic power. The word Atomic meant High-Tech and powerful even if it was used to descibe breakfast cereal.People of the day imagined a bright future where atomic power became cheap and plentiful. It must have been very topical at the time to imagine nuclear submarines low cost enough to be used to carry cargo across the Pole.
Unlike, the later Irwin Allen movie submarine, the USOS Seaview, this was the Tigersharks only appearance.
[edit] Related films
The plot and some of the props of this film are very similar to two later submarine films: Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and the Japanese film Atragon.
In all three films, a high-tech nuclear submarine of the future travels to the deepest part of the ocean in order to save the Earth from total destruction caused by a menace from outer space. The main difference with Atragon is that film the menace is sub-terrestrial rather than extraterrestrial. The American subs also share some of the same unusual gadgets, such as a mini-sub.
Coincidentally, Arthur Franz, who played Cmdr. Holloway in The Atomic Submarine, guest starred on an episode of the the TV adaptation of Voyage.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Arthur Franz | Cmdr. Richard 'Reef' Holloway |
| Dick Foran | Capt. Dan Wendover |
| Brett Halsey | Dr. Carl Neilson |
| Paul Dubov | Dr. Carl Neilson |
| Bob Steele | CPO 'Grif' Griffin |
| Victor Varconi | Dr. Clifford Kent |
| Joi Lansing | Julie |
| Selmer Jackson | Adm. Terhune |
| Jack Mulhall | Secretary of Defense Justin Murdock |
| Jean Moorhead | Helen Milburn |
| Richard Tyler | Seaman Don Carney |
| Sid Melton | Yeoman Chester Tuttle |
| Kenneth Becker | Seaman Al Powell |
| Frank Watkins | Watkins |
| Tom Conway | Sir Ian Hunt |
| John Hilliard | Voice of Spaceman |
| Pat Michaels | Narrator |
[edit] References
- Wingrove, David. (1985). Science Fiction Film Source Book. Longman Group Limited
[edit] External links
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