Undersea Kingdom
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| Undersea Kingdom | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | B. Reeves Eason Joseph Kane |
| Produced by | Nat Levine |
| Written by | Tracy Knight John Rathmell Maurice Geraghty Oliver Drake |
| Starring | Ray Corrigan Lois Wilde Monte Blue William Farnum C. Montague Shaw Lee Van Atta Boothe Howard Raymond Hatton Smiley Burnette Lon Chaney Jr |
| Music by | Harry Grey |
| Cinematography | Edgar Lyons William Nobles |
| Editing by | Dick Fantl Helene Turner |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 30 May 1936 15 February 1950 1966 |
| Running time | 12 chapters (226 min) |
| Budget | $81,924 (Negative cost: $99,222) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Undersea Kingdom was film serial released in 1936 by Republic Pictures in response to Universal's Flash Gordon. It was the second of the sixty-six serials made by Republic Pictures.
Following a suspicious eathquake, and detecting a series of signals, Professor Norton leads an expedition, including Lt Crash Corrigan and Reporter Diana Compton, in his Rocket Submarine to the suspected location of Atlantis. Finding the lost continent they become embroiled in an Atlantean civil war between Sharad (with his White Robes) and the usurper Unga Khan (with his Black Robes) who wishes to conquer Atlantis and then destroy the upper world with Earthquakes generated by his Disintegrator. Thus he will rule the world unless he can be stopped in time.
The star of the serial is Ray "Crash" Corrigan, using that screenname for the first time. The name was created to sound similar to "Flash Gordon", in one of many similarities. Formerly a stunt man, he was the person swinging on vines in Tarzan the Ape Man, Corrigan went on to use this screenname for the rest of his career in serials and B-Westerns.
The first two chapters of the serial were mocked on the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The plot revolves around the main character "Crash" Corrigan trying to stop an evil tyrant ruler of Atlantis from conquering the lost continent and then the entire upper world.
Lieutenant Crash Corrigan, in his last year at Annapolis, is invited by Billy Norton to visit his father, Professor Norton, after a wrestling match. At their house, the professor is demonstrating his new invention, which can detect and prevent (at short range) Earthquakes, to Diana Compton and his theory about regular tremours from the area where Atlantis used to be.
When Atlantean tyrant, Unga Khan, and his Black Robe army turn their Disintegrator beam on St Clair, Professor Norton leads an expedition to investigate. Along with him in his Rocket Submarine are Crash, Diana, three sailors (Briny Deep, Salty, Joe) and their pet parrot Sinbad. Unknown to the expedition until it is underway and in trouble, Billy has stowed away on the Rocket Sub as well.
Problems for the expedition negin when Joe, in charge of the engine room, is driven mad by the fear that the submarine cannot survive such depths. In order to prove this, he locks the engine room door and sends the sub into a fatal dive. As soon as this crisis is averted, Unga Khan and Captain Hakur detect their approach and bring them through a tunnel into the Inland Sea with a Magnetic Ray.
[edit] Cast
Ray "Crash" Corrigan as Crash Corrigan, Athlete and US Navy Lieutenant
Lois Wilde as Diana Compton, Reporter from the Times
Monte Blue as Unga Khan, Tyrant and leader of the Black Robes
William Farnum as Sharad, High priest of Atlantis and leader of the White Robes
Boothe Howard as Ditmar, Black Robe
Raymond Hatton as Gasspom, Black Robe
C. Montague Shaw as Professor Norton, American scientist
Lee Van Atta as Billy Norton, Professor Norton's young son
Smiley Burnette as Briny Deep, a sailor in Professor Norton's Rocket Sub expedition
Frankie Marvin as Salty, a sailor in Professor Norton's Rocket Sub expedition
[edit] Supporting Cast
Lon Chaney Jr as Captain Hakur, Black Robe
Lane Chandler as Darius, White Robe
Jack Mulhall as Lieutenant Andrews, US Navy
John Bradford as Joe, a sailor in Professor Norton's Rocket Sub expedition
Malcolm McGregor as Zogg, Black Robe
Ralph Holmes as Martos, White Robe
John Merton as Moloch, Former Black Robe
Ernie Smith as Gourk, Black Robe
Lloyd Whitlock as Captain Clinton, US Navy
[edit] Production
Filming occurred between 3 March and 28 March 1936, with the final release date recorded as 30 May (although this is more accurately the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges). Undersea Kingdom was re-released on 15 February 1950 to pad out up the number relaesed by Republic that year. A Century 66 feature version was released in 1966 under the title of Sharad of Atlantis, this was a 100-minute film version created by editing together the individual chapters.
