Unknown World

A group of scientists tunnel to the center of the Earth to find a refuge from the dangers of the atomic world. As the team of the scientific people : Bruce Kellogg, Otto Waldis, Jim Bannon... , among them one woman : Marilyn Walsh , use a gigantic drilling for a risked expidition. The scientific compatriots descend into deep caverns filled with stalactites and stalagmites and looking for a tunnel system leading to the center . All of them drilling into the forbidden depths of the Earth resulting in surprising as well as fateful consequences. A thousand miles down...Ten-thousand Thrills Deep! A Journey to the Center of the Earth . Shocking drama of a woman who's lost life's most precious gifts! . Daring scenes of the forbidden depths at the heart of the world! Adventure into the unknown! Drilling into the forbidding depths of the earth!

A shocking and fantastic drama with daring scenes of the forbidden depth at the heart of the world. It blends usual issue in the Fifties about the risks of the nuclear war along the classic story of Jules Verne's Voyage to the Center of the Earth. The highlights of the movie are the numerous risks and dangers they have to deal with . Big start winds down fast and being nicely shot by Terry Morse, sometimes credited Terrell O. Morse. Stars a lot of B and mostly unknown actors giving passable interpretations, such as : Bruce Kellogg, Jim Bannon, Otto Waldis, Marilyn Walsh, uncredited Victor Killan, among others.

Produced by expert producer Robert Lippert who financed various fantasy movies and two FX expert professionals : Irving Block and Jack Rabin, both of provide tradicional and primitive especial effects, but really effective, adding abundant matte-painting . It contains a thrilling and evocative musical score by Ernest Gold to be continued a successful career with excellent soundtracks as a great composer. The motion picture was regular y professionally directed by Terry O Morse. He was a good craftsman and an expert editor. He shot various films about all kinds of genres with penchant for fantasy and Sci-Fi. As Terry directed films as Godzilla, Taffy, Fog Island, Godzilla King of the Monsters, Tear Gas Squad, Waterfront, On the Trail, Don Ricardo returns, Dillinger, Danny Boy, British Inteligence, among others. Rating : 5.5/10. In spite of not being a notable, neither extraordinary film, it results an acceptable and decent entry in the Fiffties, a period in which the Science Fiction genre got great splendor and success.

The film begins with some stock footage about nuclear war and is part of a presentation scientists are making in order to drum up support for an ark, of sorts, to be sent deep within the planet. This way, in case we have a nuclear war, the species can survive deep inside mother Earth. The story, at times, is highly reminiscent of Jules Verne's JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH.

When I rented this film, I assumed based on the box cover that it was a typical low-budget 1950s sci-fi/horror film. However, to my surprise, there were no bug-eyed monsters, alligators or lizards with cheap fins pasted on or silly masked ghouls. While it certainly did not have a huge budget, the film made a genuine effort to entertain, have SOME basis in scientific facts of the day and say something about mankind. While some might find this all pretty dull, I actually enjoyed it more than I thought and in hindsight I am glad the usual silly and schlocky monsters and such were missing. Now this isn't to say this is a masterpiece. Occasionally, the characters behave a bit silly--such as their needlessly bickering (which makes no sense for such an expedition) and the science behind all this is suspect (such as the lack of differences in air pressure, the presence of drinkable water as well as breathable air over a thousand miles inside the Earth and their ability to ascend at an incredible rate without exploding!). Still, it is oddly compelling and the acting (while they weren't arguing) was pretty good. Plus, unlike JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, it's nice NOT to see dinosaurs and other creatures waiting to greet our heroes.

Final verdict--well worth a look and a decent time-passer despite some limitations.

PS--This film is from Alpha Video--one of the worst producers of DVDs out there. Fortunately, unlike many of their films which are scratchy public domain prints, this one is a very good copy and is very watchable.

Well, to be fair, in 1951, there was still a great deal of conjecture about the Earth's inner structure; not only was the theory of "plate tectonics" completely unknown (it's no longer considered a theory), that the core was a viscous super-heated liquid with a solid center (outer core and inner core) was merely a conjecture (today it too is considered fact). This picture strikes me as a sort of "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1959) meets "The Core" (2003), with perhaps a little more emphasis on the latter.

