Film 21/52: Underwater (1955)

 

The tagline proclaims, "Jane Russell as you've never seen her before!" If the way in which you've never seen her before is in fact underwater, chalk one up to truth in advertising. (Vonna adds that for all the Jane Russell fans, she can be seen in numerous bathing suits and cleavage/leg admiring tropical attire.) Underwater seems to me to be a precursor to Peter Benchley's The Deep (which I haven't seen, and therefore is a candidate for this series as well). I have to assume with all the ballyhoo about the $3 million dollars and three years spent making it, Underwater must have been the first significant widescreen, technicolor film to have been shot, appropriately enough, underwater. 

The draw for me was that it was coming from director John Sturges, the man responsible for numerous classics, my favorite being The Great Escape. This film is definitely in a different league than that one (pun intended). The story revolves around two Navy buddies hoping to get rich salvaging gold from a shipwreck they've discovered. Of course there's plenty of drama as one man's relatively new bride isn't initially excited about the get-rich-quick scheme. When the more adventurous of the pair finds another woman (an underutilized Lori 'Revenge of the Creature/Day The World Ended' Nelson) who finds herself the owner of a boat that meets the needs for their excursion, they all set sail (accompanied by with a Jesuit priest, who provides historical information about the treasures to be found on the wreck). Adding to the fun are a boatload of shark hunters who routinely stop by to check out what's going on, knowing it's likely more than the scientific investigation of rocks they're continually being told. It's an interesting enough film, with the acting a bit broad from leads Gilbert Roland (who reminded me of Guy Rolfe) and Richard Egan, which is not unexpected given the period. 

I'll be honest, I wasn't nearly as impressed with Jane Russell as I think I was supposed to be based on her billing. She's no Julia Adams, that's for sure! But let's face it — the underwater photography is the real star here. And sure, you can tell when the shots switch from actual locations to a tank with a painted backdrop, but that just makes you appreciate the abundant location footage even more. Plus, there's a lot of cool footage of sharks swimming around (though never quite in camera with our starlet). Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the film was that so little of the $3 million dollar budget went towards creating the underwater model of the wreck; perched precariously on an underwater ledge for heightened drama. An off-the-shelf Penn-Plax aquarium shipwreck would have been more realistic. I miss the model work from Raise the Titanic! 

While not the drag that a few of our previous features have been, Underwater is not one that I expect to revisit anytime soon. Frankly, it's one sea creature away from being a halfway decent monster movie. But as always, it's nice to experience it on a big screen as intended. 


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