ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

Proof positive that ambitious concepts can be killed by lazy film making. The concept here is the building of an experimental underwater metropolis. But the producers didn't sink enough money into the project. (A pun: I apologize). There are too few special effects, too much talk, and only one point of interest: Julie Adams (the beauty from "The Creature from the Black Lagoon").

One good indication that the filmmakers had no faith in their own movie is the fact that it was shot in color but released in black-and-white! Directed by Frank McDonald.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[bulldogtrekker]

This movie is shown quite often on GET TV and is watchable. If you are a fan of Men Into Space, then it is worth watching. (William Lundigan stars)

[Rick]

This was among the last 3 or 4 movies I got to see at my beloved LeRose Theater before it closed its doors. I was 12 years old and I saw this doubled with THE THREE STOOGES MEET HERCULES. Believe it or not, I liked that Stooges' flick so much that I went back on Sunday afternoon to see it again.

But . . . THE UNDERWATER CITY . . . You know, I saw good movies at the LeRose (THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, HORROR OF DRACULA) I saw bad movies there (GHOST OF DRAGSTRIP HOLLOW, THE HEADLESS GHOST), I saw bad movies which I still loved (THE ASTOUNDING SHE MONSTER, THE DEADLY MANTIS), I saw movies which others think lousy but I do not agree (THE KILLER SHREWS). I even saw a movie which made me want to kill somebody (CURUCU, BEAST OF THE AMAZON). But I only saw one movie there which bored me so intensely that I seriously considered just leaving the place. And that one movie was THE UNDERWATER CITY.

It was shown in black and white in the theater, so it was almost mind-blowing when I saw it on TV in glorious color. It is a little better on TV than it was at the LeRose. I mean — color, the ability to walk out of the room to get a cup of coffee or a sandwich or take a nice long nap, plus the fact that I now know what to expect. So, yeah, it's a little better now.

And I still have the comic book.
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Man need not kneel before the angels,
Nor lie in death forever,
But for the weakness of his feeble will.

[Bud Brewster]

[Rick]

I saw both of those -- THE KILLER SHREWS and THE GIANT GILA MONSTER at the LeRose, just a week apart, way back in 1960. THE KILLER SHREWS was doubled with ANGRY RED PLANET, but GIANT GILA MONSTER was flying out there on its own.

I like both of them as well, and though I'm sure some of it is nostalgia (particularly for GIANT GILA MONSTER), I think it's a little more than that too.

At the time GILA was just another pleasant Saturday at the movies. Good fun, well worth the dime or quarter or whatever they were charging that week. I remember sitting and watching and enjoying, but there's nothing special to the memory.

KILLER SHREWS was something else altogether. I already described elsewhere how that was the one and only time the orderly ticket queue broke down, becoming a wild, riotous melee. And it didn't calm down much inside. As I recall we had to sit in the very front row, the only time that ever happened. And every damn thing in the movie had us screaming and yelling. It was a madhouse from the first frame to the last. So I always think of KILLER SHREWS as some sort of crazy, high-octane, hormonal, almost orgiastic experience. And I was ten years old.

I still enjoy SHREWS, but I've never had an explanation for the bizarre behavior at the theater that day. Maybe somebody had released some sort of goofy dust in the area that Saturday.
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Man need not kneel before the angels,
Nor lie in death forever,
But for the weakness of his feeble will.

[Bud Brewster]

[Bud Brewster]

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I apologize for the picture quality of this trailer, but it was the best I could find.

_________ The Underwater City (1962) - Trailer


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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 a very interest trivia item about this movie.
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Although the film was shot in color, producer Alex Gordon stopped in a theater where it was showing and was astounded to see that it was being shown in black and white.

He checked with Columbia Pictures, the distributor, and was informed that all release prints of the film were in black and white. Gordon could not get anyone at Columbia to explain to him why the film was released that way.

Later, when the film was syndicated to television, the prints that were sent out were in color. Gordon couldn't get Columbia to explain that, either.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Maurice]

Easy answer: color prints cost more, and the studio probably decided to make them would not increase the box-office. On the other hand, as color TV was being adopted it was probably easier to sell a color print than a black and white one.

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"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles

[Pow]

Seems astonishing that in the history of science-fiction films that nobody has yet produced even one outstanding production involving an undersea city.

The only one I've seen that is impressive is the proof-of-concept TV-movie Oceanus: Act One. The designs for the city city as well as the undersea vehicle are marvelous. And the script is intelligent & compelling with a fine cast.

[Bud Brewster]

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SeaQuest included a few underwater habitats, but they weren't city-sized, nor were they futuristic.

Furthermore, the series did something which was actually realistic — the low light level of the deep ocean. But I wish they'd cheated a bit and brightened things up.

It's sort of the same problem as the one when making a movie that takes place in a large cavern; if the movie is strictly realistic, you'd have the characters walking around in total darkness, lit only by flashlights!

This is much cooler . . .



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

[Pow]

Some decent looking sets, and the exterior miniatures of the city weren't bad. Irwin Allen could have reused them all for his Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea TV series.

The giant octopus and moray eel could have been opportunities for stop-motion animation if the budget had been much larger.

Kathie Browne here is our Star Trek: TOS connection. She guest starred on "Wink of an Eye." Ironically, she is an expectant mother in this film. On the Trek episode she and her race are sterile.