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Dedications
Dedicated in loving memory of my wonderful parents:-
Konstantinos (Dino) Christopoulos who took me to see my very first science fiction film in the early 1960s, The Man With The X-Ray Eyes (1963)
Rosemary Christopoulos who sat with me after school as I watched on TV episodes the first two doctors of the Doctor Who series and insisted on asking me interminable questions about who was who and what was going on!
Thanks mum and dad!
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The SCI-FI FILM FIESTA eBook series is intended as a salute to the pioneering work of science fiction film makers. May future generations have the privilege of enjoying your work and never stop wondering....What if?
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Dedicated also to you, the reader who appreciates these classic gems from the golden age of sci-fi film-making. It is you who help to keep such films alive for future generations to enjoy
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Other eBooks in the Sci-Fi Film Fiesta series:
Volume 1: “Here Be Monsters”
Volume 2: “Into Space”
Volume 3: “Other Worlds”
Sci-Fi Film Fiesta
VOLUME 4:
“Journeys Within”
©Chris Christopoulos 2022
CONTENTS
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
INTRODUCTION
Lost civilizations still existing?
Previously extinct creatures thriving?
An unknown world located within our own world
Monstrous sea life discovered at the bottom of the oceans
Such speculative musings have been the subject of imaginative tales from the pens of pioneer science fiction writers such as Jules Verne, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Arthur Conan Doyle. To this very day there are those who adhere to the ‘Hollow Earth’ theory and others who believe that there is an advanced undiscovered subterranean civilization and even alien beings that inhabit the earth’s interior or dwell in the depths of the oceans. It all gets even more bizarre when you throw into the mix belief in the existence of surviving Atlantean and even NAZI remnants hiding out in the earth’s interior!
This volume of the “Sci-Fi Film Fiesta” series: VOLUME 4: JOURNEYS WITHIN features classic science fiction films from the 1950s that depict strange and exotic worlds that await discovery deep within the bowels of the earth and deep down in the fathomless depths of our oceans. Let’s now turn our gaze from the heavens and peer into worlds within a world that may exist under our very noses…...
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Unknown World (1951)
A film with a serious purpose but fails to truly engage
Director: Terry O. Morse
Producers: Irving A. Block, Jack Rabin, Robert L. Lippert
Writer: Millard Kaufman
Music: Ernest Gold
Cinematography: Henry Freulich, Allen G. Siegler
Editing: Terry O. Morse
Distributor: Lippert Pictures Inc.
Running time: 74 minutes
Cast
Victor Kilian: Dr. Jeremiah Morley
Bruce Kellogg: Wright Thompson
Marilyn Nash: Dr. Joan Lindsey
Otto Waldis: Dr. Max A. Bauer
Jim Bannon: Andy Ostergaard
Tom Handley: Dr. James Paxton
Dick Cogan: Dr. George Coleman
George Baxter: Carlisle Foundation Chairman
Harold Miller : Carlisle Foundation Board Member
Synopsis
(Spoilers may follow...)
Dr. Jerimiah Morley of the defunct Society To Save Civilization is convinced that humanity is doomed due to the inevitability of a worldwide nuclear war. As indicated in the opening newsreel, ‘Civilisation vs The Atom,’ humanity has reached the “crossroads of history.” The “Atomic Age” is like a double-edged sword which, on the one hand, holds out the promise of a life of abundance, while on the other hand offers humanity a bleak destiny as outlined in The Morley Report. Here we are presented with a pessimistic view of the future prospects for human civilization. For Morley, the answer lies with developing a “plan to preserve civilization.” In order to do this, it is deemed necessary to “find a temporary haven” consisting of a “geological shelter.”
Morley organizes an expedition consisting of a team of expert scientists who would all journey into the Earth’s interior in an atomic-powered rock-boring vehicle called a cyclotram which is described in layman’s terms as being “like a submarine.” The object of the expedition would be to navigate through “funnels and fissures” until a suitable subterranean environment could be found where survivors of a nuclear holocaust could keep “the spark of life alive.” It is assumed that the Earth’s interior would be conveniently honey-combed with such fissures and that it would be cooler the further you descend!
After 1 year, the project faces failure and for Morley and the team this means that, “we have no plans, we have no hope.” When the crucial government funding falls through, the wealthy newspaper heir and adventurer, Wright Thompson declares that he will personally and privately fund the project on condition that he goes along with them, “just for the kicks” of course.
The Expedition into the Unknown World Begins……
0 -100 miles:
The expedition begins from Mount Neleh (spell it backwards!), which sounds like it is situated in Hawaii, but is the "world's oldest extinct volcano" in the Aleutian Island chain off Alaska. As the explorers begin their descent, they are ominously fare-welled by an erupting volcano. As they “take one last look,” is this a warning of the dangers they will face, or a reminder of the possible fate of the world they are leaving behind?
As the group goes deeper beneath the Earth's crust, they discover a large cave, and a big plaque from the 1938 Engstran expedition. The words indicate that they managed to get this far but no farther. They assume that anyone going beyond this point would have good reason for doing so and that they wish anyone who tries to go farther, “good luck.”
100 Miles:
Dr. Joan Lindsey notes how depressed and suffocated she seems to feel. The psychological effects are explained as due to being away from contact with other people, as if the last chord tying them to humanity is being cut. Paxton believes this is rubbish and that “one strong man” can control nature. Such a strong man can take the lead and others will follow.
After receiving a “Toxic Gas” warning, it’s discovered that Dr. Paxton and Dr. Coleman didn’t take their gas masks when they left. The others go out to find the missing men. Their dead bodies are soon discovered and they are buried “a hundred and ten miles” below the surface, which seems to be a rather striking notion for the rest of the explorers-no, I will NOT use the word, surreal!
240 Miles
Joan notices that the water level is dangerously low. Thompson negligently left a valve open and the amount of water has not only diminished but what remains is now polluted. There is now a pressing need to find water.
Later on they notice the sound of running water coming from behind a rock wall. They manage to break through, and steam pours out. Back inside the cyclotram they notice that the outside temperature has risen two hundred and eighty degrees. After the temperature begins falling, the resulting condensation will mean that they will have water.
Decision time soon arrives: To go on or return to the surface? After a tied vote, Joan casts the deciding vote. The expedition continues on toward its final goal.
960 Miles
The Cyclotram bursts through a rock wall and hits water which turns out to be an underground ocean. They surface and emerge inside a vast cavern. Is this what they’ve been looking for: Flowers that crumble and fish without eyes?
While exploring their surroundings, Andy manages to slip on a slope and begins to slide down. Thompson rushes to assist by tying his rope around a boulder and lowering himself to where Andy is. As Andy starts clambering up, the rope begins to fray. Just as Thompson reaches the top, the rope snaps and Andy plummets to his death.
With morale low, the expedition members decide that they must leave this “Valley of Shadows” before it becomes their “graveyard.” To go on or return? They decide on the need to go on, “to find what we've been after.”
1640 Miles
How much further will it be to their destination?
Will it turn out that their unknown world will prove to be a “promised land?”
Or will it just be “a haven for the dead?”
Points Of Interest
It is unfortunate that the copy of the film is of such a low quality. Hopefully someone will make use of a digital process to clean it up. As it is, the film has the feel and appearance of a 1930s production. Anyway, try to persevere with it.
The cyclotram has a great art-deco look. It reminds me of some of the automobile designs of the early 1950s. I doubt very much that the cyclotram would be able to withstand the kind of pressure under water that would be encountered at the depth of 2500 miles. At least the interior shots of the Cyclotram give the illusion of movement along with the sounds of motors whirring. And those great labeled levers, switches and big analogue dials that were part of the technology of the time! It gives you something similar to that solid comfortable feeling you get from holding a big vinyl record LP album or an old large printed book.
There are definitely some suspect areas in “Unknown World” in terms of scientific accuracy. For instance, temperatures would not decrease the further you descended into the Earth’s interior. In the film it stated that, "the latest body of theory holds that the inside of a sphere, such as the Earth, is cooler than the temperature at the surface." The erupting volcano in the film would certainly suggest a far more active, hotter and molten environment.
