The Atomic Submarine

Five years after the Nautilus the first atomic powered submarine made its debut, the nuclear submarine was still a unique enough weapon of war that films could be made about them. Such was this low budget science fiction thriller entitled simply The Atomic Submarine that came from Allied Artists.

Dick Foran is the skipper of the USS Tigerfish and he's been given a heavy duty assignment by the Chief of Naval Operations, Selmar Jackson. Something's been destroying all shipping in the Arctic Sea causing untold damage. The whole crew has been brought aboard, all leaves canceled.

The Executive Officer, Arthur Franz, has a heavy duty date with Joi Lansing so you can imagine it didn't put him in the best of moods. Especially when an old rival, Brett Halsey, is also assigned to the submarine. These two have an artificially scripted conflict which I'm still at a loss to understand. I guess the producers felt they needed something to occupy the time before we found out who's sinking the polar shipping of earth.

Of course it's a particularly nasty alien creature and it's a flying saucer that goes underwater that's doing the job. What he's on earth for and how they deal with it you'll have to see The Atomic Submarine.

Remember at the time The Atomic Submarine was considered the cutting edge of technology. Now practically our whole fleet is nuclear powered so it's not as big a deal as in 1959. The film is set in the futuristic date of 1968 and that's interesting to see what the film's creators take of the near future would be.

Also remember that this is Allied Artists which used to be Monogram Pictures. No great original special effects here just decently edited clips from other submarine and science fiction films.

The Atomic Submarine is a decent enough B film and I'm sure it was big hit with the kiddie trade back in the day.

The Atomic Submarine is atmospheric and creepy, especially when out in the frozen wastes of the North Pole.

A lot of stock footage didn't spoil my enjoyment, although we see different submarines. Good performances from 50s B movie regulars like Arthur Franz and Tom Conway keep the movie going. The monster in the flying saucer has to be seen to be believed. Great stuff, considering the low budget.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

Something about this movie makes me believe it was inspired by some article in an old Popular Science magazine about giant atomic-powered cargo subs of the near future plying the short route to the Pacific under the polar ice cap. (I must have missed that development while I was commuting by hovercar to my all-plastic cabin in the mountains, where a home breeder reactor supplies me with power too cheap to meter.)

The actors are (mostly) competent, with B-movie stalwart Arthur Franz in the lead. The script is serviceable, containing some creepy moments as well as an occasionally interesting clash of ideologies between military tough guy Franz and the peacenik scientist son (Brett Halsey) of his revered mentor. Though they despise each other at first, they find they can agree on the need to kick some alien booty.

The fx team of Jack Rabin, Irving Block and Louis DeWitt collaborated on quite a few low-budget sci-fi's in the 50's -- the most notable example being "Kronos", with its bizarre, energy-sucking giant cubist robot -- and manage to achieve a few interesting effects in this one, too.

The most unusual thing about this film is that I believe it's the first sci-fi movie to use the concept of a "living" spaceship. And I'm willing to bet money that the film's slime-dripping, tentacled alien Cyclops is the direct inspiration for The Simpsons' Kang and Kodos. Even the voice is similar.

If you're willing to forgive its obvious limitations, "Atomic Submarine" is an entertaining little low-budget romp.

It's all here; the flying saucer, atomic submarines, overbearing narration, stock footage, terrible effects and cheap sets. This is B movie writ large. It has an interesting premise, no doubt about it, and must have been a real draw back in 1959. Unfortunately, the rest of the components of the movie doesn't come close to delivering on it.

The story is simple enough, the newest atom sub investigates terrible disasters befalling ships and subs in the arctic, only to discover it may well be an alien intelligence at work. We get lots of bombastic narration, a sure sign of a poor screenplay, and it's slapped over lots of stock footage of several submarines which in no way resemble the models or sets. The model work is uncommonly poor, probably due to the difficulty of simulating underwater and under ice vistas on a budget smaller than a kids allowance. It's charming and interesting to look at, but still poor and never conveys any real scale.

As for the acting and script, we have several faces familiar to 50's B movie fans, and they do what they can with a sub par script. The supposed conflict between the 'hero' and the son of his mentor is so forced that you wonder why no one just slaps him or sacks him on the spot. They actually look a little embarrassed delivering the lines. The sets are pretty sparse too, both in looks and number. You could count the locations on one hand, not including the fish tank used for the special effects, with the UFO being particularly minimalist. The scene with the young guy piloting the mini sub in particular stands out as there are no controls for him to work, so he plays with a graph pen while 4 guys in frogmen gear stand around watching him struggle to improvise.

All things considered it's no classic, but that won't stop genre fans watching it to the end. It's a bit slow and a bit rubbish, but it's heart is in the right place and you want to like it despite it's flaws. Go see it for free at the Internet archives and see for yourself.

"Atomic Submarine" has two things to recommend it to viewers. It is adventure, with all sorts of dangerous situations, and a desperate battle against an undersea alien. And, it is unintentionally funny. Not hilarious mind you; but certainly funny enough for a few laughs as you enjoy its clumsy attempts at plot, acting and logic. Still, I like it, and I always watch it if it comes on cable. Its the adventure I guess. I get caught up in the idea of the powerful submarine; the crew at odds with each other; the "science-on-the-fly" they use to fight the monster. Its fun overall. I would venture to say that it is one of the classics of the 50's-60's low budget sci fi era.

This film is also notable for a brief appearance by Joi Lansing; the last, and prettiest, of the Hollywood "blonde bombshells". It's certainly worth watching if you're a guy, and a sci-fi fan. With a little imagination, "Atomic Submarine" is entertaining escapism.