Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961)

When the Earth is threatened by a burning Van Allen Radiation Belt, U.S. Navy Admiral Harriman Nelson plans to shoot a nuclear missile at the Belt, using his experimental atomic submarine, the Seaview.

Director:

Irwin Allen

Writers:

Irwin Allen (screenplay), Charles Bennett (screenplay)

Stars:

Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Eden

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Walter Pidgeon	...	Adm. Harriman Nelson
Joan Fontaine	...	Dr. Susan Hiller
Barbara Eden	...	Lt Cathy Connors
Peter Lorre	...	Comm. Lucius Emery
Robert Sterling	...	Capt. Lee Crane
Michael Ansara	...	Miguel Alvarez
Frankie Avalon	...	Lt (j.g.) Danny Romano
Regis Toomey	...	Dr. Jamieson
John Litel	...	Vice-Adm. B.J. Crawford
Howard McNear	...	Congressman Llewellyn Parker
Henry Daniell	...	Dr. Zucco
Skip Ward	...	Crew member
Mark Slade	...	Seaman Jimmy 'Red' Smith
Charles Tannen	...	CPO Gleason
Del Monroe	...	Seaman Kowski (as Delbert Monroe)

Storyline

Admiral Nelson takes a brand new atomic submarine through its paces. When the Van Allen radiation belt catches fire, the admiral must find a way to beat the heat or watch the world go up in smoke.

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Plot Keywords:

killing an animal | watching tv | admiral | fire | radiation | 

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Taglines:

Race from outer space to seven miles below the sea ... with amazing aquanauts of the deep !

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some perilous situations

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

12 July 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Journey to the Bottom of the Sea

Filming Locations:

Stage 3, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,580,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Irwin Allen Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Seaview's" glass nose was originally to be two-stories but budgetary restraints didn't allow for it. In the TV series' second season, the model was altered to have two large forward view ports rather than the eight small ones on the movie and first season version. The second story of the nose wasn't actually constructed but a new hatch in the floor indicated that the second story was the Flying Sub bay. The underside of the nose was also quite different. It featured a new bulge with huge hangar-like doors for launching the Flying Sub.

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Goofs

In the TV displays in the Seaview, Captain Crane is shown approaching the open missile hatch from away from the camera, with the hatch shown open towards the camera. When they surface after the missile is fired, the hatch and Captain Crane are both in opposite directions from where the camera would be.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Admiral Nelson: Full speed for home, Lee.
Capt. Lee Crane: Aye, aye, sir.

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Connections

Referenced in Crew Man No 1 (2015)

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Soundtracks

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Sung by Frankie Avalon
Written by Russell Faith

User Reviews

In the Wake of the Nautilus, the U.S.S. Seaview

I still remember seeing this film at movie theaters way back when I was a lad. Of course I didn't hear very much of it due to all the shrieks and squeals from the teenage girls in the audience over Frankie Avalon. That curiously enough didn't matter because Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a very visual film.

It might seem a little old hat today, but we've been through two more generations that have seen the United States Navy become an atomic fleet of submarines and surface carriers. It was only seven years earlier, in 1955 that the U.S.S. Nautilus was launched as our first atomic submarine. In homage to that wonderful visionary Jules Verne who foresaw atomic power one hundred years earlier the Navy named it after that famous undersea ship of Verne's great novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The nuclear submarine was a wondrous thing in 1961.

The idea of a nuclear power submarine was the brainchild of Admiral Hyman Rickover. Rickover was a tough minded s.o.b. who usually got whatever he wanted by any mean necessary including bullying. Hard to believe that the gentlemanly Walter Pigeon could play him, but he did and well as Admiral Harry Nelson, the ersatz Rickover.

What's happened here is that the Van Allen radiation belt that surrounds the Earth has caught fire and temperatures are climbing all over the world. The planet is doomed, but Walter Pigeon's got an idea to save it. Fire a missile and seed the belt with more radiation, kind of a nuclear backfire and the blaze will end.

A lot of people are telling him it won't work, but Pigeon brushes them all aside. The only two who have faith in him are his assistants played by Peter Lorre and Barbara Eden. But our intrepid admiral pushes through.

Of course the U.S.S. Seaview encounters all kinds of obstacles along the way, but that's the rest of the story.

The cast does very well for itself and young Frankie Avalon as a junior officer comes off rather nicely. Frankie sings over the title credits, but during the movie plays a trumpet. Avalon in fact was a trumpet virtuoso and a singing career was an afterthought. The fickle finger of fate.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea still a nice science fiction adventure even though it is dated.