O Submarino Atômico

**SPOLIERS** After some half dozen US Navy subs have been destroyed in the Arctic Ocean within 200-from 87 to 90 degrees North latitude-miles of the North Pole it's decided by the US Military to send it's most advanced atomic submarine The "Tiger Shark" there to see what's causing all this destruction.

With Camdr. Reef Holloway, Arthur Franz, and his second in command Capt. Dan Wendover, Dick Foran, put in charge of the nuclear sub "Tiger Shark" in a top secret mission to the North Pole things get a bit sticky when Dr.Carl Neilson joins the sub's crew. Despite his youth, he's in his late 20's, Dr. Neilson is one of the top oceanographers in the world.

Dr. Neilson is also an unashamed peace-nick who had his old man, Reef's mentor the top naval war tactician in Annapolis,and the person whom Reef worshiped the very ground he walks on,end up hospitalized with a career ending nervous breakdown! That resulted in Dr. Neilson insinuating to the press that his father is a warmonger in his obsession with the use of nuclear submarines- and their payload of Polaris nuclear missiles-in the defense of freedom.

This tension between Reef and Dr. Neilson goes on unabatedly during the entire trip to the North Pole until it's realized that what's been sinking US military vessels up there is a hostile 300 foot in diameter flying saucer!

This UFO identified as the Cyclops, because of its flashing blue light, is using the magnetic pull of the earth, centered at the poles, to regenerate itself with magnetic energy. At the same time the UFO in order to keep it's existence secret zaps any ship or underwater sub that's unfortunate enough to get in its way!

It's also later found out straight from the UFO's pilot's-a hairy one eyed alien- mouth, or subconscious, that it's planing to have it's fellow one eyed monsters colonize the world and enslave the earth's human population!

It takes a while, with a number of the "Tiger Sharks" crew members getting killed, to figure out how to handle this alien, or aliens, from space. But later with the help of the now, he finally saw the light, kill em first and don't ask questions later ex-pacifist Dr. Neilson the human race in the end prevailed.

The problem now, after destroying the Cyclops, is just how many more of these one eyed monsters are still out there in space watching and monitoring us! And also will we have the both strength and fortitude, as well as the military hardware, to combat and defeat them in the not so far off distance future?

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.

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.

"The Atomic Submarine" is rather surprisingly a release from the super-intellectual Criterion Collection. This surprised me, though after seeing it, I could see that the film was a very good B-movie--and there was a lot to admire.

The film begins by learning that various ships entering the Arctic region have been lost--so many that the government is sending their top submarine there to investigate. This ship discovers something that no one had anticipated...and I won't say more because I don't want to spoil the suspense--and there is quite a bit.

This film has several deficits--mostly due to its very low budget. Because they could not afford tons of special effects, a few shortcuts were used. Stock footage (often a bit grainy) of ships sinking, a rather silly creature near the end and sets that looked more like sets than a sub are all things you are bound to notice. And, the script is occasionally a bit clichéd. But, on the other hand, the film is pretty exciting and seemed to get the most out of its low budget and short filming schedule. Plus, the story underneath it all was quite creative and great. Clever and well worth seeing.

Yet another interesting, small-budget, black-and-white thriller gem from the 1950s. These pictures are being continually (and successfully) released to DVD, much more than the genre films from the 1960s through 1990s. Why? In these post Atomic, Cold War years, imagination ran rampant with so many new ideas that were fresh and innovative. They're charming in their antiquated way. Using inexpensive special effects, with a generally serviceable, attractive cast working with scripts that moved the action along, these sci-fi drama infused sex (tame for the time) and violence with effective results. "Atomic Submarine" tells the story of an alien spacecraft destroying subs in the Arctic. When Arthur Franz finally meets the creature, a giant cyclopean octopus-style thing, it states (via telepathic communication) "We finally meet face to face. Franz replies: "That's a face?" Later Franz relates to extraordinarily handsome hunk Brett Halsey, that he left his little black book on the alien spacecraft, which included the number of buxom blonde (Joi Lansing) that he had a rendezvous with earlier. Most enjoyable.