The City Under the Sea (1965)

Director:

Jacques Tourneur

Writers:

Charles Bennett (screenplay) and
Louis M. Heyward (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 May 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Adventure | Fantasy

Tagline:

They Became Pawns In A WAR Beneath The WAVES!

Plot:

Set on the Cornish coast in 1903, the film features a group of people discovering an underwater society...

Plot Keywords:

Smuggler | Underwater City | Brunette | Prisoner | Frogman

Cast

Vincent Price	...	Sir Hugh, The Captain
David Tomlinson	...	Harold Tufnell-Jones
Tab Hunter	...	Ben Harris
Susan Hart	...	Jill Tregillis
John Le Mesurier	...	Rev. Jonathan Ives
Henry Oscar	...	Mumford (as Harry Oscar)
Derek Newark	...	Dan
Roy Patrick	...	Simon

Also Known As:

City in the Sea (USA)
War-Gods of the Deep (USA)

Runtime:

84 min | Portugal:81 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | UK:U | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Cornwall Coast, Cornwall, England, UK

Company:

Bruton Film Productions

Trivia:

Final feature film of Henry Oscar (billed as "Harry Oscar"),

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: After a tremor, the Captain looks outside the window at the Gill Men and says "Look at them. They're frightened". While the two Gill Men are swimming around, you can see a modern scuba diver with shorts and flippers swimming above them.

Quotes:

The Captain: Atlantis? Perhaps; a name is as good as another.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Killer Eye (1999)

Memorable B Movie

From what I know about screen writing the more credited writers a film has the worse the narrative is supposed to be . I genuinely think this is nonsense and perhaps CITY UNDER THE SEA is proof of this . It's a movie that has three people involved in he screenplay but is far more entertaining and involving than a great number of films I've seen that have only one screenwriter

First of all let's get the bad points out of the way . You don't need a University degree to know that there's no volcanoes off the coast of Cornwall which seems to be included to set up the ending and the back story of the gillmen are conspicuous by its absence . Also if you're a fan of Poe and you watched this movie expecting it to be an accurate adaptation of one of his works then you'll almost certainly feel cheated . The casting of two American characters in two lead roles to appeal to an American market does seem forced , especially when you've already got a well known American actor as the film's villain . Hammer films didn't bow to this type of casting so I've no idea why it's done here

In fact CITY UNDER THE SEA plays very much like one of the better Hammer productions concentrating on atmosphere rather than gore . When the film concentrates on this aspect it is genuinely frightening as early in the film when one of the gillmen prowls around the house . I must have been about seven years old when I saw this scene and remember being terrified by it . I saw this scene again earlier today and was not disappointed which is a great compliment coming from me . It's a film that is not Oscar worthy but is great entertainment nonetheless