Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Our next review is going to be “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.” Entertaining 1954 fantasy adventure version of the classic Jules Verne novel, directed with the skill of a craftsman by Richard Fleischer and finely written by Earl Feltor to be lively, hilarious, and messing around with a political agenda that can’t be said out loud it’s against colonialism by the major authority but gives the eccentric scientist a motivation for why he’s livid at the world – something not said in the novel. Dennis Schwartz said in his review, “Great art designs, colorful underwater shots and amazing technical skill fashioning the ultra-modern submarine, plus robust battle scenes, a superbly dark performance by James Mason and imaginative story-telling, make this sci-fi sea yarn a good one that could have been better with a little less Kirk Douglas and more scientific things to gawk at in wonder.”

In 1868 San Francisco, there’s fears of a sea monster shattering vessels in the South Seas which has sailors afraid of enlisting on ships going in that direction. When a US Naval warship under the arrogant Captain Farragut (Ted de Corsia) sails to the South Seas to either conquer the beast or prove there’s no such thing, nice humanitarian visiting the best French marine scientist from the National Museum of Paris, Professor Pierre Arronax (Paul Lukas), his alcoholic apprentice Conseil (Peter Lorre) and the harsh passionate American adventurer harpoonist Ned Lands (Kirk Douglas) are invited to go on the journey. In the water Saigon, Farragut’s vessel is destroyed by the beast, which turns out to be a futuristic submarine named the Nautilus, that’s been built and is commanded by the power-hungry committed lunatic genius Captain Nemo, played by James Mason, and the crew includes a dedicated group of robotic sailors. The three survivors – Ned, the Professor, and Conseil – are taken on board as prisoners, and are amazed by every advanced technology but intimidated at how evil Nemo is in killing innocent sailors because he believes the world powers transporting war goods on the sea.

When the evil Nemo, strangely enough fighting against the villains, is finally surrounded by a group of warships, he and his crew sacrifice themselves and to ignite an A-bomb like explosion his home island of Vulcania – where he build the Nautilus and invented all of its futuristic equipment – saying the world is not ready for his secrets.

I never read the novel, but I think this movie is very enjoyable to watch. Check it out on Disney+ to see a very well shot film for its time. Also, Kirk Douglas sings in this, so it will be a nice way to honor his memory, especially his scenes with Peter Lorre.

Look out tomorrow when I look at a TV show adaptation in “Disney Month 2024.”