Oddly enough, the conveniently gently sloping path taken by the explorers through the Earth’s crust and mantle consists of largely hollow areas containing an abundance of stalagmites and stalactites. If only! Not only that, but one of the characters declares, "The air is clear! You can take off your masks." I would be surprised that there would any kind of breathable air so far into the Earth’s interior. There would more likely be noxious odorless gasses, all of which would prove to be lethal to human beings. Still, how much more do we really know about the Earth’s interior (or the depths of our oceans for that matter!) over almost 70 years after the making of this film? We probably have a greater awareness of what lies in outer space. So much still remains a mystery to us, leaving conjecture, theories, assumptions and wild guesses to fill in the gaps.
We may question the accuracy of a determination that a litter of dead bunnies is an indication of possible human sterility in the environment of the cavern’s interior. However, it has been established practice to use animals in such endeavors as space exploration to determine the likely effects on human beings.
The pace of “Unknown World” is rather pedestrian. It is a well-meaning film but it takes itself too seriously and tends to come across as being rather dull. Too much time is taken up with just shots of the explorers inching their way deeper into the Earth’s interior, punctuated by less than gripping events. A lot in terms of entertainment value is lost in the process for the audience.
It took a long time for any of the characters to become people who possess qualities we can relate to. Towards the end of film we had earnest, dull and professional characters evolve into slightly more reflective and introspective characters who can declare such things to each other as, “I used to be afraid of death” (Dr. Bauer) “I was afraid of life.” (Joan)
Post War early 1950s handling of the role of women is evident with the portrayal of Joan Lindsay. We learn that she's both a medical doctor and a biochemist, and (Shock! Horror! Watch out!) an "ardent feminist!." So how did this beautiful, intelligent and strong woman fall for such a shallow boof-head like Thompson? Her role as a doctor and biochemist would have been a radical concept for a woman at that time. The winds of change might have been on the horizon but were slow in coming. In the meantime, it was considered prudent to stay within the bounds of acceptable behavior. Just give a hint of what can be for now. It seems that for Joan, despite her talents and intelligence, marriage, staying home and having babies may have to take precedence over her career, at least until the wind changes direction…..
We could go on and on cynically nit-picking the film’s faults. But the fact remains that “Unknown World” is a product of its time in terms of the themes it deals with, the degree of scientific knowledge about the world it draws on, the kind of ethical and moral viewpoints it presents, as well as its portrayal of human relationships. I think we in the 21st. century can look past these things, take note of it and then perhaps even get over it and not waste time making fun of it. Think how we might be viewed in 70 years’ time!
“Unknown World” serves as an allegory about the dangers associated with a global nuclear war. The question is posed, ‘what do we do about it?’ Do we take our heads out of the sand so to speak and go back to the surface and try and change the world? Do we work together to see that such a global nuclear war never happens? Or do we run away and hide in fear, seeking our own personal haven, even though it is inimical to life?
I find that the best way to view films like “Unknown World” is not to get too hung up on scientific inaccuracies or judge them according to standards far removed from the era in which they were made. I try to enjoy them using the simple “What if…...” principle. For me, “Unknown World,” is in the tradition of Jules Verne's novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth” or “At the Earth's Core” by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Isn't the modern era film like, “The Core” also just part of the same tradition? What if you could journey into the earth’s interior? What dangers would you face? What obstacles would you need to overcome? What wonders might you witness? Why would you want to or need to go such a journey? What would be achieved? What would be learned?
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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
A fine action adventure film that brings Jules Verne's classic sci-fi tale to vivid life
Director: Richard Fleischer
Producer: Walt Disney
Screenplay: Earl Felton
Story: Based on Jules Verne’s novel
Music: Paul Smith
Cinematography: Franz Planer
Editing: Elmo Williams
Studio: Walt Disney Productions
Distributor: Buena Vista Distribution
Running time 127 minutes
Budget: $5.000.000
Box office: $28,200,000
Cast
Kirk Douglas: Ned Land
James Mason: Captain Nemo
Paul Lukas: Professor Pierre Aronnax
Peter Lorre: Conseil
Robert J. Wilke: Nautilus's First Mate
Ted de Corsia: Captain Farragut
Carleton Young: John Howard
J. M. Kerrigan: Billy
Percy Helton: Coach driver
Ted Cooper: Abraham Lincoln's First Mate
Fred Graham: Casey
1954: A Taste Of The Times
The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched.
Hydrogen bomb test “Castle Bravo” has been conducted on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
RCA manufactures the first colour TV set which has a 12-inch screen and is priced at $1,000
The world's first atomic power station opens at Obninsk, near Moscow.
The Soviet Union test fires a thermonuclear bomb for the first time.
Texas Instruments announces the development of the first commercial transistor radio.
The TV dinner is introduced by the American entrepreneur Gerry Thomas.
The Disney film, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” was the first foray into the science fiction film genre by Walt Disney Productions and is the best-known adaptation of the book of the same name by Jules Verne.
(Warning! The content below contains spoilers.)
How often are we confronted by images and reports of death and destruction around the world due largely to the activities of political, tribal or sectarian groups and organisations, as well as countries and individuals motivated by personal greed, ideology. fanaticism and the need to gain and wield power and control over others?
More often than not we see the results of such base and criminal human instincts and desires in the form of millions of our fellow human beings lying dead or dying from the ravages of war and disease; being uprooted from their homes and forced to seek refuge in other lands; having to wonder where their next meal is coming from and futilely seeking work in order to sustain themselves and scratch out some kind of basic human dignity.
And so the world sits idly by and allows this to happen, deaf to the pleas of the many who cannot make themselves heard above the din of the gunshots and explosions of militaristic savages; the blustering, cacophonous arguments and counter-arguments of posturing, face-saving political leaders; and the mentally unstable ranting of dogmatic religious and political ideologues.
As onlookers to this human travesty, it is no wonder that we can feel so utterly helpless in the face of forces that seem to be way beyond our control. If only we as individuals had the power to right the wrongs, to redress the inequalities, to strike a blow once and for all for human freedom and liberty, to wipe from the face of the earth those who would cause millions upon millions of people to live in fear for their lives………..
In the film adaptation of Verne’s story, “20.000 Leagues Under The Sea,” one man did indeed move beyond the realm of “If only…” to actually realizing that understandable but seemingly fanciful wish to exercise the kind of power that would bring the world to its senses. But by being able to bring the world to its knees in the face of such unimaginable power, what would be the cost to the one exercising that kind of power and ultimately to the rest of the world?
Plot
The film, “20.000 leagues Under The Sea” opens with a cover of Jules Verne’s work and the opening words to the first chapter of his book. The film’s origins and Verne’s legacy is established for us.
We then move to a shot of a ship powered by both sail and steam; an example of a fusion of “old” and “new” technologies in an era that was moving from wind / sail power to steam power, the engine of the industrial revolution. Suddenly, like a shark moving in for the kill, a mysterious sea vessel heads toward the ship. This vessel is almost other-worldly with its luminescent green light and incredible swiftness as it stealthily slices its way towards its sitting duck prey. The technology exemplified by the 19th century vessel is in an instant rendered into a debris field of floating bits of flotsam and jetsam.
It is 1868, and rumours abound of a sea monster attacking ships in the Pacific Ocean causing apprehension and fear among sea-farers, as well as wreaking havoc upon vital shipping lanes.
The United States government calls upon Professor Pierre M. Aronnax and his assistant, Conseil to join an expedition in order to “confirm or deny certain rumours.” Initially, Aronnax was to embark on an expedition to the orient but this plan fell through.
Months pass when finally, what appears to be the "monster" is spotted. The ship opens fire with its cannons, but to no avail as the “monster” rams the ship. Ned, a brash and cocky harpooner, and Aronnax are thrown overboard, while the loyal and trusty Conseil jumps in after Aronnax.
The three men drift in the ocean away from the stricken, burning and helpless warship. They eventually stumble upon a deserted, strange-looking metal vessel, which they conclude is a man-made submerged boat and is in fact the dreaded "monster" that they have been pursuing.
