La cité sous la mer

Universal-International studios. Two tough American buddies (Robert Ryan, Anthony Quinn). Sunken treasure off the Caribbean. Plots about scuttled ships and sunken gold. A thuggish sea-captain. Giant squids. A set-piece bar-room brawl. Even voodoo drums. Tacky colour. You can almost picture the lurid cover of the 10-cent paperback novel the film was based on. All that's lacking is a real femme fatale.

Bud Boetticher was a cult director in the Don Siegel/Sam Fuller vein, later acclaimed for the series of sparse but superb western quickies he made in the late 1950s with actor Randolph Scott (Ride Lonesome, The Tall T, Westbound, etc).

Irresistible and well made.

CITY BENEATH THE SEA lacks the complexity of Budd Boetticher's "best" work (his later "Ranown" westerns, the earlier THE BULLFIGHTER AND THE LADY), but it's highly sweet-smelling trash, with great wise guy performances by Robert Ryan and Anthony Quinn. Filled with almost as many double entendres as the most eyebrow-raising Sam Fuller works of the same period, it succeeds as pure entertainment even if you don't care a whit about the so-called plot (a race to discover sunken treasure amidst voodoo spells, wild dames and Technicolor Jamaican scenery). Good supporting performances by Mala Powers and Karel Stepanek, crackling dialogue and bizarre underwater scenes (part matte, part miniature, part studio tank). Don't expect RIDE LONESOME or SEVEN MEN FROM NOW and you'll find plenty to enjoy.

OK adventure story about two soused divers who latch onto the whereabouts of a bunch of gold buried somewhere under the ocean.

Bob Ryan and Tony Quinn go through the paces with their respective love interests, Mala Powers and Suzan Ball. Not bad for this kind of Saturday afternoon entertainment. Suzan Ball passed away at a very young age. When Suzan fell deathly ill, her husband at the time, actor Richard Long ('Jarod' on The Big Valley TV show), reportedly stayed at her bedside for long hours until, in her delirium right before she died, Suzan uttered "Tony!".... (Quinn). This upset Long to no end... (how awkward).

Good 1950's treasure-hunting film. Suzan sings in a nightclub followed by a big bar fight. Mala is hot in her swimsuit.

There were batches of underwater adventure movies in Hollywood besides this one: BENEATH THE 12 MILES REEF, UNDERWATER, SHARKFIGHTERS.... This one directed by Budd Boetticher for his Universal Studios contract period is very enchanted, full of color and helped by a strong cast with the likes of Robert Ryan and Anthony Quinn. Paramount Studios could have produced this plot, typical of the studio, where we could have found for instance John Payne and Rhonda Fleming. But this one is perfect for gem diggers and interested in those fifties adventures movies, so full of charm, no matter the story and implausibilities.

City Beneath the Sea came on BBC2 one Saturday afternoon some years ago and I was pleased I taped it. This has never been released on video so I was glad I kept this TV copy.

Two divers come to Jamaca to recover some gold on a sunken ship off the coast. One evening, they visit a club and meet two girls and both subsequently fall in love with them. Rivalry then breaks out between the two men over who will keep the gold when retrieved. The ship sunk near the ruins of an underwater city (not Atlantis) and the locals are against the men recovering the gold because the city is one of their tabu's. Not surprisingly, danger looms when the city collapses as a result of an undersea earthquake, trapping one of the divers. He is rescued by his mate and neither of them get the gold in the end.

Despite being a bow budget movie, the underwater scenes in City Beneath the Sea are not that bad.

The cast includes Robert Ryan and Anthony Quinn as the divers and Mala Powers and Susan Ball as the love interests. This also stars George Mathews and Woody Strode.

Watching this movie is a good way to spend just under 90 minutes one afternoon or evening. Very enjoyable.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.