ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

A group of oceanographers headed by Lloyd Bridges comprise the crew of an atomic submarine on a mission to plant electronic sensors on the sea floor around the world which transmit seismic data to a world earthquake prediction center.

The good news is, the special effects and the set designs are (mostly) competently done, although they're deliberately intended to look realistic rather than aesthetic. The bad news is, the plot is slow and unexciting, even when the sub is attacked by a giant moray eel. The "suspenseful climax" (the sub is trapped by an undersea landslide) suffers from a lack of suspense, and the audience has a tough time figure out just exactly what's going on.

The cast includes only one female, but when the female is Shirley Eaton (Goldfinger's gilded lily) no one is complaining.



Marshal Thompson ("It! The Terror from Beyond Space", among others) is on hand to give this 1960s production a slightly 1950s look.

Also starring Gary Merrill, Keenan Wynn ("The Absent Minded Professor"), and U.N.C.L.E. veteran David McCallum. Directed by Andrew Marton. Co-producer Ivan Tors was the man behind "The Magnetic Monster" and TV's "Science Fiction Theatre".
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[trekriffic]

I always liked this movie mostly because of the cool submarine which was dubbed the Hydronaut. Like so many spfx props the Hydronaut was recycled and now resides in the parking lot of an amusement park in South Florida (or at least it did when this photo was taken some years ago):



Not sure what it was turned into other than perhaps housing some kind of Grand Prix Race-O-Rama arcade game based on the signage on its side.

[Bud Brewster]

Well, it's good in some ways, but if you painted it yellow and put in on the cover of a Beatles album it would fit like a pearl in an oyster.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

Considering the amount of interior space inside that sub (as seen in the movie), the thing must be built like Dr. Who's TARDIS -- or the Jupiter 2!

[Bud Brewster]

Found this jpeg of the Frank McCarthy artwork used in the poster. What a beautiful painting!


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Rocky Jones]

It's too bad the amusement park didn't have Frank McCarthy to help with the painting. It's interesting how just color and context can make the same shape look techy and cool or goofy and comical.

I found the film OK, but a bit long and tedious for what happens. And it's not a spoiler to say that, as almost always with such films, there's a traitor on board.

[Bud Brewster]

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Enjoy the trailer, narrated by the great Art Gilmore. I added this one to our ART GILMORE thread.
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___________ Around the World Under the Sea


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bogmeister]

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All-star sixties cast of TV stars in a small submarine which takes on the task of embedding 50 special sensors in deep water around the world to warn scientists of impending earthquakes.

This was tailor-made, it seems, for main man Lloyd Bridges, who was famous for the series Sea Hunt (1959-1961). His collection of specialists — several men and one woman (Shirley Eaton) — are hand-picked, but half of them have a thing for the female, so that creates the potential for complications.

David McCallum plays a slightly shady scientist who cuts a deal to go on a salvage run after the mission is over, to get rich. Keenan Wynn is the grumpy older guy who actually lives in an undersea home.

The method of anchoring the sensors is odd — it's done with explosives. Sci-fi elements of monster proportions intrude in the 2nd half, with the hints of large sea life manifesting itself as a giant eel, bigger than the sub.

Pretty low budget, with a comfort factor of familiar faces.

Star Trek TOS Actor Alert: Celeste Yarnall is in a small role in an early scene; she appeared in The Apple about a year later.

Under the Sea Trek Trivia: Bridges was said to be a front-runner for the Capt. Kirk role in Star Trek, ultimately played by William Shatner; there's an early scene in this film where-in McCallum's scientist demonstrates how he can instruct a dolphin to perform a task under a boat — this was later shown in a more detailed fashion in The Day of the Dolphin (73)

BoG's Score: 5 out of 10


BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus

[Gord Green]

In the 60's I loved ALL the undersea, submarine oriented movies and went to see as many as I could. This was far from the best. Shirly Eaton was wonderful, but not as hot as Barbara Eden dancing in the Seaview!












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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Krel]

At the time, "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." was BIG! So MGM put Vaughn and McCallum in a couple of movies. McCallum in this one, and Vaughn in a pretty good spy film, "The Venetian Affair".

I loved this film as a kid, it had all those great gadgets, vehicles, and actors I liked. But it has been a long time since I have seen it.

That little open cockpit mini-sub in the undersea mining scene was used in the TV series "Flipper". They put a shell over the open cockpit, to make it look like it was a dry interior submarine.

David.

[Bud Brewster]

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Guys, I am so glad that Bogmeister's "transplanted" reviews from the Galactic Base of Science Fiction have been inspiring new replies on All Sci-Fi!

I enjoy reformatting his reviews to re-post them here on our board, in spite of the fact that this processes often takes an hour or two when they're long and include lots of pictures!

But keeping Andrew Bogdan alive on All Sci-Fi for four years after he passed away in 2015 — a board for which he served as co-site admin from 2008 until 2014 — has been a gratifying experience.

And the fact that his threads still inspire our members to reply to his skillfully written reviews means that my work has been well worth the effort! (8
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production.
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~ The nuclear-powered 'Hydronaut' was actually built as the 'Submanaut' in 1956. It was originally a working scientific submersible whose primary function was to inspect underwater pipelines, but was diesel-powered and carried only two crew members. It could also not circumnavigate the world.

Later in the 1960s it was used to shoot underwater films for various movie companies and TV productions in the clear waters off Florida and The Bahamas.

Initially built by Martine's Diving Bells of San Diego California at a cost of $1.5 Million, it was purchased in the early 1980s by Six Flags for $500,000 to be displayed at its Atlantis water park in Dania, FL and then by nearby Grand Prix Race-O-Rama for only $12,500 in October 1992.

Sadly the Submanaut was cut up on-site and sold as scrap in the early 2000s.

Note from me: What an interesting history to the real-life submersible that was used in this movie.

~ The all-white ship that is seen at the beginning of the film is the USCGC Diligence (WMEC-616), a Reliance-class United States Coast Guard 210-foot Medium Endurance Cutter. She was commissioned in 1964, and began her service at the Key West Coast Guard Station (also seen in this film).

The 'Dilly' is still in Active Service as of this writing (Mar 2020), and has lived up to her name receiving countless honors including numerous service commendations, medals, and special operations ribbons during her 55 plus years of service.

Note from me: This is a true testament to the fine maintenance which this vessel received from her crew.

~ When Dr. Volker (David McCallum) is setting up the radio signal near the end of the movie the noise it emits is the same as the communicators from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964), which also starred McCallum.

Note from me: Truly, what ARE the odds, eh?
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

[Pow]

Love that Frank McCarthy movie poster. It's better than the film.

[Bud Brewster]