Cidade Submersa

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.

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.

Genuine chemistry between Ryan and Powers lifts this a notch above fodder. But what happened to Susan Ball, her performance is almost not there. The camaraderie between Ryan and Quinn is the crux of the story, and unfortunately it doesn't work. There is a fun underwater earthquake that topples the "city", but spectacular it ain't. George Matthews makes a very sleazy villain.

This movie is pretty run of the mill under water sea adventure stuff , very typical of the era .The best scene however is in the tropical bar.Who ever chose or built the set did a great job.The bamboo theme, national geographic erotica style is unfortunately a thing of the past.Why the hell can't we have really cool bars like this to go to .At least a half decent joint where you can throw on a pair of old service chinos and a cool hawaiian shirt, drink rum colas and check out the dames!If anybody knows places like this let me know!