City Beneath the Sea (1953)

Two American divers are distracted by fair ladies and skulduggery while trying to salvage a gold ship off Jamaica.

Director:

Budd Boetticher

Writers:

Harry E. Rieseberg (book), Jack Harvey (screenplay),

Stars:

Robert Ryan, Mala Powers, Anthony Quinn

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Ryan	...	Brad Carlton
Mala Powers	...	Terry McBride
Anthony Quinn	...	Tony Bartlett
Suzan Ball	...	Venita aka Mary Lou Beetle
George Mathews	...	Capt. Meade aka Ralph Sorensen
Karel Stepanek	...	Dwight Trevor
Hilo Hattie	...	Mama Mary
Lalo Rios	...	Calypso
Woody Strode	...	Djion
John Warburton	...	Captain Clive
Peter Mamakos	...	Captain Pedro Mendoza
Barbara Morrison	...	Madame Cecile
LeRoi Antoine	...	Calypso singer
Leon Lontoc	...	Kip
Marya Marco	...	Half caste woman

Storyline

Divers Brad and Tony arrive in Jamaica to attempt salvage of the "Lady Luck," sunk with all hands and a million in gold. They charter a boat, "American Beauty," skippered by attractive Terry McBride, but cannot find the ship. But there's more to the "Lady Luck" than meets the eye, and undersea skullduggery forms a counterpoint to Brad's romance with Terry, and Tony's with cabaret singer Venita.

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Plot Keywords:

gold | singer | earthquake | scheme | boat | 

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Taglines:

Fabulous Lost World -- at the Bottom of the Sea!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 March 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Stadt unter dem Meer

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Brad Carlton: You'd better wake up, get your mind off money. Think of something constructive, like dames.

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Connections

Referenced in Dragnet: The Big Hit-Run Killer (1954)

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Soundtracks

"DAMBALLA"
(uncredited)
Written and Performed by LeRoi Antoine

User Reviews

Is this the quintessential 50s Hollywood B-movie?

Universal-International studios. Two tough American buddies (Robert Ryan, Anthony Quinn). Sunken treasure off the Caribbean. Plots about scuttled ships and sunken gold. A thuggish sea-captain. Giant squids. A set-piece bar-room brawl. Even voodoo drums. Tacky colour. You can almost picture the lurid cover of the 10-cent paperback novel the film was based on. All that's lacking is a real femme fatale.

Bud Boetticher was a cult director in the Don Siegel/Sam Fuller vein, later acclaimed for the series of sparse but superb western quickies he made in the late 1950s with actor Randolph Scott (Ride Lonesome, The Tall T, Westbound, etc).

Irresistible and well made.