Undersea Kingdom

Despite being born in 1966, I have actually seen about 20 old time movie serials in my time, the ones made in the 1940s and 1950s actually stand the test of time rather well, but this one, dating back to 1936, is just a bit too old for me.

From the first frames, it has 1930s written all over it, from the clothing to the acting to general look of the production.

Being a Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea nutcase, I was actually looking forward to seeing some Voyage/Sea-ish submarine miniature effects from the Lydeckers (Howard Lydecker created effects for Voyage/Sea) but The Undersea Kingdom submarine looks ugly.

Then again, one later chapter features a fancy aircraft, flying in daylight, that resembles much later effects that Howard would do for Irwin Allen TV.

Sorry folks, this serial just does not cut it for me, in fact, I destroyed the video tape. Maybe I am just too young for it?

"Undersea Kingdom" could be compared to Universal's popular "Flash Gordon" serial released the same year. Instead of having the story take place in outer space, Republic stages this one at the bottom of the sea in the lost continent of Atlantis complete with a mad man trying to take over the world and a similarly named hero.

Unga Khan (Monte Blue) has harnessed the atom and is causing earthquakes across North America. Scientist Professor Norton (C. Montague Shaw) has invented a ray that will counteract the earthquakes which he believes are coming from the ocean floor,

As luck would have it the ever resourceful Norton has also invented an atomic powered submarine with which he plans to descend to the ocean floor and discover the source of the carnage. He forms a team which includes "Crash" Corrigan (Ray Corrigan) a naval lieutenant and a muscular athlete (who gets to run around without his shirt for most of the story), Diana Compton (Lois Wilde) the ever present newspaper reporter, young Billy (Lee Van Atta) Norton's son, Norton's assistant Joe (John Bradford) and for comic relief Briny (Smiley Burnette) and Salty (Frankie Marvin).

When the sub descends into the ocean it is discovered by Unga Khan who using a tractor beam pulls the crew into the undersea world of Atlantis. There, Crash and the gang discover that there are two warring factions..Khan's Black Robe Guards and the White Robed followers of Sharad (William Farnum). The Black Robes posses a tank-like machine called the Juggernaut and an army of walking garbage can robots called Volkites.

Anyway, to make a long story short, Crash becomes leader of the White Robes' army and Unga Khan captures Professor Norton and alters his mind so that he obeys without question. Khan plans to have Norton produce the priming powder that will ignite the rockets that will propel his tower to the surface and thereby enable him to take control of the world. Well, over the course of the 12 chapters, Crash and the gang escape numerous life threatening situations and ultimately save the world.

This serial is full of contradictions. Firstly, the Black Robes have harnessed the atom, the Volkites and the Juggernaut each possess deadly ray guns yet the soldiers ride in horse drawn chariots or ride horses and fight with swords, and they even have guided missiles. Secondly, Norton's atomic powered submarine is left in the hands of two bumbling assistants? Credibility gap here?

There are some good (and some cheesy) special effects. The two sieges on the White Robe city are well done, although I don't know what good that so-called flame thrower is. The flying craft seems to be going in circles and the "Tower" looks really cheap when it appears on the surface.

A word about the rest of the cast. Boothe Howard and Lon Chaney Jr. (wasted again) play Unga Khan's chief henchmen and Lane Chandler plays Sharad's assistant. In an offbeat bit of casting, Raymond Hatton plays a bad guy and John Merton a good guy. Hatton of course is best remembered as the crusty old sidekick in dozens of "B" westerns. The muscular Merton (sans moustache) was usually cast as a villain. Burnette and Marvin are given little to do and disappear for several chapters at a time.

For Corrigan, this was his first starring role. He would play the lead in Republic's "The Painted Stallion" serial in 1937 as well as, beginning a long run as Tuscon Smith in the long running "Three Mesquiteers" series.

