Underwater! (1955)

Director:

John Sturges

Writers:

Walter Newman (screenplay)
Hugh King (story) ...

Release Date:

17 April 1955 (Japan)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

Jane Russell as you've never seen her before

Plot Keywords:

Scuba Diving | Shark | Mexican | Cigarettes | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Jane Russell	...	Theresa Gray
Gilbert Roland	...	Dominic Quesada
Richard Egan	...	Johnny Gray
Lori Nelson	...	Gloria
Robert Keith	...	Father Cannon
Joseph Calleia	...	Rico Herrera
Eugene Iglesias	...	Miguel Vega
Ric Roman	...	Jesus
Dámaso Pérez Prado	...	Perez Prado (as Perez Prado)

Also Known As:

The Big Rainbow (USA) (alternative title)
Die goldene Galeere (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
La Vénus des mers chaudes (Belgium: French title) (France) [fr]
Il tesoro sommerso (Italy) [it]
La sirena de las aguas verdes (Spain) [es]
La sirena de les aigües verdes (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
S.O.S. - frømænd i fare! (Denmark) [da]
Tesouro Submarino (Portugal) (original subtitled version) [pt]
Uponnut aarre (Finland) [fi]
Venus van de warme zeeën (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]

Runtime:

99 min | Spain:105 min | West Germany:85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) | USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Hawaii, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

A Feb. 11, 1958 Los Angeles Times ad shows that this film was widely distributed on a double bill at many drive-in theaters with Disney's Old Yeller (1957).

Goofs:

Continuity: When the boat is blessed, there are people and vessels in the background as seen from a high angle shot. These vessels disappear in the low-angle shot, even though they had masts, etc which should be visible.

Soundtrack:

Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White

Jane Russell swimming.....need we say more?

SYNOPSIS: Two couples search for sunken gold in the Caribbean in the mid-1950s

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Escapism. I suppose that once you graduated from Beach Blanket Bingo and started drinking rum and coke instead of Soda Pop Ricky's, you started watching films such as this. More of a travelogue for snow bound Midwesterners in Detroit and Minot, it shows a lot of tropical settings and Jane Russell.

PROS AND CONS: This isn't a great film, but it is an interesting window into the past. The primary reason for watching is Jane Russell. One of those actresses that could ooze a lot of sex appeal without taking off a lot of clothes. She captures the audience in any scene she is in. Richard Egan as her husband, is one of those 1950s stereotype leading men, chiseled jaw, deep voice, good looking, rugged (probably gay). American virtue is on full display in this film. Love, honor, sharing, fairness, and no heavy plot twists or dark secrets. Everything is pretty much superficial.

By today's standards this isn't good film making. Whenever there is a real change, there is noticeable fading at the ends and beginning of the reels (bad film to digital transfer?). Often times there are tint or lighting changes in the same scene when there is an edit. I loved the yacht that serves as their base for scuba diving in the film. On the outside it is a small slope that could probably sleep four adults. But the interior shots of the boat show it to be as big as the Queen Mary with 10 foot high ceilings. There is a lot of travelogue footage of sailboats at sunset, and underwater scenes with bubbles and sharks, which take up about 1/4 of the film. An obligatory dance scene in a dance bar with a smokin hot Latin band. All the usual stuff to make the folks in Peoria wish they were somewhere else in November 1958. An interesting look back to a simpler time, when things weren't to complex.