Below the Sea

It's 1917. A German U-boat is sunk with a chest full of gold bars. Survivor Captain Von Boulton pushes the only other survivor off a cliff. He becomes the only one who knows the boat's final resting place. It's 12 years later. The Captain with Lily's financial help tries to recover the gold. It goes badly. A few years later, Von Boulton under the false identity of Schlemmer and diver Steve McCreary (Ralph Bellamy) continue their search for the gold. Scientist Diana Templeton (Fay Wray) is their unwitting funder of the expedition.

This opens with a great battle against a submarine. It always helps to use the real thing. I'm not sure if Lily's ship is necessary. I'd rather get to Fay Wray a lot sooner. The first ship is interesting but all that could be folded into the second ship. As for the underwater filming, it looks like it's done in a water tank. The filmmaking technology is nowhere near modern water-tight cameras. It does look fake and I don't mean just the fake giant octopus. Fay Wray is terrific. I do still wish the underwater scenes could be better but it's as good as it could be for its time.

Somewhere, somehow, somebody decided that Ralph Bellamy was perfect to play the sort of role that would have suited Humphrey Bogart or maybe Robert Mitchum in a later era. So there he is, trying to come off as a cynical tough guy, a professional diver, who signs on for an undersea expedition financed by society playgirl Fay Wray. What he doesn't know is that the captain of their ship isn't searching for exotic marine life but a cache of gold from a sunken U-boat. It's a standard grade-B actioner, down to a fight to the death with a prop octopus. But watching the easy-going, erudite Bellamy desperately trying to play a hard-boiled adventurer is worth tuning in for.

Having made it a point to see all the available Fay Wray films that have survived, I can tell you with certainty that you will never see her looking more beautiful than in her role, here. A radiant presence in a world of dangerous characters, she plays a moneyed adventuress bankrolling a 'scientific' expedition to document marine life. Unknown to her is the real purpose of her crews' intentions. Surprises abound in this 'A' title from Columbia Pictures. I had a hard time telling the full scale from the miniature set. And for humor, Fay lectures Ralph Bellamy about becoming a gentleman, as he descends a ladder, and she'll lean WAAYY over to make sure she has his attention. Another delight from the pre-code era. Highly recommended.

Below the Sea (1933)

** (out of 4)

A German sub goes down carrying gold during WW1 and years later the commander (Fredrik Vogeding) and a scuba diver (Ralph Bellamy) head back to see if they can locate the treasure. The two exploit a woman (Fay Wray) who believes they are just going to sea to use a new diving bell, which can help them discover new things on the ocean floor. This film is pretty damn bland and boring but it does have a couple great sequences including the ending, which goes from camp to high adventure as a gigantic octopus attacks the diving bell and Bellamy must fight it. Seeing this fake looking octopus fighting Bellamy is worth sitting through the 78-minute running time. Also worthy is a great sequence out at sea where a ship gets caught in a storm but the opening sinking of the sub is also handled very well. All three actors deliver fine performances but the screenplay really lets them down because all they do is constantly fight, argue and make up and this gets very tiresome very quickly.

Even though BELOW THE SEA is an antique of a movie made in pre-code 1933, it's nice to note that there was a feistier side to FAY WRAY than the Scream Queen exhibited in KING KONG. She still has the same beauty but it's a little less innocent this time as she plays flirtatious games with RALPH BELLAMY as an underwater diver whom she can't get to smile or act like a gentleman. That seems to be her main preoccupation here, although she is bankrolling an underwater expedition while being deceived by men who are actually after some sunken gold bullion.

I thought she was prettier as the innocent blonde of KING KONG, but is presented here as a more modern and calculating heroine who learns the truth about the expedition only after she's fallen in love with Bellamy. But by this time he's been given some underwater heroics to do in order to save her life, just in time for a happy ending.

It's watchable but there are crude reminders that this is an early "talkie". It's easy to see why Bellamy never became leading man material in the Hollywood of the '40s after some leading man roles in films like this. He tries hard to play the sort of role that Bruce Cabot could have done blindfolded, but his loutish behavior seems more like a forced act.

Wray is lovely but not quite as effective as she was in her most famous film. Fans of the actress will be the ones who can appreciate this early offering.