VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (1961)

Robert Sterling and Walter Pidgeon

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (1961). Produced and directed by Irwin Allen.

Admiral Nelson (Walter Pidgeon) has come up with an amazing nuclear submarine, the Seaview, with features that "Jules Verne never thought of." When the Van Allen radiation belt catches fire and the world seems doomed by rising heat and fire, Nelson comes up with a scheme to prevent catastrophe by shooting a missile at it, thrusting the fiery belt into space. His scientific colleagues think he's crazy, and he also meets opposition from Captain Crane (Robert Sterling) and Dr. Susan Hiller (Joan Fontaine), a headshrinker come to study the men who thinks the admiral is off his rocker. With armed subs chasing the Seaview, a saboteur on board, the rising possibility of mutiny, and other assorted dangers including floating mines and a huge octopus that grabs the sub, Nelson may never get the chance to fire his missile. 

the sky is on fire!

Irwin Allen may have been inspired by the success of Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as well as Fox's Journey to the Center of the Earth, but he came up with a winner with this fast-paced and very entertaining fantasy-adventure. Pidgeon gives one of his best performances, and the others -- including Barbara Eden as his secretary and the Captain's fiancee, and Peter Lorre [The Beast with Five Fingers] as Nelson's friend and associate Commander Lucius Emery -- are all on target throughout. The picture has a very good script by Charles Bennett and Allen that maximizes the potential of the storyline and adds suspense and tension at every opportunity. 

Sterling, Fontaine and Eden

Not everything is perfect. A scene with a big prop and unconvincing squid attacking Crane as he tries to tap into an underwater cable seems to go on forever and is not that well done to begin with (at least the octopus that shows up later is real). But the business with deadly floating mines that jeopardize the ship is quite tense and there are other exciting sequences as well. It's also fun watching Pidgeon slapping disrespectful seaman Frankie Avalon [Horror House] in the face and a certain lady falling into the shark pool. Winton Hoch photographed the film -- the splendid Seaview looks terrific -- and Sawtell and Shefter contributed an effective score. The whole business with Nelson having to fire the missile at an exact day and moment from the Mariannas is gobbledygook but who cares? The movie was successful enough to engender a TV series that lasted for four years.

Verdict: One of Allen's very best. ***1/4.