20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) Director: Richard Fleischer
“I am not what is called a civilized man, Professor.
I have done with society for reasons that seem good to me.
Therefore, I do not obey its laws.”
A beautiful Technicolor CinemaScope interpretation of Jules Verne’s classic novel, I grew up watching this wonderful vision of nautical intrigue, and I recently introduced it to my young son (needless to say, it has become his favorite movie). As an essential seafaring science-fiction classic, this renowned tentpole movie hearkens back to an age when Disney Studios still looked to high adventure novels for cinematic inspiration –other live-action Disney movies from this era include The Swiss Family Robinson, Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island, and Davey Crockett among others. These old classics serve as an antidote to modern Disney’s creative bankruptcy as the studio cranking out one heartless cash-grab after another. But back in the 1950s, Walt Disney was taking big risks with his company, betting huge money on a theme park and expanding his movies into large-scale, live-action adventure epics like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
In 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Earl Felton’s script takes us back to the year 1868. Rumors are swirling of a mysterious sea monster lurking in the Pacific Ocean (or the South Seas), sinking ships and striking fear into the hearts of sailors. In response, the U.S. Navy launches an expedition from San Francisco to investigate this alleged monster. The expedition is helped by a brilliant scientist named Professor Pierre Aronnax (Paul Lukas) and his assistant Conseil (Peter Lorre). Also aboard is a young sea-ruffian harpooner named Ned Land (Kirk Douglas) who sings a catchy tune –“Got a whale of a tale to tell you, lads, a whale of a tale or two, ’bout the flappin’ fish and the girls I’ve loved, on nights like this with the moon above, a whale of a tale, and it’s so true, I swear by my tattoo.” Several months pass after departure, and the frigate finally encounters the fearsome “monster.” When they fire upon it, the “monster” turns and rams full-speed into the frigate, tossing its crew into the sea, before ultimately sinking the vessel. Aronnax, Conseil, and Ned Land are the only three crewmen who survive, desperately clinging to floating wreckage on the open ocean.
Soon, they happen upon the monster which, it turns out, is no monster at all –instead, it is revealed to be a large man-made metallic submarine (or “submerging boat”) presently empty as the crew appears to be conducting an underwater funeral (these marvelous underwater shots filled with coral and sea creatures were shot in Nassau). Soon the trio meets the head of this vessel, a formidable renegade sea captain-turned-charismatic genius named Captain Nemo (played by the great James Mason). The submarine, “The Nautilus,” is revealed to be an engineering marvel –a sustainable vessel which is fed everything it needs from the ocean (including milk from Sperm Whales, preserves made from sea cucumbers, and a special pudding recipe of “unborn Octopus” to name a few). The trio of outsider shipmates join the Nautilus crew on seafloor farming and “hunting” expedition. Meanwhile, we are treated to Nemo’s vast underwater art and literary collection, as well as his proclivity for playing Bach on his organ. These scenes of ordinary life aboard the Nautilus are some of my favorites in the whole film.
However, in time, we learn to distrust Captain Nemo. Tensions emerge as Ned Land wants to steal the world’s sunken treasures for himself (even though Nemo merely uses these treasures as a ballast for the Nautilus), and also we see a conflict emerge between the two competing philosophies of Professor Aronnax, an optimist who hopes to share Nemo’s inventions with the world, and Captain Nemo who has no desire of benefitting humanity whatsoever. Why? The film invents a partial backstory for Nemo which was kept somewhat murky in the novel –Nemo and his crew were once prisoners at a remote penal colony run by an unnamed “hated nation.” Thus, the Nautilus is now used as a weapon to destroy human ships of war –killing many to prevent more widespread warfare and suffering. Nemo envisions himself as a heroic-terrorist of sorts, fighting for the greater good by destroying the lesser evil. “I am not what is called a civilized man, Professor. I have done with society for reasons that seem good to me. Therefore, I do not obey its laws,” says Nemo. “Think of it. On the surface there is hunger and fear. Men still exercise unjust laws. They fight, tear one another to pieces. A mere few feet beneath the waves their reign ceases, their evil drowns. Here on the ocean floor is the only independence. Here I am free! Imagine what would happen if they controlled machines such as this submarine boat. Far better that they think there’s a monster and hunt me with harpoons.” Ever the enigmatic figure, Nemo yearns for vengeance on a world that has wronged him –he plans to use his nuclear submarine to strike back at humanity.
Along the way, the Nautilus encounters hostile cannibals in New Guinea, and the famous giant squid attack (which had to be entirely reshot at great cost in order to better capture the drama off this sequence), before arriving at Nemo’s home-base on the island of Vulcania (inside a dormant volcano lagoon) where Nemo destroys all record of his discoveries to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands –but he is attacked and mortally wounded in the process. In the end, he sends the Nautilus down one final time along with its crew, ending his life within his beloved kingdom under the sea. Professor Aronnax, Conseil, and Ned Land narrowly manage to escape in a dingy on the open ocean as they watch the Nautilus slowly slip beneath the waves.
With impressive, Oscar-winning spectacles and special effects, clever shots using a series of miniatures and reverse shots -–taking us inside caves, under volcanoes, through islands, into coral reefs, and along deep-sea expeditions– as well as the use of captivating map-paintings and a heavy foreboding aquatic score by Paul Smith, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is simply a jaw-dropping marvel of a movie. It remains an inspirational yet contemplative nautical adventure that leaves me with a sense of awe and wonder every time I watch it.
“…there is hope for the future. When the world is ready for a new and better life, all this will someday come to pass, in God’s good time.”
Thank you very much for this review. I only remember one or two scenes from it. Maybe for its 70th Anniversary next year I’ll watch it in its entirety.