The submarine crew return to the vessel after conducting an undersea funeral and capture the three intruders. They are soon introduced to Captain Nemo, master of the Nautilus. Nemo intends to dispose of Ned and Conseil, but acknowledges Aronnax for his work and research and offers him the chance to stay. When it becomes obvious that Aronnax would rather die with his two companions, Nemo relents and permits Ned and Conseil to stay on board the submarine.
Later at the penal colony island of Rura Penthe, where Nemo and many of his crew were once prisoners, they observe current prisoners loading a munitions ship with a “cargo of death.” Nitrates and phosphates are taken from the island to be used for munitions. Nemo uses the Nautilus to ram the ship, destroying its cargo and killing the crew.
Nemo, although in a state of anguish over his actions, rationalizes his decision as having been taken in order to save thousands of people from death in war. Personal vengeance has also played a part as this "hated nation" had tortured his wife and son to death in an attempt to force him to reveal the secrets of his work.
Meanwhile, Ned has uncovered the coordinates of Nemo's secret island base, Vulcania, and comes up with the idea of placing messages in sealed bottles, which he will cast into the ocean in the hope that somebody will find them and free him from his predicament.
A while later, just off the coast of New Guinea, the Nautilus becomes stranded on a reef. Ned is allowed to go ashore with Conseil to collect specimens, but he is more intent on locating ways and means of escaping. While on a path to possible freedom, Ned finds himself confronted with a number of human skulls on stakes. This is an island of cannibals! Ned hurriedly rushes back to re-join Conseil and both men are pursued back to the Nautilus by the cannibals. The cannibals board the Nautilus but are repelled from the ship by electrical discharges on its hull. For his disobedience, Ned is confined to the submarine's brig by a furious Nemo.
As the Nautilus evades a hostile approaching warship, it falls into the clutches of a giant squid. An electric discharge fails to repel the monster, so Nemo orders the submarine to surface so that he and his men can try to dislodge the squid. While doing battle with the giant marine creature, Nemo is caught in one of its tentacles, but Ned jumps to Nemo's rescue and saves his life. This experience seems to have produced a change of heart in Nemo who now declares that he wants to make peace with the surface world.
Nearing Vulcania, the Nautilus finds itself surrounded by warships while marines are converging on his hideout. After going ashore, Nemo plants a bomb in his hideout, but receives a mortal gunshot wound to the back as he was returning to the Nautilus.
Nemo is eventually able to navigate the submarine away from Vulcania, and declares that he will be "taking the Nautilus down for the last time". His crew are also determined to accompany their captain in this last voyage of the Nautilus.
Nemo instructs The Nautilus's crew go to their cabins while Aronnax, Conseil, and Ned are confined to their cabins. Ned, however breaks free from his confinement and manages to resurface the Nautilus, causing it to strike a reef and to begin flooding. Nemo’s last image in this life is of his beloved ocean world through the Nautilus’s viewing window.
As Aronnax attempts to retrieve his journal containing an account of the voyage, he is knocked unconscious by Ned who carries him out and away from danger. Vulcania is destroyed in an explosion and the Nautilus slips out of sight beneath the waves. We are left with Nemo's last words to Aronnax:
"There is hope for the future. And when the world is ready for a new and better life, all this will someday come to pass, in God's good time."
Points Of Interest
Film Facts
“20.000 Leagues Under The Sea” won two Academy Awards; Best Art Direction – Color & Best Special Effects. The film was also nominated for one more; Best Film Editing.
“20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” was filmed at various locations in Bahamas and Jamaica.
The names that Verne used in his story have some interesting allusions and origins. Take Captain Nemo's name for instance. Here we have an allusion to Homer's Greek epic poem “Odyssey,” in which Odysseus during one of his wanderings meets the cyclops, Polyphemus who asks Odysseus his name. Odysseus tells him that his name is "Utis" (“No-man" or "No-body"). In Latin this translates as "Nemo" ("No-man" or "No-body"). Nemo like Odysseus is fated to wander the seas in exile and to suffer torment.
The name of the submarine, "Nautilus" is taken from one of the earliest successful submarines, built in 1800 by Robert Fulton, whose submarine was named after the paper nautilus because it had a sail. Prior to writing his novel, Jules Verne studied a model of the newly developed French Navy submarine Plongeur at the 1867 Exposition Universelle, which provided him with inspiration for his own fictional version.
The name of the penal colony island Rura Penthe in “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” is also the name of a fictional penal colony in Siberia in the 1869 Tolstoy novel “War and Peace” and the Klingon penal asteroid planet in Star Trek.
The famous giant squid attack sequence was shot twice: originally filmed as taking place at dusk and in a calm sea and again, at night and during a huge gale in order to increase the drama and conceal the mechanical components of the animatronic squid.
The Vision
Jules Verne seemed to have foreseen the atomic submarine powered by “the dynamic power of the universe” of today. In 1954, such a concept would have been very intriguing even for mid-20th century audiences. It was in fact, in 1954 that the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine, the United States Navy's USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was launched. Some say it was named for Verne's fictional vessel but was also named after another USS Nautilus (SS-168) that served with distinction in World War II. It wasn’t until the advent of specially-purposed submergence vehicles such as bathyscaphe Trieste in 1960 and DSV DeepSea Challenger in 2012 that we began to realize much of Verne’s submarine world vision.
Verne seems to have also foreseen the potential military applications of submarines. Considerer, for instance the danger which German U-boats later posed to the Royal Navy and other ships during the First and Second World Wars of the 20th Century, in the very same waters where Verne predicted it would take place.
Nautilus
When Captain Nemo constructed his Nautilus on Mysterious Island, the iron riveted ship was cutting-edge technology in ship building. No doubt even in the 21st century, the appearance of the Nautilus complete with its rivets, spines, internal workings and overall shape would be appealing for those who are fans of retro technology and steampunk.
As for the appearance of the Nautilus, it exudes a combination of sleek beauty and menace possessing as it does the features of both the shark and alligator, replete with pointed nose, menacing dorsal fin, sleek streamlined shape, distinctive tail and riveted alligator-like outer-skin. With the addition of its protective sawtooth spine, it seems that nothing can withstand its destructive ramming power when it decides to come in for the kill and take a bite out of its prey.
Characters
Nemo:
James Mason is well cast as Captain Nemo who he convincingly portrays as a tragic hero so far ahead of his time. On the one hand, he is misunderstood by a cruel and violent world that can only see him as being a monster to be hunted down and killed with harpoons and cannons. On the other hand, the flaws in Nemo’s character, together with the overwhelming and corrupting power of the technology he has developed has contributed to his becoming a kind of vengeful, sadistic and despotic monster.
Our first impression of Nemo is that he is a man who instantly commands respect. After the capture of Ned and his companions, Nemo enters and everyone stops moving and talking. He is a man who has “done with society” and as he states, “I do not obey its laws.” Nemo has the kind of almost megalomaniac personality that allows him to rise above the moral constraints of mere mortals. This obsessed and fanatical character jealously guards the secrets (“secrets that are mine alone”) of his power in the bony embrace of his vengeful hatred toward what he sees as the evils of humanity. It is up to others (and humanity) to prove their worth to him as Professor Aronnax was to find out when Nemo tested his loyalty and “love for fellow man” when given the choice to stay on board while his two companions drowned or join them and share their fate.
Captain Nemo may seem to be, as according to Ned, “cracked” and like a “mad dog,” but he is also a complex character. On the one hand, he is a product of ill-treatment and injustice considering what happened to him and his family within an unjust surface world replete with hunger, fear, conflict and unjust laws. How often in our history have such conditions given rise to sociopathic individuals and movements who have assumed and used power under the guise of combating injustice and inequality only to perpetuate even greater suffering among those who are subject to that power. On the other hand, Nemo’s mind and soul has been corrupted by the power he wields which in turn is fed by “the power of hate (that) can fill the heart as easily as love can.”
