Undersea Kingdom (1936)

Crash Corrigan, a recent graduate of Annapolis, and Diana, a go-getting reporter, join Professor Norton for a search for the source of a string of earthquakes, Atlantis. They ride Prof. ... See full summary »

Directors:

B. Reeves Eason, Joseph Kane

Writers:

John Rathmell (screenplay), Maurice Geraghty (screenplay),

Stars:

Ray Corrigan, Lois Wilde, Monte Blue

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ray Corrigan	...	Crash Corrigan (as Ray 'Crash' Corrigan)
Lois Wilde	...	Diana Compton
Monte Blue	...	Unga Khan
William Farnum	...	Sharad
Boothe Howard	...	Ditmar
Raymond Hatton	...	Gasspon
C. Montague Shaw	...	Prof. Norton
Lee Van Atta	...	Billy Norton
Smiley Burnette	...	Briny Deep
Frankie Marvin	...	Salty
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Capt. Hakur
Lane Chandler	...	Darius
Jack Mulhall	...	Lt. Andrews [Chs. 1, 12]
John Bradford	...	Joe [Ch. 1]
Malcolm McGregor	...	Zogg

Storyline

Crash Corrigan, a recent graduate of Annapolis, and Diana, a go-getting reporter, join Professor Norton for a search for the source of a string of earthquakes, Atlantis. They ride Prof. Norton's rocket submarine searching the sea and little Billy Norton, the professor's son stows away, of course. When they find Atlantis they are caught in a war between peaceful Atlanteans, note their white capes, and war-monging Atlanteans, note their black capes. After many harrowing moments for Crash, Diana, Prof. Norton and Billy, they barely get away with their lives when they escape a tower of Atlantis raised to the surface for the sole purpose of dominating or destroying the Earth (Which one depends on the compliance of the upper world dwellers.)

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Plot Keywords:

atlantis | professor | rocket | earthquake | escape | 

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Taglines:

BATTLING UNKNOWN TERRORS IN A LAND OF PERIL UNDER THE OCEAN'S FLOOR! (original 1936 poster)

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Adventure

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 May 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Império Submarino

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$99,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

226 min 226 min (12 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor High Fidelity System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chapter titles:

• 1. Beneath The Ocean Floor
• 2. Undersea Kingdom
• 3. Arena of Death
• 4. Revenge of The Volkites
• 5. Prisoners of Atlantis
• 6. Juggernaut Strikes
• 7. Submarine Strikes
• 8. Into The Metal Tower
• 9. Death In The Air
• 10. Atlantis Destroyed
• 11. Flaming death
• 12. Ascent To The Upperworld

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Goofs

In the first episode, when Diana (Lois Wilde) and the Doctor are speaking, he calls her Lois.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[flexing muscles during a Naval Academy physical]
Crash Corrigan: How 'bout it, Doc. Do you think I'll live?
Navy Doctor [Ch. 1]: You look kind of weak and puny, but I think you'll pull through.

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Connections

Featured in Horrible Horror (1986)

User Reviews

There are no women in Atlantis.

This serial was cranked out even quicker than usual for Republic, in direct response to Universal's instant classic, Flash Gordon, and is, overall, rather sub-par for a Republic production.

Our hero, Crash Corrigan, is an attempt at creating a poor man's Buster Crabbe, and while he is likable, adequate and has the right build and physical abilities to be a serial hero, he does not exude sufficient charisma, charm, virtue or cleverness so as to have us in our seats cheering him on.

The main villain, Unga Khan, is an unsuccessful attempt to create an ersatz Ming the Merciless, looking more brain-damaged than sinister.

And while Crash is adequate, most of the rest of the cast are either bland or sub-par, the exception being guy who played Unga Khan's main henchmen, who was pretty good. There is a just awful kid, Billy, the son of a geriatric scientist, who you keep hoping will get killed off, but no, he survives.

And there is a nice-looking female lead who gets almost nothing to do the entire serial, and there are no romantic sparks between her and our hero, until the final chapter.

Speaking of romantic sparks or the lack thereof, it is interesting to note that in the Kingdom of Atlantis, wherein our adventure occurs, there appear to be exactly zero women, until our aforementioned heroine arrives. I mean, in a literal sense, that although this serial has many male actors and extras, there is only 1 female throughout the whole 12 chapters. How this city's population has perpetuated itself these many thousands of years is a mystery not discussed, nor is the means by which the many, many male inhabitants of Atlantis relieved their sexual urges.

This aspect of Atlantean life, plus the many scenes of our hero stripped down to his trunks wrestling other men stripped down to their trunks, not to mention the fact that Corrigan's Atlantean costume greatly resembles that of a Las Vegas showgirl, that gives rise to much speculation.

This serial has neither the verisimilitude of the classic Republic serials, nor the delirious phantasmagoria of Flash Gordon. Thus, it is amusing to see a couple chapters, but, and I say this as a fan of the classic serials, I found it tiresome to watch in its entirety.

I should, however, give due praise to the fine miniature work by the Lydecker Brothers, and note that this serial marks the premier of the great Republic "water heater" robots, who would continue to appear in serials for the next 20 years. Thus, fans of Republic should see at least a chapter or two, and fans of serials, B-films, and kitch can also enjoy a couple chapters. But the whole things will probably be more than you need.