"Undersea Kingdom" is fast-moving and exciting, better than most serials...with the added fun of seeing how the cliffhangers are impossibly resolved. One of my favorite superheroes who's never been filmed is Namor, the Submariner and this serial comes closest to rendering him on film. It's amazing how a very ordinary looking guy (Ray Corrigan) with an admittedly great physique can be transformed into a thrilling superhero just by donning a costume. This is the best example of the transformation by costume...Corrigan doesn't look anywhere near as imposing without that great sort of Aztec-looking helmet, the best flowing cape (far better than Superman's) and those nifty fish-scale briefs that turn transparent when the lighting hits them just right. Fortunately, our hero wears this impressive outfit throughout most of the series, and you will notice how much his presence is diminished just by removing the helmet from time to time. Despite the robots that look like lumbering water heaters and a sardine-can tank that announces its presence with an ambulance siren, this is a classic serial adventure that should surely please most action-hero and serial fans. It's a very ambitious and largely successful product for its times, with the added bonus of little of the tediously long previous chapter replays of later efforts in the genre. Highly recommended!

Republic Pictures 12-chapter serial, Undersea Kingdom, borrows many elements from the Flash Gordon story: a "yellow menace"-type villain, a scientist and his futuristic craft (this time a rocket submarine rather than a rocketship), a vanquished foe spared in combat becoming a staunch ally, and finally the heroes name Crash (rhymes with...). You can see the beginnings of the great serial factory Republic was to become, with decent fights and excellent special effects for 1936. Pacing is sluggish and it contains some horrendous cliffhanger cheats. For example, when Crash is SEEN plummeting down an elevator shaft and the next episode begins with his falling through the open elevator doors, reaching out and clutching the edge of the doorway preventing his fall. I would not recommend seeing this serial in one go because the cheats would be less abrasive if the chapters were viewed with some time in between. I rate this serial a 7.0 (Review: 1; 11/2002)

This serial was cranked out even quicker than usual for Republic, in direct response to Universal's instant classic, Flash Gordon, and is, overall, rather sub-par for a Republic production.

Our hero, Crash Corrigan, is an attempt at creating a poor man's Buster Crabbe, and while he is likable, adequate and has the right build and physical abilities to be a serial hero, he does not exude sufficient charisma, charm, virtue or cleverness so as to have us in our seats cheering him on.

The main villain, Unga Khan, is an unsuccessful attempt to create an ersatz Ming the Merciless, looking more brain-damaged than sinister.

And while Crash is adequate, most of the rest of the cast are either bland or sub-par, the exception being guy who played Unga Khan's main henchmen, who was pretty good. There is a just awful kid, Billy, the son of a geriatric scientist, who you keep hoping will get killed off, but no, he survives.

And there is a nice-looking female lead who gets almost nothing to do the entire serial, and there are no romantic sparks between her and our hero, until the final chapter.

Speaking of romantic sparks or the lack thereof, it is interesting to note that in the Kingdom of Atlantis, wherein our adventure occurs, there appear to be exactly zero women, until our aforementioned heroine arrives. I mean, in a literal sense, that although this serial has many male actors and extras, there is only 1 female throughout the whole 12 chapters. How this city's population has perpetuated itself these many thousands of years is a mystery not discussed, nor is the means by which the many, many male inhabitants of Atlantis relieved their sexual urges.

This aspect of Atlantean life, plus the many scenes of our hero stripped down to his trunks wrestling other men stripped down to their trunks, not to mention the fact that Corrigan's Atlantean costume greatly resembles that of a Las Vegas showgirl, gives rise to much speculation.

This serial has neither the verisimilitude of the classic Republic serials, nor the delirious phantasmagoria of Flash Gordon. Thus, it is amusing to see a couple chapters, but, and I say this as a fan of the classic serials, I found it tiresome to watch in its entirety.

I should, however, give due praise to the fine miniature work by the Lydecker Brothers, and note that this serial marks the premier of the great Republic "water heater" robots, who would continue to appear in serials for the next 20 years. Thus, fans of Republic should see at least a chapter or two, and fans of serials, B-films, and kitch can also enjoy a couple chapters. But the whole things will probably be more than you need.