Nemo in his delusion can declare, “I am the avenger!” but the personal price he is paying for this is illustrated while he plays the organ prior to attacking the ship and its cargo of death. The organ music seems to reflect the inner anguish of this tragic hero as it echoes throughout the Nautilus: his ship, his world, his psyche, his being.
With Nemo, we have a man who ardently believes he can use the power he has “to lift mankind from the depths of hell” and raise it to the heights of heaven. However, when he was rescued from the giant squid by Ned he needs to ask him, “You saved my life? Why?” At this point Nemo could have been saved not only physically but also in a sense spiritually, but as Aronnax stated, “It would undo all his faith in Nautilus to admit to human goodness.” Still that one act did produce a change in Nemo.
And so we leave this character puzzling over someone who has the capacity to lead a civilized apparently Christian burial service to honour a dead crew member, while knowing full well that had he been in Ned’s place, he would not have tried to save him.
Ned:
Lying between the extremes of the Nemo character and the optimistic, kind-hearted man of reason in the form of Professor Arronax, we have Ned Land: the wisecracking, womanizing man of action who is at home in the world of harpoons, winds and currents. Although bearing little resemblance to Verne’s character, the film version reminds us of the carefree spirit that resides in each of us or which we might yearn for. A woman on each arm, a bit of ‘biff’ on the noses of those in authority or those who try to take us for a ride and of course, a “whale of a song”: all very appealing to any man on some level!
Ned is definitely in Nemo and Aronnax’s bourgeois eyes an uncultured slob who uses his knife as you would use a fork and talks with his mouth full of food. But, he knows enough to distinguish between “guests” and “prisoners” and it seems to be obvious which category he and his two companions fall into.
It was this simple sailor, Ned Land who not only saved Nemo from the monster from the ocean’s depths, but who almost in a sense was poised to save Nemo from another kind of monster-himself!
Conseil:
Although “20.000 Leagues Under The Sea” is an excellent adventure movie, it does contain quite a lot of humour. This humour often arises from the antics of Ned and Conseil. Take for instance, Conseil who dismisses Ned's message-in-a-bottle idea with, "That went out with Robinson Crusoe! This is the nineteenth century!" Not to mention seeing Peter Lorre being poked in the backside by a seal’s nose! Both Ned and Conseil manage to bounce off each other with very funny bantering and both make a fine comedy duo.
The presence of the character Conseil is far more than that of providing comedic relief. He serves as a kind of brake to Aronnax’s unbounded and optimistic scientific curiosity with his combined qualities of steadfast loyalty and considered caution. Contrast, for example, Aronnax’s wonder at Nemo’s submarine with Conseil’s warning that it might prove to be an “engine of destruction.” Nor is Conseil’s role merely one of unquestioningly assisting and supporting Aronnax. When he later realises that the professor has gone too far in his determination not to antagonise Nemo, Conseil tells him point blank that he values his own life above that of scientific achievement.
Aronnax:
Professor Aronnax is full or wonder and scientific curiosity about the achievements of Captain Nemo. He even manages to convince himself and his companions that he will attempt to learn as much as he can in order to win Nemo’s confidence. What he doesn’t realise is that by seeming to acquiesce to Nemo’s terms and conditions, he is running the risk of becoming a willing defender of and participant or collaborator in Nemo’s world view. When Aronnax declares that the world has use for someone like Nemo, it is Conseil who sarcastically replies with, “Whatever you say, Captain!” In Conseil’s eyes, the professor has become indistinguishable from his captor, Captain Nemo.
How often have we heard of captives and prisoners eventually closely identifying with their captors (Stockholm syndrome). How often throughout history have tyrannical and despotic regimes flourished because so many choose to acquiesce and collaborate out of fear or personal gain while instinctively knowing that they are really supporting something that is inimical to human rights, liberty and dignity. How easy it is for us to rationalize the choices we make no matter how detrimental to ourselves and others they may be.
The matter of personal choice is an important one and is alluded to in “20.000 Leagues Under The Sea.” We are presented with the optimistic line;
"There is hope for the future, and when the world is ready for a new, better life, all this will come to pass in God’s good time.”
One has to wonder whether the world is in fact ready, even in this 21st. Century. I suppose once each of us (like Ned) is unreservedly prepared to leap into the jaws of danger to save a fellow human being (friend, relative, stranger, enemy) then we might be ready. Once we can instinctively know the answer Nemo’s question, “You saved my life. Why?” if we were ever asked, only then might we be ready……
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The Mole People (1956)
An earnest film containing a mix of sympathetic monster characters, effective lighting and photography together with some ordinary production values and questionable acting performances
While on an archaeological dig in “Asia,” a group of archaeologists led by Dr Roger Bentley discovers what’s left of a five thousand year old Sumerian civilization living a subterranean existence atop a mountain in Mesopotamia.
Directed by Virgil W. Vogel
Produced by William Alland
Written by László Görög
Distributed by Universal-International
Shot in 17 days
Budget $200,000
Cast
John Agar: Dr. Roger Bentley
Cynthia Patrick: Adad (Adel)
Hugh Beaumont: Dr. Jud Bellamin
Alan Napier: Elinu, the High Priest
Nestor Paiva: Prof. Etienne Lafarge
Phil Chambers: Dr. Paul Stuart
Rodd Redwing: Nazar
Robin Hughes: First Officer
Frank Baxter: Frank Baxter
The Hollow Earth theory
The Hollow Earth theory proposes that the Earth is entirely hollow or consists of a significant interior space. It is widely considered to be pseudoscience and just part of one more conspiracy-type theory.
In ancient times, the concept of a subterranean realm was linked with the notion of a place of origin or with the afterlife, such as the Ancient Greek underworld or the Christian notion of Hell and portals that lead into a place of purgatory.
From Native American and Celtic mythology through to ancient Indian legends, there have been tales told of strange creatures and even ancestors emerging from a subterranean land inside the earth.
In 1692 Edmond Halley (English scientist who is best known for predicting the orbit of the comet that was later named after him). proposed that the Earth consisted of a hollow shell about 800 km or 500 miles thick containing two inner concentric shells and an innermost core, approximately the diameters of the planets Venus, Mars, and Mercury. Atmospheres were said to separate these shells, and each shell had its own magnetic poles. The spheres were supposed to rotate at different speeds. Halley believed that the atmosphere inside was luminous, that it was possibly inhabited and that it was escaping gas that caused the Aurora Borealis.
In 1818, John Cleves Symmes, Jr. proposed that the Earth consisted of a hollow shell approximately 1,300 km or 810 miles thick, with openings about 2,300 km or 1,400 miles across at both poles with 4 inner shells each open at the poles.
Contrary to the "Convex" hollow-Earth hypothesis by which humans live on the outside surface of a hollow planet, Cyrus Teed, a doctor from upstate New York proposed in 1869 a concave hollow Earth hypothesis which had humans living on the inside surface of a hollow spherical world, with our universe lying in that world's interior.
In more modern times there have been stories about some of Hitler's top advisors believing that the Earth was hollow (hohlweltlehre): that our surface is on the interior of a concave Earth. An expedition was supposedly sent to the Baltic island of Rugen to spy on the British fleet. Instead of training the cameras across the waters, they were pointed UP in order to observe across the atmosphere to the Atlantic Ocean! And what do you suppose was seen? Yep, nothing but sky.
Let’s not forget the stories about Hitler and many of his Nazi colleagues escaping Germany in the dying days of World War II and fleeing to Antarctica where at the South Pole they managed to locate an entrance to the Earth's interior. It has even been claimed that after the war 2,000 scientists who had gone missing from Germany and Italy along with almost a million people had wound up (in?) there as well!
It gets even more bizarre with claims about Nazi-designed UFOs and Nazi collaboration with the people who live in the center of the Earth……(And the moon landings along with Covid 19 are a hoax. They never really go away do they!)
Thank goodness then for the calm reassuring and reasoning presence of Francis C. Baxter, professor of English at the University of Southern California and better known as "Dr Research" in The Bell Laboratory Science Series of television specials from 1956–1962. Baxter appears as himself in a prologue to “The Mole People,” in which he presents us with a brief lecture about the theories that postulate the existence of places deep under the surface of the Earth where people can survive.
