Only shame drives me to write this comment because I otherwise don't feel to be expert enough to completely grasp the whole impact this film had. There is little pride in being the first person to write about this great film in IMDb. No one ever wrote anything about Hans Hass here. I still can't believe it! "Adventures in the Red Sea" is of course an old film and since it is in black and white too, many people don't think much about it. We are so used to perfect close-ups of any underwater creature, even from the deep sea, in glorious color. So who gives a damn about a black and white documentary with unknown people done around 1950 about the underwater world of the Red Sea? Well, I do! And for many reasons too. Because this very film marked the beginning of professional underwater photography and studies before Jacques-Yves Cousteau became a household name. The creator of the film made many inventions to be able to make it. His name is Hans Hass.
The son of a Viennese lawyer, he was drawn to the sea early on in his life. He shot the very first scenes with sharks and people in the same frame and therefore became quite famous in Germany. He was especially drawn to sharks and to this day tries to change their bad image.
Before the war he and two friends went on a trip to Venezuela to explore the underwater wildlife. When he got back the war had already broken out, but with his photos and a short film about his diving experiences with sharks he became a hero in Nazi-Germany. Since he had a certain health condition which made it impossible for him to march for long periods he was not drafted and but free to study and explore. During WWII he even managed to get funding from the NS Government to make an expedition in the Aegean Sea.
After the war he wanted to make bigger expeditions and he dreamed of diving with his camera in the Red Sea, which was notorious for its amount of sharks, but also famous for its variety of any creatures. He tried to get money for an expedition by selling the idea of making a feature length film about the whole trip. Since this was never done before the conservative Austrian film companies were reluctant to invest. When he got the green light to do it he had to fulfill one important wish of the distributor. There had to be a girl in the picture! Hass was not very eager to hire a girl for the film but he had no choice. Secretly he thought he would do a few scenes with someone in safe water and keep the real action reserved for him and his pals. But at that time, unknown to him, he already had someone waiting to fill in this role just standing behind him.
A few months before, he had an ad in the newspapers for a secretary. Many girls applied because Hans Hass was a teenage idol with very good looks. His adventures reported and illustrated in a book he wrote had been a hit with boys and girls alike.
Lotte Bayerl was one of them and when she read the ad she immediately dreamed of swimming with Hass and the others in the open sea. This was her main reason to apply for the job. When she got it she started to take diving lessons in a public bath without telling Hass.
While Hass balked at the outrageous idea of taking "a girl" with him on such a dangerous adventure, the head of distribution looked at Hass' secretary and said: "Why don't you take her with you?" What Hass did not know was, the she was made of the same kind of wood as he was and she not only got on the boat but made also sure that the film became such a big success. She was quite a beauty and as daredevil as all the others and Hass tried in vain to restrict her to do only harmless scenes. She wanted to prove the she also could swim with sharks, and she did! Afterwards she wrote a very entertaining and touching book on her experiences that became a bestseller. I have read this book while a teenager myself several times.
Needless to say that Hans Hass soon fell in love with her and the married after the film came out. They became a very famous couple working together ever since. Hass turned 90 this year and Lotte is still by his side.
The film, looking at it today, has his flaws. I don't want to deny this. The forced upon storyline is sometimes very crude, no wonder, none of them was a professional filmmaker or an actor or actress. The dialog and the narration too tell how innocent they all were, practically in every respect.
But on the other hand many scenes are spectacular, even today! You could see how daredevil they all have been, and after so many years you still want to cry out to them and warn them when they just jump into the water when a giant shark appears. Their words and looks and little acting have such a charm and radiate their excitement, so you easily forgive them all the shortcomings.
The son of a Viennese lawyer, he was drawn to the sea early on in his life. He shot the very first scenes with sharks and people in the same frame and therefore became quite famous in Germany. He was especially drawn to sharks and to this day tries to change their bad image.
Before the war he and two friends went on a trip to Venezuela to explore the underwater wildlife. When he got back the war had already broken out, but with his photos and a short film about his diving experiences with sharks he became a hero in Nazi-Germany. Since he had a certain health condition which made it impossible for him to march for long periods he was not drafted and but free to study and explore. During WWII he even managed to get funding from the NS Government to make an expedition in the Aegean Sea.
After the war he wanted to make bigger expeditions and he dreamed of diving with his camera in the Red Sea, which was notorious for its amount of sharks, but also famous for its variety of any creatures. He tried to get money for an expedition by selling the idea of making a feature length film about the whole trip. Since this was never done before the conservative Austrian film companies were reluctant to invest. When he got the green light to do it he had to fulfill one important wish of the distributor. There had to be a girl in the picture! Hass was not very eager to hire a girl for the film but he had no choice. Secretly he thought he would do a few scenes with someone in safe water and keep the real action reserved for him and his pals. But at that time, unknown to him, he already had someone waiting to fill in this role just standing behind him.
A few months before, he had an ad in the newspapers for a secretary. Many girls applied because Hans Hass was a teenage idol with very good looks. His adventures reported and illustrated in a book he wrote had been a hit with boys and girls alike.
Lotte Bayerl was one of them and when she read the ad she immediately dreamed of swimming with Hass and the others in the open sea. This was her main reason to apply for the job. When she got it she started to take diving lessons in a public bath without telling Hass.
While Hass balked at the outrageous idea of taking "a girl" with him on such a dangerous adventure, the head of distribution looked at Hass' secretary and said: "Why don't you take her with you?" What Hass did not know was, the she was made of the same kind of wood as he was and she not only got on the boat but made also sure that the film became such a big success. She was quite a beauty and as daredevil as all the others and Hass tried in vain to restrict her to do only harmless scenes. She wanted to prove the she also could swim with sharks, and she did! Afterwards she wrote a very entertaining and touching book on her experiences that became a bestseller. I have read this book while a teenager myself several times.
Needless to say that Hans Hass soon fell in love with her and the married after the film came out. They became a very famous couple working together ever since. Hass turned 90 this year and Lotte is still by his side.
The film, looking at it today, has his flaws. I don't want to deny this. The forced upon storyline is sometimes very crude, no wonder, none of them was a professional filmmaker or an actor or actress. The dialog and the narration too tell how innocent they all were, practically in every respect.
But on the other hand many scenes are spectacular, even today! You could see how daredevil they all have been, and after so many years you still want to cry out to them and warn them when they just jump into the water when a giant shark appears. Their words and looks and little acting have such a charm and radiate their excitement, so you easily forgive them all the shortcomings.
