When severe earthquakes shake the world, a nuclear-powered submarine, the Hydronaut, is recruited for a mission placing monitoring devices on fault lines throughout the sea floor that can warn of impending destruction. Doug Standish (Lloyd Bridges, the former star of the hit TV series Sea Hunt) and Craig Mosby (Brian Kelly), who designed and built the Hydronaut, begin to select their crew - apparently from central casting because every stock character imaginable is on call in Around the World Under the Sea (1966). There's devious scientist Phil Volker (played by David McCallum - Ilya Kuryakin of the hit television show The Man from U.N.C.L.E.); Hank Stahl (Keenan Wynn), a cuddly curmudgeon with a heart of gold; Orin Hillyard (Marshall Thompson), a geologist whose experience is grounded in textbooks and who doesn't respond well to emergency situations; and let's not forget Dr. Maggie Hanford (Shirley Eaton), the gorgeous blonde doctor and marine biologist who serves a mean cup of coffee in a split skirt and spike heels!

Part of the appeal of Around the World Under the Sea is its unabashed enthusiasm for B-movie cliches, played so straight that they border on parody. For example: Dr. Hanford (she is never referred to as Doctor but Miss) appears to have wandered in from some soap opera shooting on an adjacent soundstage. First, she becomes romantically involved with Hillyard but later gravitates toward Mosby. It's not long before they're doing some heavy breathing together - in between chain-smoking cigarettes (in a submarine!). It also turns out that Dr. Hanford had a previous relationship with electronics expert Volker. In short, her presence on the submarine spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

Another source of fun can be derived when observing the film's cheesy special effects and implausible narrative developments. Consider the scenes when a mutant conger eel that appears to be at least 100 feet long attacks the submarine. It's obvious by the exterior shots that we're looking at a small lightweight toy submarine in a fish tank. Worse yet, the interior shots in the Hydronaut for this scene feature embarrassingly bad rear-screen projection of the giant eel to which the actors react in fear. The film's ending is even more ludicrous; when the sub is half-buried by a volcanic rockfall, the captain suggests using dynamite and plastic explosives to free the Hydronaut. The explosives are wired inside the sub - not a good plan. Yet the crew remain safely sealed in a compartment right next door to the massive detonation! Oh, and although they're quickly running out of air, they are willing to sacrifice their own lives by giving their remaining bottles of O2 to the pet guinea pigs! Formulaic though it may sound, Around the World Under the Sea has the sort of unintentional humor that just might delight fans of underwater flicks or movies that feature sea monsters.

If anyone from the film deserves credit, it's Ricou Browning, a writer/director/actor and underwater stuntman with an impressive filmography (he was the scaly title monster in The Creature from the Black Lagoon, 1954). The more colorful scenes in Around the World Under the Sea feature Browning doing battle with various sea monsters or diving deep into the water for a desperate rescue attempt. Finally, trivia buffs will recognize Shirley Eaton from the James Bond film, Goldfinger (1964); she played the ill-fated Jill Masterson, who died from suffocation after her body was sprayed with gold.

Producer: Ben Chapman, Andrew Marton, Ivan Tors
Director: Andrew Marton
Screenplay: Elmer Parsons, Arthur Weiss, Art Arthur
Cinematography: Lamar Boren, Clifford H. Poland, Jr.
Editing: Warren Adams
Art Direction: Mel Bledsoe, Preston Rountree
Music: Harry Sukman
Cast: Lloyd Bridges (Dr. Doug Standish), Shirley Eaton (Dr. Maggie Handford), Brian Kelly (Dr. Craig Mosby), David McCallum (Dr. Phil Volker), Keenan Wynn (Hank Stahl), Marshall Thompson (Dr. Orin Hillyard), Gary Merrill (Dr. August Boren), Ron Hayes (Brinkman), George Shibata (Professor Hamaru).
C-111m. Letterboxed.

by Michael T. Toole