20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

It wasn't until the early to mid-1990s that I actually sat down to watch this movie. I'd seen the movie before I read the book but I wasn't bothered by the differences. In fact, they were welcome. There were many comedic moments, and Kirk Douglas was very good in his role as the Canadian whaler Ned Land. This was the only one of his films I had actually seen too.The design of the submarine was very well done and the sets were almost realistic as if you're really there. The underwater scenes also made the movie worthwhile. How many good films do underwater scenes? Waterworld doesn't really count. But this was the best. Oh, and Peter Lorre does well as the professor's student and sidekick. The others elude me, but they're good too. Disney, this is one of your best live films.

James Mason was great in this, most of the sets and effects were also wonderful, even hold today, unfortunately this movie is just sunk (no pun) by Douglas and Lorre and.....the seal.I mean, sure, any movie needs a little bit of comic relief, but 2 problems here: 1st, they tried to put in way too much comedy and 2nd, none of it was even remotely funny, I didn't even know half the time I was supposed to be seeing something funny, that's how bad they miss the mark.The Professor was at least likable and had some relevance to the story, and I could even have stomached Lorre, but Douglas is just plain terrible, he's not funny, he's not thrilling, he's not much of a hero, and quite frankly I found myself over and over again rooting for Nemo which I know is the opposite of what they were going for.This movie completely failed to make any sort of moral dilemma, it was just "Nemo bad". Why? Don't people sink enemy ships in a war? Was Nemo not allowed to make war? If not, why? Who decides when it's OK to make war, to take life? Well, don't get any hope you'll find these questions debated in this film.This movie is worth a watch, but as a whole it offers nothing to really make you want to watch it again.

NOTES: Won prestigious Hollywood awards for Special Effects (defeating Hell and High Water and Them!); and Best Color Sets (defeating Brigadoon, Desiree, Red Garters, A Star Is Born). Was also nominated for Film Editing, but Elmo Williams lost to Gene Milford of On the Waterfront. Negative cost: $5 million. With a domestic rentals gross of $8 million, number 4 at U.S./Canadian ticket windows for 1955. (Only Cinerama Holiday, Mister Roberts and Battle Cry took more money). The movie also did particularly well in Great Britain, scoring 11th place for 1955's highest box-office receipts. In Australia, if the movie's release had not been delayed by a year, it would also have taken solid coin (thanks to the CinemaScope boom). City seasons were a resounding success, but the film disappointed in its suburban and rural engagements.Underwater scenes were shot off the coast of Nassau in the Bahamas. Disney assigned a second unit to make a film of the filming. This documentary, "Operation Undersea", was aired on Disney's TV show and won an Emmy Award as the year's best television documentary!COMMENT: Starts excitingly enough, but the juvenile script and high- school dialogue cannot sustain audience interest once the heavy- handedly brooding James Mason comes on the scene. Paul Lukas is also a bore, but Kirk Douglas manages exactly the right, jolly tongue-in- cheek approach. We enjoyed his sprightly song too. Peter Lorre takes his cue from Mason and is likewise a bit too glum, though he does make an occasionally effective stooge for Douglas. It looks like Bob Wilke is going to be wasted in a minor, colorless role; but fortunately he comes into his own in a thrilling climactic fight with Douglas, no holds barred, — and no doubles either!At least director Fleischer makes a game try to fill up the CinemaScope screen, particularly in the first twenty minutes or so (which, oddly enough, turn out to be the most entertaining in the film). For all the hype, the submarine itself proves to be a disappointment. Though the fight with the giant squid is effectively staged, other special effects are both obvious and tedious, especially the drawn-out underwater water scenes which look fake. But thanks mainly to Kirk Douglas and his companionable seal (name of "Jackie Horner", would you believe, though the credits say "Esmerelda"), "20,000 Leagues..." turns out to be nowhere near the fidgety bore I'd expected.

