Unknown World (1951)

Director:

Terry O. Morse

Writer:

Millard Kaufman (original screenplay)

Release Date:

26 October 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Drilling into the forbidding depths of the earth!

Plot:

Scientists use a gigantic drilling machine for an expedition to the center of the earth.

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Subterranean | Nuclear War | Drilling Machine | Male Female Relationship

Cast

Bruce Kellogg	...	Wright Thompson
Otto Waldis	...	Dr. Max A. Bauer
Jim Bannon	...	Andy Ostergaard
Tom Handley	...	Dr. James Paxton
Dick Cogan	...	Dr. George Coleman
George Baxter	...	Carlisle Foundation Chairman
Marilyn Nash	...	Dr. Joan Lindsey
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Victor Kilian	...	Dr. Jeremiah Morley (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Carlisle Foundation Board Member (uncredited)

Directed by
Terry O. Morse		(as Terrell O. Morse)

Writing credits
Millard Kaufman		(original screenplay)

Produced by
Irving Block	....	producer (as I.A. Block)
Jack Rabin	....	producer (as J.R. Rabin)
Robert L. Lippert	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Ernest Gold

Cinematography by
Henry Freulich		(photography by)
Allen G. Siegler		(photography by)

Film Editing by
Terry O. Morse		(as Terrell O. Morse)

Production Design by
Irving Block		(as I.A. Block)
Jack Rabin		(as J.R. Rabin)

Set Decoration by
Glenn P. Thompson		(as Glenn Thompson)

Makeup Department
Kiva Hoffman	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Glenn Cook	....	production supervisor

Art Department
Menrad von Mulldorfer	....	associate production designer (as M. von Mulldorfer)

Sound Department
Harvey Henry	....	sound engineer
Marshall Pollock	....	sound effects editor

Special Effects by
Willis Cook	....	mechanical effects

Visual Effects by
Irving Block	....	special photographic effects (as I.A. Block)
Jack Rabin	....	special photographic effects (as J.R. Rabin)
Menrad von Mulldorfer	....	special photographic effects associate (as M. von Mulldorfer)

Camera and Electrical Department
Lester Shorr	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mickey Meyers	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Ernest Gold	....	conductor

Other crew
Irving Block	....	copyright (as I.A. Block)
Jack Rabin	....	copyright (as J.R. Rabin)

Production Companies

• Lippert Pictures

Distributors

• Lippert Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Prism Entertainment Corporation (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Night Without Stars (USA) (working title)
To the Center of the Earth

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Lippert Pictures

Trivia:

There seems to be some inspiration for this film taken from Jules Verne's "Journey to the Centre of the Earth". Both feature an underground sea. In both, the entrance to the Earth is close to the top of the Earth (Iceland in Verne's novel and Alaska in this film) and the escape from the underground is unexpected and amazingly rapid.

Quotes:

Dr. James Paxton: Nature doesn't influence Man! Man influences Nature! One strong man can change Nature!
Wright Thompson: Oh, you're wrong, Dr. Paxton. It isn't one man, it's many men working together.
[Looking at Dr. Joan Lindsey]
Wright Thompson: Right, teacher?
Dr. James Paxton: Men together are no more than sheep! One man standing alone leads the way, and the sheep follow!

"We're down to a hundred miles, you better pull up."

This could have been another cheesy 1950's outer space sci-fi flick, but the participants were going in the opposite direction. So instead, this is a cheesy 1950's subterranean film, starring an underground submarine called a cyclotram. It's mission is to discover a habitable region where the world's population can take refuge when the upper world is destroyed by a nuclear holocaust.

The film opens with a voice-over describing the new Atomic Age and it's promise of a more abundant life. However Dr. Jeremiah Morley (Victor Kilian) sees the danger associated with those who would use this power for corrupt purposes, and his warnings earn him the nickname "Prophet of Doom". It seems to me that Morley was the film's dominating presence, yet Kilian's performance is actually uncredited here. His "Society to Save Civilization" disbands after a year for lack of financial backing.

Enter wealthy playboy Wright Thompson (Bruce Kellogg), admittedly jobless and happily so, and looking for adventure. He hooks up with Morley's scientist friends and offers to finance their underground journey, as long as he can come along. With renewed energy, Morley, Thompson, and a group of five additional explorers board the cyclotram to seek humanities' last chance for survival.

What this viewer was left wondering for some time into the picture was when something exciting would happen. There are brief diversions involving bouts of toxic gas and semi dangerous spelunking, but that fearsome cave dinosaur never shows up. In a particularly nonsensical scene, a frayed rope is repeatedly shown as the cyclotram navigator Andy climbs up a rock face after rescuing Thompson. Andy actually makes it up to the top of the cliff ledge when the rope snaps, and he falls to his doom - bad timing!

With repetitive nuance, the cyclotram forges ahead (or below), marking time at 850, 960, 1100, and finally 1640 miles below sea level, where Thompson fashions a directional marker pointing straight up to New York - that may have been the film's innovative high point. Upon finally reaching the subterranean promised land, the group is dismayed to learn that conditions there make their pregnant bunny sterile. So much for the advancement of civilization.

"Unknown World" held the promise of so much more, but doesn't deliver. The cyclotram never finds itself in a situation that it can't handle, and the path it follows conveniently plays along an underground fissure practically the entire way. When it finally reaches a depth of 2500 miles at the earth's core, the cyclotram floats it's way up to the surface world in what seems like no time at all! But the biggest mystery to me would be how seven of the world's pre-eminent scientists could undertake such a momentous journey, and no one thought to bring a camera!