20.000 Léguas Submarinas

This may have been thrilling in 1916, but today it seems more of a curio. The Williamson brothers invented a camera to take pictures underwater, (the prologue tells us, complete with photos of them) so there's lots of shots of fish swimming, the bottom of the sea, men in diving suits and one battle with an octopus, which was a bit fuzzy. Still, the sense of watching movie history was strong, but don't expect too much in light of more modern techniques. What really bothered me was the hammy acting styles, with lots of arm motions and exaggerated facial features. It's the style that gave silent films a bad name. One who avoided this was Matt Moore, the hero of the film, and the only actor I recognized. Perhaps that is why he was still making movies in the 50's. The film uses plot elements of Verne's "The Mysterious Island" as well as "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea."

White-bearded mystery man Allan Holubar (as Captain Nemo) trolls the seas, looking for revenge against William Welch (as Charles Denver). We begin when Mr. Holubar's invention, an underwater ship called a submarine, is mistaken for a sea monster. Commanding the "Nautilus", Holubar wants to avenge the abduction of his wife and find his "child of nature" daughter Jane Gail (as Princess Daaker). He defeats, then compassionately rescues a crew of attackers, and goes near "Mysterious Island". Coincidently, enemy Welch and daughter Gail end up there, the latter falling in love with Matt Moore (as Lieutenant Bond)...

Reportedly, the first submarine photoplay ever filmed, "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" begins with a tribute to the Williamson brothers, "who alone have solved the secret of under-the-ocean photography." The brothers Ernest and George Williamson appear in an on screen introduction, tipping their hats (and looking like they could have had careers as actors). The film is mainly notable for their work in pioneering underwater photography; otherwise, this adaptation of Jules Verne's popular novel (with additions from his "The Mysterious Island") is sluggish sailing. It also corrupts the source material.

***** Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (12/24/16) Stuart Paton ~ Allen Holubar, Jane Gail, Matt Moore, William Welch

OK, this movie isn't at all faithful to Verne's novels (both 20000 leagues & Mysterious island), but who cares. It was too difficult for that time to stay close to the characters and to the relationship between Arronax and Nemo, which is based on the talking, showing different philosophical points of vue. So there we stick to a melodrama full of suspense and action. The pacing is quite fast, for a 1916 movie. A lot of characters and settings are involved, the cinematography is most of the time quite good and the actors are... so so. But it's the editing that attracts attention here, in a griffithian narration full of "parrallel editing" as we say in french. Some sequences are composed of four or five parallel actions, and sometimes flashbacks are used to add another dimension to the melodrama. The same fact is related three times by three different characters, each flashback being longer than its predecessor until the final revelation (that we can guess early in the film, but, as for most of gender movies, the pleasure for the viewer comes from the combination between waited events and surprising elements) narrated by Nemo himself. I don't know anything as for the origin of the version I own on DVD, so this editing question is to stay questioned. But as it is there (I saw the 1h45 version, a Jokanan copy), it's a really imaginative movie, a sort of serial with a complexer narration. It is sometimes a little boring anyway, especially when it deals with Arronax and co (Ned Land is useless, and the real hero of the movie arrives later on) and with submarine sequences (no so many, in fact, but a little childish sometimes). The documentary aspect is anyway interesting (the shark scene, an early Cousteau sequence) and from an historical point of view those sequences are very important.

A good movie, not as brilliant as the Fleischer version, but entertaining and representative of the evolution of American cinema at that time.

Just for the record: it's quite possible that the Nadia anime series by Anno Hideaki have been highly inspired by this movie (I won't say anything else, avoiding spoilers. Watch for yourself).