12/9/2016 - Happy 100th Birthday Old Man Douglas!Walt Disney's grandiose production of Jules Vern's novel "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" has withstood well the passage of time and still proves to be an arresting experience to the senses. Obviously the cast was as close to perfect as it gets and they have much to tell by movies end, it's as rousing a tale on the high sea's that's ever been told; filled with action, intrigue and humor from both man and beast. This timeless nautical adventure comes with a wealth of wonder and imagination, boasting many extraordinary action set pieces often being set in exotic locales and what's more this classic film sounds every bit as grand as it looks; featuring a phenomenally effective musical score by veteran composer Paul Smith. At the heart of the film is the Nautilus (of course) and Nemo's creation has to be the most artful and elegant looking of designs that there's ever as been and a first-rate effects crew brings it to gloriously life in many clever guises, (full scale set or scale-size miniature) which is still every bit as effective as it was then. And of course all of it's visual splendor was lensed in such a way, making full use of the newly invented Cinema-Scope process, framed at the ratio of 2.55.1, which is wide-wide-screen essentially. Cinema-Scope was the perfect option for large-scale action films. The Player's: Kirk Douglas, Peter Lorre, James Mason and Paul Lukas, these four actors were perfectly cast for their respective roles and they make the most of it from start to finish - none more so than Kirk Douglas, as the swaggering seaman Ned Land. In this film Douglas gives a spectacularly high-spirited performance, one which surely rates as one of cinema's all-time most lively performances. While Lukas and especially Mason give performances that exude an air of high-sophistication (no more so than when Nemo's sporting that AWESOME smoking jacket - one must give high praise to the wardrobe department), where as Peter Lorre's character, often seems to be the odd man, he falls somewhere in between them and the free-spirited nature of Douglas' character. From what I've heard the two of them got along famously during filming. Ultimately these four fine actors create the core of one of the best casts that's ever been assembled for any movie. And the varying moods that rise up between them makes for an interesting and wide-ranging atmosphere, one that fluctuates from annoyance to hospitality, from curiosity to incarceration. I can't say enough about how great Kirk Douglas' acting is in this, such energy!From a purely visual stand-point 20,000's is a remarkable achievement, from the amazingly vivid underwater photography to it's striking submarine effects, this is a film, grand in every way, that's bound to leave a lasting imprint on your memory. Some highlights worth mentioning (and there are several) range from, the Oscar-winning giant squid sequence, the underwater harvest/treasure hunting/shark attack sequence, an "electrifing" boarding by unfriendly natives, a singing/cigar-eating seal named Isme, 19th century prostitutes dressed-up in lace and feathered hats, impassioned pipe organ-bashing Bach-infused jam sessions, a state-of-the-art "volcanic" submarine base, underwater burials, thundering cannon fire, explosive high-speed ship collisions, Ned Land's "Whale of a Tale" (the best damn sailor's ditty ever) and for your dining pleasure there's "Saute of Unborn Octopus" as well as a entire table full of curious cuisine from the sea, oh - and a nuclear explosion to cap things off. There truly is never a dull moment in this legendary classic of cinema - and just why is it that they can't make movies like THIS anymore????Ready, Maestro?! The remarkable music of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea's is of particular note - it's grand, large-scale, orchestral score is utterly magnificent and 62 years after the fact it remains one of Hollywoods greatest musical achievements. Brought to life by the baton of a Disney maestro - Paul J. Smith, a composer who, unfortunately, was effectively pigeon-holed for the majority of his career, typically being stuck with the chore of writing music for many a Disney cartoon and other various feather-weight features. Smith was never the most well-known or vocal composers, but by the sound of it, his music does his talking for him, as he clearly had a field-day with this is opulent big-budget assignment - a dream project for any film composer. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea would definitely not be as exciting without the inspired music of Paul Smith. Believe that.Typical for a Disney feature, this classic film is family-friendly and suitable for any age and being such an exciting and well-acted movie it's no surprise that it possess a high replay value and it's one of those classic's that's great to re-experience each and every year. It belongs to that rare breed of classic films that never seem to lose their luster, that never accumulate the slightest layer dust and is immune to time. In the 60 + years since it's release 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea remains a grand and rousing spectacle of adventure and intrigue, a unique creation, one of high artistry and pure Cinema-Scope magic. A grand relic of another time.Oh yeah, some trivia, the Nautilus's "nuclear furnace" was created by a combination of plastic salad bowls and large rotating color-wheels. The ill-fated "Sunset Squid Sequence" nearly sank Disney as a studio and Paul Lukas was a real prick to work with and he threatened to sue numerous people involved in the picture - swell guy.