Baxter states that in an age where “men have reached out to the stars” the question remains: “what’s inside this globe?” Dante, for instance proposed that “under the surface there may be areas inhabitable by man.”
Baxter then goes on to mention John Cleves Symmes who is mentioned above. According to Baxter, in 1818 John Cleves Symmes proposed that the earth’s interior consisted of something like layers of an onion or five globes within globes which may be accessed via Siberia.
Baxter proceeds to cite a Cyrus Teed (also referred to above) who in 1870 proposed that we are not living on the outside of the earth but are instead living on the inside. Like Symmes, Cyrus Reed Teed did in fact exist and was a US physician and alchemist who became a religious leader and messiah. In 1869, claiming divine inspiration (in the best tradition of lunatic cult leader personality-types), Teed adopted the name Koresh (sound familiar?) and formulated a new set of scientific and religious ideas which he termed Koreshanity, (rhymes with “insanity” I guess!) including a Hollow Earth theory that has the Earth and sky existing inside the inner surface of a sphere.
Karl Neupert, according to Baxter was actually one of several twentieth-century German writers who published works advocating the Hollow Earth hypothesis. In the 1920s the Hollow Earth Theory was quite popular in Germany. Karl Neupert, with support of the NAZI regime, wrote the book Geokosmos which helped to turn the theory into something of a cult in Germany. According to Baxter, such ideas as Neupert’s envisioned the existence within our globe of the sun, the moon and a mass of “electrical potentiality.”
So, armed with some valid historical background, our familiar and authoritative Dr Baxter informs us about the premise, nature and purpose of the film we are about to see: namely, that “The Mole People” is both a work of “fiction” and a “fable” which has “meaning and significance for you and me in the 20th Century.”
The opening credits follow Baxter’s presentation and seem to ascend out of a steaming hot vent from deep within the bowels of the earth to the accompaniment of a heavy and ominous-sounding music score.
“In Archaeology, all things are possible.”
The film opens somewhere in “Asia” as if Asia, instead of containing independent countries with their own civilizations, was instead some kind of amorphous, vague and exotic region which was a concept that had stubbornly remained a part of European consciousness for a long time. (A similar homogeneous “clumping together” world view was held in recent history with regard to Communism and even more recently in relation to Islam!)
At an archaeological dig, Dr Roger Bentley, played by John Agar and Prof Etienne Lafarge, played by Nestor Paiva have their attention drawn to “some kind of stone tablet” which has just been uncovered.
Back at their tent, together with Dr. Jud Bellamin (Hugh Beaumont) and Dr. Paul Stuart (Phil Chambers), the tablet is about to be cleaned, examined and translated. It seems that the find was located just below the Great Flood level and is some 5000 years old. Suddenly the biblical flood has become historical fact! The inscription begins with “I Sharu? King of kings…” and may be related to the story of Gilgamesh and Ishtar and involves a dynasty that “suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth.”
A more ominous note is introduced concerning the tablet with the translation revealing the warning: “He who removes it with malice: May his name, his seed, his land be destroyed.” As often is the case in these kinds of films, right on cue an earthquake strikes the area and the tablet is broken. You Have Been Warned!
"Exactly. The flood has been proven to be a historical fact, why not a Sumerian version?"
Later on a young boy discovers an artifact that the earthquake seems to have dislodged from further up a mountain. He brings the artifact to Bentley and after it is cleaned it turns out to be an ancient oil lamp shaped like a boat. The inscription appears to be some kind of Sumerian version of the biblical Noah's Ark story.
{The Sumerian version - Utnapishtim and the flood - is actually found in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Utnapishtim was tasked by Enki to abandon his worldly possessions and create a giant ship called “The Preserver of Life.” He was also required to bring his wife, family, relatives, craftsmen of his village, baby animals and grains. All animals and humans that were not on the ship would wiped out in the oncoming flood}
The party of scientists now decide to follow in the direction where the evidence seems to be pointing them: to the mountain where the artifact came from.
“The thing that impresses me most is the complete and utter silence. You can almost hear it.”
A base camp is set up and a final assault on the mountain is due to commence the next day. As if the mountain’s spirit is angry with the humans for their intrusion, a storm blasts the base camp that evening.
As they set off on the climb up the mountain the next morning we see a fairly good low budget blending of archive film footage and actors simulating the climb. Suddenly an avalanche brings down an artifact – an arm from a statue. As the party of scientists continue climbing they stumble upon the 5,000 year old ruins of an ancient Sumerian civilization. They later happen upon the face of the goddess Ishtar.
{The film’s story tries to connect the goddess Ishtar and the Sumerians whereas Ishtar was the Babylonian counterpart of the Sumerian goddess Inanna.}
While Dr. Stuart walks around the ruins, he falls down through an opening in the ground. This is followed by an interminably long rescue attempt as the rest of the party descend on ropes to save their comrade. Notice that throughout the descent there is no music or sound effects. The sense of impending danger is implicit in this silent claustrophobic alien underworld as our protagonists make their silent descent almost echoing Ishtar’s descent to the underworld.
As the rescue party makes its way down, Lafarge, who is older than the rest appears to be struggling. It’s time for “let’s pick off the old geezer” as we are prepared for this character being the weak link later on. They eventually - and I mean eventually – locate Stuart’s dead body. Now it’s time for “let’s get rid of an unnecessary character” as Nazar notices a loose piton and attempts to secure it. His hammering triggers a rock fall and he is conveniently killed while the remaining three men find themselves trapped.
As the three men search for a way out, a claustrophobic Lafarge begins to experience breathing problems. The cavern they are in appears to be excavated and not naturally formed. They continue wandering through the cave and are followed by some (mole-like) creature with long claws.
The party eventually discover a light source, which reveals a large cavern containing an underground city. Notice that the city in this matte effect doesn’t seem to be very much to scale. The light in the cavern appears to be produced by a chemical in the rocks. At least we will be able to see what is going on which is more than you can say for many films these days featuring interior or subterranean scenes.
“There’s going to be history rewritten when we get out of here.”
The men then find a large tablet informing them they have discovered the temple of Ishtar. As they settle down for the night in the most uncomfortable manner possible, a bizarre looking creature emerges from the ground. Soon after, the three men are attacked, sacks are placed over their heads, and in a very unnerving process of capture they are literally pulled into and under the ground.
“Gentlemen, we are in 3000BC!”
When the men awake they discover they are in a cave and that Lafarge has nasty-looking claw marks on his chest. Dr Bellamin comments, “Claw marks! Maybe a hand - -four cuts” to which Bentley responds with, “Some hand. Whoever it was needs a manicure.” (Hey guys! Lafarge is in pain and distress here!)
Two pasty faced albino-looking humans appear and direct the three intruders to follow them. The scientists are taken to the city and presented to the High Priest, Ilinu played by Alan Napier. Ilinu concludes that the strangers pose a danger to their world seeing that from the inhabitants’ point of view, “this is the world and (they) are its people.”
A bit later the men conclude that “we made them doubt their world” and question the notion that “their answers are the only answers.” On this basis and motivated by a dose of self-interest, Ilinu informs the king that the strangers are evil. After the king concludes questioning the three archaeologists, the high priest pronounces a sentence of death for them whereby whether they are spirits or otherwise, they “will die in the fire of Ishtar.”
{For some reason the chevron “magic eye of Ishtah” atop the “golden rod” looks a lot like the symbol or emblem from the 70s sci-fi series "Blakes Seven." Ishtar’s symbol was actually an eight-pointed star meant to represent Venus!}
Not being slow on the uptake, the three men make themselves scarce by fleeing into a cave, with guards in close pursuit.
The men soon discover the eyes of the city’s inhabitants “can’t tolerate the light” being albino and adapted to a world without sunlight. When the three intruders shine their flashlight in the faces of the First Officer, the King and High Priest, all three vampire-like retreat from the light.
