During the Civil War a group of Union soldiers and two Confederates escape the stockade using a hot air balloon and end up on a strange Pacific island.
Director:
Cy Endfield
Stars:
Michael Craig,
Joan Greenwood,
Michael Callan
When Captain Nemo saves the passengers of a sinking ship and takes them to his Utopian underwater city he discovers that not all of his guests agree to remain there forever.
A scientist is nearly assassinated. In order to save him, a submarine is shrunken to microscopic size and injected into his blood stream with a small crew. Problems arise almost as soon as they enter the bloodstream.
The oceans during the late 1860-92s are no longer safe; many ships have been lost. Sailors have returned to port with stories of a vicious narwhal (a giant whale with a long horn) which sinks their ships. A naturalist, Professor (Pierre) Aronnax, his assistant, Conseil, and a professional whaler, Ned Land, join an US expedition which attempts to unravel the mystery.Written by
Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>
According to Kirk Douglas in his autobiography, "Ragman's Son", the scene at the beginning of the film where Ned Land strolls up (with a beautiful girl on each arm) to the lecturing sailor - and the ensuing fight - was written into the film at his request. At the time this film was shot, Douglas was in the prime of his career and very concerned about promoting and preserving his reputation with the movie-going public as both a dashing ladies man and a "macho" actor known for tough, physical roles that showcased his image as an action hero (fight scenes and so forth). When he first read the first draft script for this film, he was somewhat disappointed to find that his character Ned Land made no appearances with any women whatsoever, had no real rousing fight scenes, other than the battle with the squid, and spent most of the movie talking instead of being in action. Having expressed these concerns both to Walt Disney and director Richard Fleischer, the San Francisco street scene at the beginning of the film - featuring his character involved with two beautiful women in addition a rousing action/fight scene - was added especially for him (in at least two later films Douglas also made sure his character would be seen with two beautiful women at the same time and be involved in plenty of rough & tumble action: The Vikings (1958) [also directed by Fleischer] and The War Wagon (1967). See more »
Goofs
When Nautilus is going through the underwater tunnel, there is some shots from inside the wheelhouse. One can see cliffs passing by directly under the windows. The wheelhouse is situated on top of the submarines hull, so there is no way that the cliffs can be so close to the windows. See more »
Quotes
Conseil:
I want to escape, too! You said you had a plan.
Ned Land:
I do have a plan. Trouble is, it won't work.
See more »
The Disney studio's first American-made live-action spectacle remains one of its best,thanks to James Mason's portrayal of Jules Verne's anti-hero submarine commander,Captain Nemo,as a misguided Victorian-era terrorist. Mason brings such feline assurance to the part that he makes Kirk Douglas' hound-dog overacting as captive harpoonist Ned Land a forgivable counterpart. Disney milked every promotional angle for the film's debut which was the studio's first feature to filmed in widescreen Cinemascope and breathtaking Technicolor. It went on to become of the top ten highest-grossing pictures of that year,going up against contenders like "On The Waterfront",not to mention a horror-film as well intitled "The Creature From The Black Lagoon". It also went on to win several Oscars for special effects and for its cimematopgraphy. It was included in the Best Actor category with a nomination for James Mason's brilliant performance as Nemo.
The film is a classic and it stands behind several other Disney films which include "Old Yeller","The Parent Trap",and also "Mary Poppins".
The DVD version is out on this which includes several batches of goodies including the excerpts from the classic Disneyland TV show cannily plugging the picture,and also includes the theatrical trailer,and interviews with actors Kirk Douglas,James Mason,director Richard Fleischer with footage of scenes where the film was being shot at on locations in Florida and in the Bahamas. The movie itself is a breathtaking achievement and it includes the scene where the submarine the Nautilus rams a ship into the abyss,and the scene where the crew tangles with a bloodthirsty squid,and an encounter with a giant octopus under the depths. See It On DVD in the widescreen format! Rating: 5 stars.
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The Disney studio's first American-made live-action spectacle remains one of its best,thanks to James Mason's portrayal of Jules Verne's anti-hero submarine commander,Captain Nemo,as a misguided Victorian-era terrorist. Mason brings such feline assurance to the part that he makes Kirk Douglas' hound-dog overacting as captive harpoonist Ned Land a forgivable counterpart. Disney milked every promotional angle for the film's debut which was the studio's first feature to filmed in widescreen Cinemascope and breathtaking Technicolor. It went on to become of the top ten highest-grossing pictures of that year,going up against contenders like "On The Waterfront",not to mention a horror-film as well intitled "The Creature From The Black Lagoon". It also went on to win several Oscars for special effects and for its cimematopgraphy. It was included in the Best Actor category with a nomination for James Mason's brilliant performance as Nemo.
The film is a classic and it stands behind several other Disney films which include "Old Yeller","The Parent Trap",and also "Mary Poppins".
The DVD version is out on this which includes several batches of goodies including the excerpts from the classic Disneyland TV show cannily plugging the picture,and also includes the theatrical trailer,and interviews with actors Kirk Douglas,James Mason,director Richard Fleischer with footage of scenes where the film was being shot at on locations in Florida and in the Bahamas. The movie itself is a breathtaking achievement and it includes the scene where the submarine the Nautilus rams a ship into the abyss,and the scene where the crew tangles with a bloodthirsty squid,and an encounter with a giant octopus under the depths. See It On DVD in the widescreen format! Rating: 5 stars.