With a negative cost of $99,222, Undersea Kingdom was the third cheapest serial Republic ever made, despite production finishing at $17,298 over budget (coincidentally, the third most over budget of all Republic's serials). The only cheaper serials were the following The Vigilantes Are Coming ($87,655) and 1938's The Fighting Devil Dogs ($92,569).
By comparison, the larger Universal Pictures spent $350,000 in producing the first Flash Gordon serial.
[edit] Similarities with Flash Gordon
| Flash Gordon | Undersea Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Hero, Flash Gordon | Hero, Crash Corrigan |
| Rogue planet of Mongo, with mix of advanced and primitive technology | Undersea kingdom of Atlantis, with mix of advanced and primitive technology |
| Rocketship built by Dr Zarkov | Rocket Submarine built by Prof Norton |
| Dale Arden | Diana Compton |
| Genius scientist, Doctor Zarkov | Genius scientist, Professor Norton |
| Vaguely Asiatic Tyrant, Ming the Merciless | Vaguely Asiatic Usurper, Unga Khan |
| Prince Barin, rightful ruler of Mongo | Sharad, rightful ruler of Atlantis |
| Villain's beautiful daughter, Princess Aura | No equivalent |
| No equivalent | The professor's son, Billy Norton |
[edit] Chapter titles
- Beneath The Ocean Floor (30min 51s)
- The Undersea City (19min 13s)
- Arena of Death (18min 58s)
- Revenge of the Volkites (18min 07s)
- Prisoners of Atlantis (17min 33s)
- The Juggernaut Strikes (16min 40s)
- The Submarine Trap (17min 20s)
- Into the Metal Tower (16min 49s)
- Death in the Air (16min 48s)
- Atlantis Destroyed (17min 28s)
- Flaming Death (19min 23s)
- Ascent to the Upper World (16min 54s)
[edit] Cliffhangers
- Flying torpedoes cause a landslide as the heroes try to escape the Volkites (robots) in the mountains.
- Crash is hit by an atom gun and falls down an elevator shaft.
- Crash is dragged behind a chariot.
- During a siege, Crash and Moloch fall into the path of a Black Robe cavalry charge.
- Diana is trapped in the brainwashing Transformation Chamber.
- As Crash walks a tightrope across a chasm, with Billy on his back, Ditmar snaps the cable with torpedoes.
- Crash is caught amongst exploding barrels of Priming Powder.
- Crash is tied to the front of the Juggernaut (The Black Robe Tank)) as it rams the gates of the sacred city.
- The heroes' aircraft is shot down by Unga Khan.
- The heroes are caught in the Sacred City under aerial bombardment.
- Crash and Professor Norton are caught in the jets of Unga Khan's rocket engines.
Note: Many of the solutions to these cliffhangers are "cheats" - they change or obviously do not match the events shown in the preceding cliffhanger.
[edit] Stunts & Effects
Special Effects by:
John T. Coyle
The Lydecker brothers
Bud Thackery
These include the Volkites (The robotic army of the Black Robes), The Juggernaut (their tank), Volplanes (Atlantean rocketships) and Professor Norton's Rocket Submarine.
 Professor Norton's Rocket Submarine |
 Unga Khan's "Volkite" robots and Juggernaut tank |
[edit] Trivia
- This is the first appearance of the "Republic Robot" (as the "Volkites"). It would turn up again in Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940) and Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952). It is parodied in Star Trek: Voyager's "The Adventures of Captain Proton".
[edit] References
- Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement; Mathis, Jack, 1995, ISBN 0-9632878-1-8
- Undersea Kingdom at the Internet Movie Database
[edit] External links
- Undersea Kingdom at the Internet Movie Database
- Download movie at Archive.org
- Undersea Kingdom at The Serial Squadron
- Dr Hermes Review of Undersea Kingdom
| Preceded by Darkest Africa (1936) |
Republic Serial Undersea Kingdom (1936) |
Succeeded by The Vigilantes Are Coming (1936) |