Meanwhile when a strange creature pulls the body of one of the guards underground, Lafarge runs panic-stricken into one of the caves, followed by Bentley and Bellamin who then stumble upon a scene from hell. It is a slave labor camp where alien reptilian-looking creatures are being mercilessly whipped and are forced to cultivate mushrooms which are the local food source. Bentley and the audiences’ indignation toward the creatures’ treatment and sympathy for them is aroused at this point. However, one might wonder why the creatures don’t just slip away under the earth out of reach of the humans and their whips!
Suddenly, Laforge is attacked and killed by one of the creatures which is quickly driven off by the flashlight. The remaining two men bury Laforge right there as he was a man who devoted his life to the world of the past – a place “where he always lived.”
“The divine fire of Ishtar"
When Bentley and Bellamin return to the city they are met by the high priest who informs them that they are welcome back to the city and are now considered to be “holy messengers” who "possess the divine fire of Ishtar."
Later on during the course of a feast, one of the servants, Adel played by Cynthia Patrick drops a bowl of mushrooms. For this, she is ordered to be whipped but Bentley intervenes to stop the punishment. It is obvious that she is not albino like the others, but is instead pigmented much like the outsiders. The King presents Adel as a gift to Bentley.
{Cynthia Patrick's character in the film is called Adel, but appears as Adad in the end credits. Interestingly enough, Adad is an Akkadian (Akkadian Empire reference to the Semitic speaking state that emerged around the city of Akkad north of Sumer) storm-god, counterpart to the Sumerian Ishkur.}
The High Priest informs the outsiders that Adel is not human but is instead a "marked one" who bares the “mark of darkness.” (I’m afraid that very much like we surface-dwelling “humans,” these subterranean Sumerian survivors share human beings’ prejudicial penchant for discrimination based on something as superficial as skin pigmentation or other trivial forms of physical, cultural, ideological, linguistic or religious and gender differences!)
The King and Priest go on to explain that when the population gets too large its size is maintained by sacrificing excess numbers in the fire of Ishtar. How often in our own history have we seen nations, communities, sects and crazy cults arrive at the logical conclusion of the ends justifying the means with disastrous consequences in terms of loss of life and liberty. Strangely enough the principle often doesn’t extend to the power elites of such societies!
Bentley and Adel later talk about the notion of freedom which Adel can’t seem to comprehend: “Free? What is free?” When Bentley explains that it is something akin to “a world of light above the darkness,” Adel responds with the observation, “you are speaking of heaven, my lord.” (A sentiment we ought to remember as we watch freedoms both at home and around the world slowly being eroded, whittled away and blithely handed over to corporations, institutions and the State!)
As Bentley and Bellamin tour the city the next day. the High Priest together with his fellow priests meet to discuss and question the outsiders’ divinity and put together a plan to get the flashlight. They want to show the king that the strangers are not divine, but are instead mere mortals. If they are removed, so too will the threat to their status and power be removed. As the High Priest states, “Dealing with the divine is *our* office. If we abandon the smallest particle of it to outsiders, our position will soon come to naught.” Sound familiar? Ah, nothing like a good dose of vested interests to block the path to peace, freedom, equality and stifle genuine positive progress!
{As a side note, have you noticed that in the background the writing on the walls of the king's and high priest's chambers appears to be Egyptian hieroglyphics? However, the civilization concerned is supposed to be Sumerian! I demand that after a thorough whipping, we sacrifice the person responsible for this inconsistency!}
Bentley and Bellamin intervene when three of the creatures are being whipped and beaten, but as luck would have it their flashlight batteries begin to fail foreshadowing what is soon to follow.
The creatures are now free and are in open revolt but as a result, food production has been reduced. The subterranean death-cult’s answer to this dilemma? Let’s have another sacrifice! Yea!
A pretty cool ritual dance is performed and is followed by three women being escorted into a dazzlingly illuminated chamber where they are locked in. When the chamber is later opened, their charred remains are carried out on stretchers.
Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t the subterranean Sumerians super-sensitive to light? After all, they had to shield their eyes from the light when the door to the chamber was opened. Then why aren’t the three women who were selected for the sacrifice similarly affected? They were able to walk into the chamber containing the Fire of Ishtar with their eyes wide open! Well, time for more whippings and sacrifices! Let’s find those responsible for continuity or lack of it!
High time in the film now for a spanner or two to be thrown into the works: A nasty complication as arisen with the discovery of the dead body of Lafarge. Far from being a “divine messenger who has gone to heaven” or called back to Ishtar, it is apparent to the High Priest and to the king that he is merely mortal. The King agrees with the High Priest to have Bentley and Bellamin killed.
Bentley and Bellamin are drugged via a meal of mushrooms and are hauled away. Elinu has gained possession of the flashlight. For him it represents “the power of heaven” which he can use “to control the beasts of the dark, the people and... yes, if need be, even a faltering king himself.”
We are next treated to a rather aimless and comical dash hither and thither by Adel who oddly makes her way to the cavern containing the creatures. From this point it all looks as though the action is being made up as it goes along with Adel being captured by the creatures of the dark; Bentley and Bellamin being taken to the sacrificial chamber; Adel popping up again and being appallingly directed by someone; the creatures lumbering in, attacking the city in force and killing the inhabitants along with the King and High Priest and finally the creatures breaking open the sacrificial chamber and being repelled by the light.
“To your people it was a burning death; To us it’s life.”
The final scene has Adel unaffected by the light joining Bentley and Bellamin on their ascent back to the surface. After they reach the top and change into warmer clothes, an earthquake conveniently hits the area. Adel is suddenly overcome with the urge to run around aimlessly in circles and is killed when a stone pillar crushes her. As luck, social sensitivities and story writers would have it, all evidence of the underground city is buried and no-one really lives all that happily ever after……
“The Mole People” is certainly a work of fiction held together with flimsy gossamer threads of fact. It is indeed also a fable that reveals much of what lies beneath the surface of humanity’s soul which more often than not doesn’t take all that much digging to reveal……
The Land Unknown (1957)
A rather simplistic sci-fi adventure film
Directed by Virgil W. Vogel
Produced by William Alland
Written by Charles Palmer, William N. Robson, László Görög
Music by Henry Mancini, Hans J. Salter, Herman Stein
Cineatography: Ellis W. Carter
Edited by Fred MacDowell
Distributed by Universal-International
Running time: 78 minutes
Cast
Jock Mahoney: Cmndr. Harold 'Hal' Roberts
Shirley Patterson: Margaret 'Maggie' Hathaway
William Reynolds: Lt. Jack Carmen
Henry Brandon: Dr. Carl Hunter
Douglas Kennedy: Capt. Burnham
Phil Harvey: Machinist's Mate, Steve Mill
[Spoilers follow.....]
The Land Unknown
A Children’s Story
Once upon a time three men and a lady crash-landed in a deep crater in the far off great continent at the bottom of the world called Antarctica, where they found a mysterious land unknown to the rest of the world.
Antarctica is very, very, very cold!
Before these three people went on their big adventure, they first met up in the capital of the United States of America, Washington, D.C. where an important soldier called Capt. Burnham was telling a lot of other soldiers all about Antarctica.
Capt. Burnham told everyone there that Antarctica is "Five million square miles of terra incognita." That just means it is really, really big and pretty much unknown, even these days!
The captain told everyone there that their job was to sail to Antarctica and make a lot of maps of the place so it wouldn’t be so unknown anymore. But even more importantly, they were meant to explore a warm area that was surrounded by all that ice.
How did the warm area get there?
It wasn’t supposed to be there!
Suddenly, in came a pretty lady called, Miss Margaret Hathaway, a reporter with Oceanic Press. We’ll call her Maggie. She was a bit naughty for being late but she did the right thing and apologized for arriving late.
All the men suddenly stopped looking at Capt. Burnham when Maggie walked in and turned to stare at her as if she were a beautiful princess. I think maybe the silly men had never ever seen a lady before in their lives. Their mummies had certainly never told them that it is rude to stare.
Capt. Burnham asked Maggie, “Now would you care to meet some of the men you'll be working with?”