First retelling based on Jules Verne's fantasy-adventure novel with unknown cast and extraordinary scenarios . Silent take on for cinema , filmed in on location in Bahamas . When Jules Verne wrote this famed novel , the startling inventions impressed the world as being the limit of imagination and impossibility . The scenes were made possible by the Williamson Brothers inventions with submarine photoplay ever filmed . The film talks about the known story from Jules Verne novel , a real masterpiece ; 1868 ,the oceans are no longer safe , many ships have been lost, the sailors have returned to New England's fishing port with tales of vicious giant whale with long horn . The naturist and biologist expert named professor Pierre Aronnax and his daughter undertake a dangerous mission . Aronnax , his daughter , along with a professional whaler and famous harpoonist named Ned Land join forces in an expedition commanded by captain Farragut that attempt to unravel the mysterious sinking ships by an unknown creature . Aboard the ship called USS Abrahan Lincoln , they go out to investigate . At sea, Professor Aronnax was aboard the ship when Nautilus rammed it and threw the Professor, his helper and Ned Land into the water . They are captured and get thoroughly involved with power-hungry captain Nemo (Allen Hollubar, being in Disney version masterfully played by James Mason) and take an extraordinary adventure underseas in an advanced submarine called Nautilus . Prisoners at first, they are now treated as guests to view the underwater world and to hunt under the waves. Nemo will also tells them about the riveting submarine of the future and the revenge that has driven him for all these years . Our heroes get stuck in the ship , undergoing numerous adventures and suffering innumerable perils .

Exciting and thrilling submarine movie dealing with the Nautilus captained by Nemo , rendition from ¨20,000 Leagues¨, but also another Verne novel, ¨Mysterious Island¨, so the result is that there are two diverse tales taking place which don't at all seem to fit together, until ultimately they come together in the strange conclusion, which makes little relation in respect to the original classic . It displays sensational adventures , drama , marvelous scenarios and is enjoyable but dated . This film became famous for its groundbreaking work in actual underwater photography by George M. Williamson and J. Ernest Williamson who alone had solved the secret under-water sea photography . The actual undersea footage was shot in the Bahamas due to the unusually clear water . When this film was remade by Walt Disney 38 years later, they came to this same spot for their undersea footage . Fascinating submarine movie blends action , disaster spectacle, hokey fun , suspense and emotional happenings . Surprise-filled entertainment and with plenty of action on grand scale with breathtaking special effects by that time and some ships and submarine by maquette or scale model and filmed in Leonia, New Jersey, Universal Studios , Universal City, California, and New Providence Island, Bahamas . The underwater scenes , sea animals , flamboyant FX to make large-size Octopus seem like horrible monster , all of them are spectacular and the film is an early Hollywood product . However , a confuse plot and overlong runtime became a little boring film . This vintage story was regularly directed by Stuart Paton , it results to be an old mute (1916) with archaeological interest . The motion picture will appeal to fantasy-adventure buffs and silent movie aficionados .

The best adaptation turns out to be the Walt Disney production (1954) , marvelously directed by Richard Fleischer , James Mason plays a serious revenger captain Nemo ; Paul Lukas plays perfectly Annorax as intelligent scientific ; and Ned Land played by Kirk Douglas as a stubborn sailor who spends most of their time devising intelligent ways for escape . Other versions from this unforgettable novel are the following : for TV (1997) directed by Rod Hardy with Michael Caine , Mia Sara and Patrick Dempsey ; and another Television film (1997) directed by Michael Anderson with Ben Cross and Richard Crenna ; furthermore a cartoon movie directed by Arthur Rankin.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916) was a movie of firsts. It was the first feature length adaptation of Jules Vernes classic and was also the very first movie to film underwater.

Alas the troubles of this silent movie became apparent quite early on, namely that it's not exactly loyal to the source material. If you're expecting something strongly resembling the book then this may be an adaptation worth skipping over.

Now as mentioned this is a silent film (Entirely even devoid of music) which I'll be honest I've never liked. It's not anything snobbish or any expectations that I impose on a film, it's more that sitting for 90 minutes odd in silence gives me a migraine.

For this reason I watched this in sections and when the credits rolled I still managed to acquire a migraine and wasn't overly impressed with what I saw.

Considering it's age the majority looks fantastic as does the underwater filming. Certain parts struggle and it's unclear everything that is taking place but thankfully unlike 1907's version they are few and far between.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a passable attempt at a grandiose tale and the first of many many adaptations.

The Good:

Revolutionary for its time

The Bad:

Something about silent film gives me a headache

Not loyal to the original book