Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961)
Produced & directed by Irwin Allen (The Sea Around Us (1952)), who also wrote the story & co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Bennett (Foreign Correspondent (1940)), this big budget production's special effects are a joke; the movie couldn't even manage an Oscar nomination in 1961, a year in which only two films were nominated in the Best Effects category! Not only are its effects below average (to the point of being humorous), the overall sci-fi adventure story is a hoot! A throwback to the low-budget 1950's movies of the genre. Allen had to recoup his expenditures somehow; he found a way when the ($400,000) sets were reused for several years in the TV series of the same name.
It seems the highly recognizable cast was payday motivated; unfortunately, none of them gives much more than a reading of their part. Walter Pidgeon plays a driven (crazed?) Admiral of a brand new super (nuclear powered) submarine he designed, complete with wide halls, stairways, an open shark aquarium, and a large comfortable lounge with huge windows at the front of the sub (which can be steered visually!). Barbara Eden plays his secretary; her character's main purpose is to serve as a buffer between her fiancé the Captain (Robert Sterling) and the Admiral, to whom she's also loyal. The Captain's loyalties to the Admiral waver when a special passenger, who's a psychologist (Joan Fontaine, how far this Oscar winner fell in 20 years!), convinces him that his boss is going nuts. Peter Lorre was given very little to do (and he looks terrible!); his character, like Pidgeon’s, is a noted scientist. The shark aquarium and its occupant(s) are his domain. Michael Ansara, shortly before he was to wed actress Eden, plays a religious nut who's convinced the end is near, which seems likely, given that the Earth has been encircled by a mysterious ring of fire. Frankie Avalon has even less to do as one of the sub's crew; Regis Toomey plays its doctor. John Litel plays a Vice-Admiral who's buddies with Pidgeon, Howard McNear a skeptical congressman, and Henry Daniell a rival scientist who believes Pidgeon’s proposed solution (to the fire ring) will prove disastrous. Too serious to be camp, too poorly done to be fun unless you enjoy laughing at (and not with) such films.
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