Maggie seemed very happy about this when she replied, “I always love to meet men, Captain.” In fact, Maggie must have been really used to men because she told the captain that she once “was alone with half a million of them for three months in Korea.” Imagine that! My, she must have been VERY busy getting to know all those men!
So, being alone with only 800 men in Antarctica would be a cinch for Maggie!
Maggie soon met some other people who were going on the expedition to the big land of ice and snow. Funnily enough they were all men, which probably explains why they were so shocked to see Maggie when she walked in.
First, there was Commander Alan Roberts. For some reason, he was also known as Harold or Hal. He was a geophysicist which means his job was to work out what it was like inside the earth from what was happening on the outside or the surface of the earth. He was a very important man.
To make sure they got around quickly in Antarctica and that they could land in difficult places, there was also the whirligig copter pilot, Lt. Jack Carmen.
Pretty soon the expedition ships sailed off to Antarctica. But just as they were approaching the coast of the Ross Ice Pack, a humongous lot of ice blocked their way which meant that the expedition would be two weeks behind schedule.
Alan, Jack, Maggie and another man, a mechanic called Steve Miller took off from their ship in the whirligig copter. Suddenly an angry looking storm approached which meant they had to return at once. I don’t blame them. I’m terrified of lightning! Are you? At that moment, they caught sight of the warm region of Antarctica that wasn’t supposed to be there.
Just as Jack spotted a break in the clouds to get through the passing storm, a pterodactyl or flying dinosaur swooped at the whirligig copter damaging it. Oh No!
Down, down they slowly went way below sea level, all the way to 2500 feet as the temperature rapidly climbed to 91 degrees.
At last they broke through the clouds and landed in a strange yucky sticky humid place filled with plants and trees and blanketed by a thick fog or mist. Until the whirligig copter could be fixed, this is where they would have to stay, I’m afraid!
It seemed like it was a spooky and dangerous place with odd plants that had tentacles, bubbling mud springs and pterodactyls. One of the plants almost got poor Maggie but she moved away in time. It turned out that they were trapped in a primitive prehistoric forest.
How did the forest get there?
Clever Cmdr. Roberts told the others, "It's my guess that this valley is still in the Mesozoic Era." The Mesozoic Era occurred a very, very, VERY long time ago: 252 to 66 million years ago. The dinosaurs are thought to have become extinct about 65 million years ago.
Well, the repairs to the whirligig copter weren’t going very well and there was no luck with trying to contact the base using the radio. All they could do was to set up a camp nearby.
What would YOU do if you were lost and stuck in a strange place and couldn’t get home?
The next day the sound of a search-aircraft’s engines could be heard above the cloud layer. HOORAY! Jack tried using the radio to contact them but, oh my gosh, the signal was too weak to be heard. What a shame!
The four grown-ups soon realized just how much danger they were in when they came across two giant lizards fighting. The fight also attracted a T-Rex who we’ll call, “Thumper.” He was a dinosaur known as Tyrannosaurus Rex. Tyrannosaurus walked on two powerful legs and was a meat eater that measured up to 40 feet in length and
weighed up to 10 tons.
So, when Jack fired his revolver at Thumper Rex, it had no effect. All the grown-ups could do was to rush into the whirligig copter and fire up the engine.
Now, your mommies have probably warned you about NOT putting your fingers near the blades of fans, right? Not so for Mr Thumper Rex! He just kept THUMP -THUMPING and GGRRR - GGRRRING toward the whirligig copter until the spinning blades sliced through his skin - OUCH! - making him awfully mad.
As Mr Thumper Rex got ready for another attack, the loud mysterious sound of a horn startled him and caused him to retreat.
What was that sound?
Where did it come from?
What had made it?
The grown-ups felt it was safe to leave the whirligig copter and move their food and supplies to the copter’s cabin. What a surprise it must have been when they discovered that many of the cans of food had been opened! Who could have done this? Oh, no! That would only mean they were not alone!
Later on, Jack, Alan and Steve discovered footprints and a scrap of Maggie’s clothing.
What could this mean?
It turned out that Maggie had gone off to get some water for a small monkey they had earlier found. When she was returning to the copter, she was surprised by a large lizard. This caused her to drop the poor little monkey which was captured and eaten by the tentacle plant.
You would never ever wander off by yourself, especially in a strange place, would you? Maggie unfortunately did and this is what happened…
Just at that point, Maggie was kidnapped by a stranger who put her in a raft and rowed away with her.
Maggie’s kidnapper took her down river to his cave shelter. When she woke up he said to her, "The whole valley is mine. Everything in it belongs to me, including you." He sounded like a very bad man. He also lied to Maggie when he told her that the others were dead.
However, Maggie soon noticed the three men rowing towards the cave in their raft. Luckily Jack, Alan and Steve managed to rescue Maggie when she screamed just as the stranger began grabbing hold of her against her will.
Maggie was very clever to make as much noise and commotion as possible to attract attention to her.
It turned out that the man was called Dr. Carl Hunter, that he had been part of the 1945 expedition to Antarctica and that he had survived a plane crash in which three others had been on board.
Dr Hunter had been alone for an awfully long time. He even wanted the others to agree to leave Maggie behind in return for the location of the plane’s wreckage and the parts that could be of use.
Alan said to Hunter, “We'll find the wreck without your help.” Hunter then replied:
“Maybe you will if you aren't trampled to death first or eaten alive or die of starvation. Wait till the Antarctic night comes and for nine months the black air hangs round you like a rotten rag and your eyes are blinded from the dark and from your own sweat, and you lose each other - and you're alone – alone!”
Being so alone in such a dangerous situation for so long must have had a big effect on Hunter who no longer thought and behaved in a civilized way. I guess he also must have liked Maggie very much and would have preferred her company probably as much as those half a million men in Korea would have!
As it turned out Jack, Alan and Steve took Maggie back with them and left the cave leaving Dr Hunter all alone again.
While Dr. Hunter spent his time smashing dinosaur eggs and blowing his conch shell to make a strange sound to drive dinosaurs away, Alan and Maggie were harassed yet again by bad-tempered Mr Thumper Rex. Now we know where that earlier sound came from. Maggie also managed to fall into the clutches of the tentacle plant. Luckily she was saved by Dr Hunter who was nearby watching her. After doing that, he quickly left.
It wasn’t long before Jack, Alan, Steve and Maggie realized that they only had about three days left before winter time and the freezing of Antarctica and the end of any rescue attempts that might be made. TICK-TOCK: Time was running out!
While Jack and Steve went off to search for the 1945 expedition wreckage, Maggie managed to slip away from Alan and row off down the river using a raft.
Can you work out what she was planning to do and why it was so brave of her to do so?
Unknown to Maggie, a huge prehistoric creature was lurking under the water - a Plesiosaurus. That creature was aquatic which means that it lived in the water. Let’s call it “Nessie” after its famous relative in Loch Ness, Scotland.
Maggie could not see Nessie slowly but surely approaching her raft. Hunter could see it though! He moved in closer with his raft which had two lit torches attached to the front of it. He also blew his conch horn to frighten Nessie away and warn Maggie of the approaching danger.
When Nessie was close enough, Hunter threw a lit spear right into its mouth – good shot! - but Nessie was clever enough to put it out by going under the water. Nessie once again had another lit spear thrown into its mouth. Meanwhile, Hunter with Maggie's raft tied to his raft rowed back to his cave shelter.
Steve saw Hunter carry Maggie into the cave and followed him in. Steve and Hunter then had a big fight which Steve won. Steve then did a very bad thing: he used fire to get Hunter to tell him where the site of the wreckage was. Sometimes grown-ups can do some very wicked things if they’re desperate enough. This never makes it right though!
Jack and Alan arrived at the cave in time to stop Steve’s cruelty from going any further. Hunter then gave Alan a map showing the site of the wreckage. While Jack, Alan and Steve went to find the wreckage, Maggie stayed behind with Hunter and helped to take care of his injuries.
It looks like Alan was right when he said, “It is true that you can't live among beasts without becoming one. It is just as true that you can't live among human beings without becoming affected by their humanity.”