What was surprising was to see that the credit for music went to Ernest Gold (who appears to have scored a number of forgettable pictures earlier in his career). Gold would go on to score "The Young Philadelphians " (1959), "On the Beach" (1959), "Inherit the Wind" (1960), "Exodus" (1960) and "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963); he won an Oscar for the score to "Exodus." Words were added in 1961 by Pat Boone(!) as "This Land Is Mine." Various versions charted in 1961, including by the piano duo Ferrante & Teicher and Montavani. It still can be heard today on radio stations that program older popular music.

First off, this story is loaded with scientific inaccuracies, the acting is somewhat inconsistent and the premise itself is rather preposterous. However, I found this film addictive and have watched it on a reasonably regular basis. You have a group of people, who decide that the threat of human annihilation is SO likely, it's worth the expense and risk to seek refuge deep in the bowels of the earth. This is all explained in detail in a rather convincing faux newsreel that immediately follows the opening credits. Soon, our less than harmonious crew of seven is locked together in the confines of a tunneling vehicle (called a Cyclotram) headed deep into the earth's interior completely cut off from civilization. There was animosity among some members to begin with, and now stuck together in the not–so-roomy vehicle, patience is predictably thin. Although, the science is off, the crew encounters adversities that are more realistic then most movies of this type. Such things as water shortages, UN-breathable pockets of gas, falling, boiling hot steam and indeed separation from humanity are the enemies they face. This isn't "action adventure" type science fiction, it's more drama based. Don't look for giant lizards or monsters. What makes this movie work for me is its overall dark mood. The dim photography, the music, the character's overall moods and the almost complete lack of any indigenous animal life creates a very melancholy atmosphere. I think the film does an excellent job of conveying the crew's loneliness and uncertainty. It's low budget only intensifies the somber feel. The crew even has a conversation about how their moods are changing (apparently from isolation). Because of all this, when they do discover something that seems to bring a little hope, you almost share their sense of invigoration. I wish this film would get a remastering and a decent release. Ironically the VHS version is far superior to the present DVD. For instance, the DVD is missing the first 12 seconds of the opening credits, including the entire "Lippert Pictures, Inc. Presents" and a bit of the title shot. Also the film is so poorly cropped that Marilyn Nash's name lies almost out of sight hidden the the bottom of the frame. Letters are also cropped off at the right. The newsreel has so many breaks that quite a few of the announcer's words are cut out. If you still own a VCR, it's actually worth picking up a VHS copy. You'd notice that on VHS the credits and newsreel are very much intact and the whole movie is a much better viewing experience.

Let's face it, if you're bothering to read reviews of this film, you are probably going to see it out of a sense of obligation if nothing else. So, it really doesn't matter what I say, now does it?

This is a fairly typical early 1950s not-very-scientific attempt to use the genre as a means for moralizing. The morality of this film is certainly worth listening to for its anti-war, anti-pollution, etc, messages, but the film lacks depth, science of any kind, and, basically, a compelling plot.

Being a fan of 50s sci if, I thought this film started off pretty well. Although there is no obvious crisis looming on the horizon, a scientist and a group of anti-nuke colleagues obtain grant money to explore deep within the earth for the possibility of habitable subterranean environments. Since the film was made in 1950-51, the level of concern regarding nuclear warheads is certainly understandable (too bad some have forgotten about this, eh?).

Much is made about the vehicle which they will use for this journey. The vehicle looks like a suped-up bullet nose Studebaker with a large drill bit attached to it. This vehicle is apparently capable of drilling through several hundred miles of solid rock, without any visible cooling system. As the scientists explore deeper and deeper into the earth, they are not surprised (though I was) to find that most of the crust and upper mantle (my terms, not theirs) are in fact hollow, and have not only gorgeous stalagmites and stalactites, but flat floors graded properly for people to take walks on. Harassed by noxious gasses, magma and pretty poor acting, the cast dwindles as the story devolves into a simple adventure tale.

The acting is generally uneven, and is hampered by the occasionally absurd script. I really don't want to single anybody out, but Marilyn Nash and Bruce Kellogg are particularly off-pace in this one.

The director, Terry Morse, went on to make a few good films (such as the List of Adrian Messenger), and also a lot of other films (the American version of Godzilla, and the timeless classic - not - Love Slaves of the Amazon). And this is sort of below-standard fare in the context of his filmography.

Well, OK then, go see it... You know you want to, and I am not going to stop you... But don't say you didn't have fair warning.