Watching this film may make you feel you've missed a few headlines. This science-fiction epic is set in the early years of the 21st century, when driven engineer Richard Dix spearheads plans to build a tunnel connecting the U.S. and Great Britain. Some of the depictions of future technology are dead on, particularly the drilling equipment used in some impressive miniatures, even if the art department envisioned a world taken over by art deco and the script ignores the existence of undersea trenches too deep to tunnel beneath. Bernhard Kellermann's novel had been filmed as a silent in Germany in 1915, then in France in 1933. That version was directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starred Jean Gabin as the engineer and stage legend Madeline Renaud as his wife. Although this version was filmed in Great Britain (by Maurice Elvey, one of their leading directors at the time), Gaumont British imported American stars Dix and Madge Evans for U.S. box office appeal. They also got George Arliss and Walter Huston to do cameos as the British prime minister and U.S. president, respectively. By the way, if you would be first in line to drive from the U.S. to England, you should be advised that with current technology the trip would take two-and-a-half days of non-stop driving.

By Frank Miller