At the wreckage site, Jack, Alan and Steve found the graves of the men who had died in the 1945 expedition. They also found an aircraft spare part that would work on their whirligig copter.
A bit later Maggie heard the sound of the copter’s engine and decided to return to camp. As she approached the cave shelter’s exit, Nessie appeared and Maggie was knocked down to the cave floor. Luckily, Hunter managed to pick her up and take her outside.
Back at camp, Mr Thumper Rex decided it was pay-back time and steadily made his way toward the men and the repaired whirligig copter. Just as he got there, the copter lifted off. Never mind Mr Thumper Rex!
The three men then flew a bit further on towards the river where they used a winch to pull Maggie up off Hunter's raft and get her aboard the copter. Just like in those helicopter sea-rescues you sometimes see on the news on TV!
Meanwhile, Nessie and Hunter battled it out on the river below. When Nessie caught sight of the flaming torches he ducked under the water and then WHOOSH! resurfaced under Hunter’s raft causing Hunter to fall off into the water. Then KABAM! Nessie smashed Hunter with his flipper.
Just in the nick of time, Hunter was saved from certain death by Alan who fired a flare into Nessie’s mouth. By now Nessie’s mouth must have felt like yours would if you had eaten chillies, wasabi or a hot pepperoni pizza.
As Nessie sank under the water, brave Alan jumped into the river from the copter and put the harness around Hunter. After both men were aboard, the grownups flew out of the strange land unknown.
As they approached the ship, they realized that they were very low on fuel. OH NO! Don’t tell us it was going to end like that! Not after all they had been through! To crash in the ocean so close to the deck of the ship? Yes, they did crash but luckily all five grownups were rescued.
Later on, when Alan and Maggie were together on the ship’s deck, Alan told Maggie there might be another expedition the very next year and he asked her if she would like to come along. And guess what Maggie said: "No thanks, I've had it!" Who could blame her!
Maggie went on to ask Alan, “Well, who'd stay home with the baby?” Alan didn’t at first get what she meant when he replied, “Sure, who'd stay... What baby?” He finally got it when she said to him, “Ours, silly. Why by this time next year...” As they kissed they knew they would live happily ever after…….
Points of Interest
“The Land Unknown” does have good direction and pacing and has managed to create a convincing fog-shrouded prehistoric landscape, but the low budget special effects are very ordinary. The Tyrannosaurus looks like nothing more than a man wearing a costume. The lizards are just….lizards! How many times have we seen enlarged lizards battle it out on the screen?!
Characters
Jock Mahoney as Commander Harold Roberts, is your typical square-jawed hero.
Shirley Patterson as lady reporter Maggie serves pretty much as eye candy and plays the usual fainting damsel-in-distress who needs frequent rescuing from those who wish to possess her.
Mechanic Steve is a more realistic character combining essential elements of humanity along with the kind of human flaws we are all subject to.
The main stand-out character would be Dr. Carl Hunter played by Henry Brandon. Brandon manages to adequately convey the impression that he's been stuck in the prehistoric unknown land alone for so many years. Rather than evolving, Hunter has devolved!
Byrd expedition: Historical Fact & Fiction
“The Land Unknown” does manage to cleverly incorporate the historical incident of the plane lost in the Byrd expedition of 1946. In the incident of the lost Antarctic plane in 1947, six men survived and were rescued 13 days later.
Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, Jr., USN (Ret) organized a United States Navy operation called, Operation High jump, (The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946–1947). Operation High jump commenced on 26 August 1946 and ended in late February 1947. Task Force 68 included 4,700 men, 13 ships, and 33 aircraft. Its primary mission was to establish the Antarctic research base Little America IV.
Operation High jump's objectives were said to include;
Training personnel and testing equipment in extremely cold conditions.
Maintaining and extending United States' sovereignty over the largest practicable area of the Antarctic continent.
Determining the feasibility of establishing, maintaining, and utilizing bases in the Antarctic continent and investigating possible base sites.
Developing techniques for establishing, maintaining, and utilizing air bases on ice.
Adding to knowledge of electromagnetic, geological, geographic, hydro-graphic, and meteorological conditions in the region.
The Byrd expedition has also managed to generate its share of fairy tale conspiracy theory stories. Stupidity and gullibility abhors a vacuum especially if that vacuum is the product of secrecy and misinformation.
Questions have been raised concerning the haste with which a huge military so-called scientific expedition was mounted merely one year after the Second World War ended.
Prior to the war, the Nazis supposedly explored a portion of the Antarctic coast, naming it New Swabia. They then were thought to have constructed underground bases where Nazi scientists commenced working on a flying saucer, the construction of which was allegedly based on a crashed UFO found in Bavaria in 1938. Sounds perfectly reasonable, right? Right?
With the war going pear-shaped for Germany, Nazi scientists and other personnel were whisked away by U-boats to the secret bases in New Swabia to continue work on the Nazi flying saucer super weapon.
Enter Admiral Byrd. His mission, it was claimed, was to locate the saucers along with the remaining Nazis. Somehow Byrd managed to meet with some aliens during a missing three-hour period of a flight. Shortly thereafter, the Byrd Expedition was called off prematurely, without much explanation.
Life - “A tale told by an idiot” or A story written for a child?
This leads me to the question of why I decided to present the plot of the film, “The Land Unknown” in a style similar to that of a children’s story (with a lot of cheek and tongue in cheek).
It struck me just how much of life we experience occurs at the level of a children’s story especially when it is stripped of its complexities and frequent dire consequences for individuals, communities and humanity itself.
Take for instance, our interpersonal relationships; conflicts; wars; arguments; disputes; concerns; worries; stresses; preoccupations; economic, social and political arrangements; work place politics; social and other media representations of and commentaries on reality and so on.
Hey, just think back to the 2016 US Presidential election campaign! Now there’s a prime example of a children’s story. Strip away all the bluster, the angst, the extraneous detail (not policy detail!) and minutiae and what are we left with? Goodies and baddies; heroes and villains; one dimensional cut-out characters; simplistic plot lines. The question we are left with at the end is:
Who if anyone will truly live happily ever after?
**********
I hope you enjoyed this volume of “Sci-Fi Film Fiesta.”
Keep an eye out for Volume 5, Alien Contact.
Useful Resources
Atkinson, Barry., Atomic Age Cinema The Offbeat, the Classic and the Obscure, Midnight Marquee Press, Inc.; 2013
Bliss, Michael., Invasions USA The Essential Science Fiction Films of the 1950s, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2014.
Fischer, Dennis., Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998, McFarland, 2011
Gardner, Marshall B., A Journey to the Earth's Interior - mysterious hollow earth 1913., (2009 by BiblioLife)
Geraghty, Lincoln., American Science Fiction Film and Television, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009
Hendershot, Cyndy., Paranoia, The Bomb, And 1950s Science Fiction Films, University of Wisconsin Press, 1999
Koca, Gary., Good and Bad Sci-Fi/Horror Movies of the 1950s: And the Stars Who Were in Those Films, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017
McBride, James & Symmes, John Cleves., Symmes's Theory of Concentric Spheres / Demonstrating that the Earth is hollow, habitable within, and widely open about the pole.,Morgan, Lodge and fisher, 1828
Moore, Theresa M., & Carlyle, Patrick C., Science Fiction Films of The 20th Century 1950-1954, Antellus, 2019
Moore, Theresa M., Science Fiction Films of The 20th Century 1955-1956, Antellus, 2019
Moore, Theresa M., Science Fiction Films of The 20th Century 1958 Anrellus, 2019
Standish, David.,Hollow Earth: The Long and Curious History of Imagining Strange Lands, Fantastical Creatures, Advanced Civilization., Da Capo Press 2006
Swartz, Tim., Admiral Byrd's Secret Journey Beyond The Poles., Global Communications Conspiracy Journal, 2007
Warren, Bill., Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Films of the Fifties: McFarland; 21st Century Edition, 2016
Useful Links To On-Line Resources
Unknown World (1951)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
The Mole People (1956)
The Land Unknown (1957)
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