Harrison's Reports (1955)

10 January 15, 1955 "Underwater !" with Jane Russell, Richard Egan, Gilbert Roland and Lori Nelson (RKO, January; time, 98 min.) A good adventure melodrama, produced in the SuperScope process and photographed in Technicolor. It is the type of picture that should go over well with the general run of audiences, for its story about a quest for a fabulous sunken treasure is colorful, re mantic and exciting, and is made all the more fascinating by the fact that almost one-third of the action has been shot under water. The submarine photography is exceptionally good, and most moviegoers will be thrilled by the melodramatic highlights that transpire in the ocean's depths, where the camera moves over coral beds and undersea cliffs and valleys, and into the truly weird hulk of a long-submerged Spanish galleon as the different characters, equipped with aqua-lungs, seek to salvage whatever treasure it may hold and resort to underwater dynamite charges to blast open the ship's strongroom. There is considerable suspense in the fact that the dynamite blasts cause the rotting hulk to continually slip from the submerged ledge on which it rests, threatening to sink into the fathomless depths together with the divers. Not the least of the picture's assets, of course, is Jane Russell, whose well known physical attributes are fully displayed in the series of swim suits she wears in the many swimming and underwater scenes. Richard Egan, as her husband, and Gilbert Roland, as a carefree adventurer, are muscular and heroic in their roles, and Joseph Calleia is sly but colorful as a villainous Cuban fisherman who seeks to lay hands on the treasure after it is salvaged. The romantic interest in pleasing, and there are good touches of comedy to relieve the tension. The sweep of the SuperScope process and the fine color phtography add much to the beauty of the marine depths as well as to the scenes on land and on the surface of the sea. It should be pointed out that SuperScope, which has a 2 to 1 aspect ratio, is adaptable for projection through any anamorphic lens the exhibitor has installed, including the CinemaScope projection lens: — Egan and Roland, skin divers and close friends, discover the remains of an ancient sunken ship off the Cuban coast and learn from Robert Keith, a priest in a fishing village nearby, that it probably was a Spanish galleon that had sunk centuries previously with a treasure in gold and religious relics. They im' mediately plan an expedition to salvage the treasure, but Jane, Egan's wife, views the project as just another one of their wild schemes and vetoes the use of their small cruiser for the quest. Roland, learning that Lori Nelson, a former girl-friend, had acquired a yacht from a businessman who had vanished to avoid creditors, sells her on the idea of using the vessel for the treasure hunt in exchange for a share of the profits. Meanwhile Jane relents and mortgages her cruiser to raise enough money for supplies and equipment. They sail to the site of the wreck and start operations at once. Trouble looms, however, when they suddenly find themselves under the ominous scrutiny of Calleia, a Cuban shark fisherman, who is told that the expedition is purely a scientific one. Egan and Roland, aided by Jane, face many dangers as they carry out the diving operations but eventually succeed in locating the fabulous treasure in a strong room. When Calleia shows up again with two henchmen, Egan and Roland suspect that they planned to hijack the treasure and, to protect themselves, they overpower the trio and maroon them on a small island. They return to the yacht and resume the salvage operations. In the course of events, first Jane and then Roland are pinned by the collapsing beams as a result of dynamite charges, but Egan manages to rescue both of them before the entire hulk, shaken loose from the edge of an undersea cliff, sinks to the depths. They surface, only to find Calleia and his henchmen in command of the yacht, brought there by Lori in a desperate effort to secure help for Egan and Roland. While Calleit keeps the group at bay with his gun, his henchmen begin to transfer the salvaged treasure to his fishing boat. By a swift maneuver, Egan manages to gain possession of a gun and it become a question of who will shoot whom. After a few anxious moments, the situation is resolved by an agreement to divide the treasure on the theory that there was more than enough to satisfy all concerned. It was produced by Harry Tatelman, and directed by John Sturges, from a screenplay by Walter Newman, based on a story by Hugh King and Robert B. Bailey. Family. "Port of Hell" with Dane Clark, Wayne Morris, Carole Mathews and Marshall Thompson (Allied Artists, Dec. 5; time, 80 min.) A good program melodrama, even though the story is somewhat confusing. The plot deals with the supposed efforts of foreign agents to blow up the port of Los Angeles by means of an atomic bomb concealed on a freighter sent into the harbor and controlled electronically from another ship at sea. All this is later explained as a Government experiment on the steps to be taken to prevent such a disaster, but this is not made clear in the presentation and one remains confused as to whether or not it was an experiment. Despite this confusion, however, the movie-goers should find it satisfying, for it has been so well directed and acted that the characters are believable in whatever they do and their actions hold one in tense suspense from start to finish. There is no comedy relief. The photography is sharp and clear: — As Port Warden of Los Angeles harbor, Dane Clark is unbending under his responsibilities and runs his office with such an iron hand that he is decidedly unpopular with those who transact business at the docks. He is assisted by Marshall Thompson, also an ex-Navy man, who was confined to a wheel chair and who lived happily with Marjorie Lord, his wife, and their two children. One day, Clark receives a tip that there was an atomic bomb on a freighter that had just arrived in the harbor. He questions the ship's captain and forces him to admit that the bomb was to be set off within the next twelve hours by means of an electronic device controlled by another ship many miles off shore. To prevent the destruction of the harbor and the possible loss of thousands of lives, Clark enlists the aid of Wayne Morris, a tugboat captain with whom he was not on friendly terms, to help him tow the freighter at least thirty miles out to sea. Rising to the emergency, Morris forgets his dif