Thursday, October 8, 2020

FORGOTTEN FILM: THE CITY BENEATH THE SEA (1953)

 If you looked up "B movie" in the dictionary, you'll most likely find this movie listed (depending, of course, on which dictionary you consult).  Sunken treasure, sunken city, a pair of disreputable deep sea divers, underwater photography, a giant squid, voodoo drums, an underwater earthquake, some interesting eye candy...

On the plus side, there are Robert Ryan and Anthony Quinn in a flick directed by Budd Boetticher.  Perhaps even more "plus-y" are Mala Powers (Cyrano de Bergerac, Outrage, Rose of Cimarron) and the beautiful but tragic (she died of cancer six months after she turned 21) Suzan Ball (East of Sumatra, Yankee Buccaneer, Untamed Frontier).  [Unsolicited gossip:  Ball met and fell in love with Anthony Quinn while filming this movie; because Quinn would not leave his wife, their romance lasted less than a year.  Ball then became engaged to actor Richard Long and a month later, her right leg was amputated; three months after the amputation, Ball and Long were married.  Long was a devoted. caring, and loving husband who stayed by her side during her illness.  She died less than a year and a half after the marriage.  One story has it that, just before she died, she saw Long in front of her and uttered one word, "Tony."  Long was a decent man who cherished his wife, but Quinn was vital.] [Not gossip, but an unsolicited fact:  Suzan Ball was Kucille's second cousin.]

Anyway, going after a sunken ship carrying a fortune in gold, Ryan and Quinn stumble (can you stumble underwater?) upon the lost city of Port Royal (not the real city of Port Royal, mind you; in fact, I'm not sure that anyone connected with the film knew there was an actual city by that name).  Miss in some wisecracking and some romancing the female leads and you have the film in a  nutshell.

Entertaining in its way.

Based on the book Port Royal -- The Ghost City Beneath the Sea by Harry E. Rieseberg.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV59PGuF3BQ

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