City in the Sea (1965)
"The City Under the Sea" (original title)

Set on the Cornish coast in 1903, the film features a group of people discovering an underwater society of smugglers who never age living in a lost underwater city along with their gill-man... See full summary »

Director:

Jacques Tourneur

Writers:

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

Stars:

Vincent Price, David Tomlinson, Tab Hunter

Cast

Cast overview:
Vincent Price	...	The Captain
David Tomlinson	...	Harold
Tab Hunter	...	Ben
Susan Hart	...	Jill
John Le Mesurier	...	Rev. Jonathan Ives
Henry Oscar	...	Mumford (as Harry Oscar)
Derek Newark	...	Dan
Roy Patrick	...	Simon

Storyline

Set on the Cornish coast in 1903, the film features a group of people discovering an underwater society of smugglers who never age living in a lost underwater city along with their gill-man slaves.

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Plot Keywords:

underwater | smuggler | coast | gill man | underwater city | 

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Taglines:

A fantastic journey to a lost empire one thousand fathoms beneath the sea!

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Adventure | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

MGM Studios [us]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 May 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

War-Gods of the Deep

Filming Locations:

Cornwall Coast, Cornwall, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bruton Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Pathecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Le Mesurier replaced Boris Karloff.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

At cast credits' end: "And not to forget, Herbert!" [Harold's rooster]

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Connections

Features Atragon (1963)

User Reviews

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