20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film)
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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1954 film starring Kirk Douglas as Ned Land, James Mason as Captain Nemo, Paul Lukas as Professor Aronnax and Peter Lorre as Conseil. The film is very well-known. This based on the book of the same name by Jules Verne.
Plot
In 1868, there are reports from sailors of a sea monster attacking ships across the Pacific Ocean. The world at large is fearful, especially the U.S. Government. Prof. Arronax (Lukas) and his assistant, Conseil (Lorre) are just passing through San Francisco on their way to the Orient. Arronax has no opinion on the so-called monster, and generally does not believe the story.The news reporters misinterpret Arronax's words and make a whole article about his "opinions" on the monster. This gets the attention of the U.S. Government, who sends an agent to talk to Arronax. The agent proposes that Arronax goes on a government-funded expedition to find the monster. Arronax agrees, as it will be passage to their final destination.
During the voyage, the sailors, and the professor, see nothing at first. They pass the time making music and playing songs, much to the delight of sailor Ned Land (Douglas), whom the audience is introduced to at the beginning of the film picking a fight.
When the "monster" is finally spotted, the ship does its best to try and take it down, lobbing cannonballs and harpoons. The monster then rams the ship, causing Arronax to fall in the water. Conseil dives in after him. They both are stranded when the ship, badly listing, heads back to a safe port. All hope seems lost.
The two then drift to a strange-looking boat, the Nautilus. They both realize that the submarine-boat is the "monster" they were chasing. Ned Land joins them, having been on an overturned lifeboat. The three explore the ship, seemingly deserted. Going deeper into the ship, they find all sorts of treasures and interesting gadgets. Arronax then opens a large viewing window and finds where the crew is, tending to the burial of a shipmate.
The crew then realizes that there are visitors aboard the ship and run immediately to catch them. The three castaways try to escape, but end up captured by the crew. The captain introduces himself as Nemo, and he does not take kindly to visitors. He orders them to be killed, except Arronax, whom he respects for his work and research. Arronax cannot let his friends die, so Nemo orders him out with the others. At the last moment, Nemo lets them all live, saying he has use for their loyalty.
All of the stowaways are given quarters. Arronax is entertained and entranced by Nemo's technology and philosophy. Conseil and Ned Land, however, do not want to be in the ship longer than they need to be. Nemo takes them all on an expedition under the sea to gather supplies, with the help of his amazing scuba gear. He wants to teach them that the sea provides everything, even food.
During the expedition, Ned Land tries to take a chest of treasure from a sunken wreck. After being nearly eaten by a shark, Nemo chastises him, saying that he "cannot eat pieces of eight". During this time, Arronax gets more and more entranced by Nemo's wonders, including what powers the Nautilus: atomic energy.
Nemo then takes Arronax to a quarry, where slaves load a ship with the elements to make gun powder. Nemo explains that he sinks ships like this for the good of the world. To Nemo, those ships are the cause of death and pain in the world. That night, the Nautilus rams the ship and causes it to sink. The collision damages the Nautilus, making repairs necessary. The ship then lurches its way to Nemo's base of Vulcania.
Ned Land, seeing his fellow sailors needlessly murdered, decides to throw numerous bottles into the water. He steals maps from Nemo's quarters and stuffs the bottles with the coordinates of Vulcania. He hopes that someone will pick them up.
Land attempts another escape when the crew comes to a seemingly deserted island. It is thwarted, however, by the cannibals of the island. Feeling he cannot trust Land Nemo locks him up in the brig.
Then, the Nautilus is stuck on a rock, causing a power loss and is temporarily grounded. The power returns, only to be attacked by Aronnax's monster, leading to the climax, where there is a tremendous fight with a giant squid during a storm at night. During the battle, Nemo is caught in one of the squid's tentacles. Ned Land has now freed himself from his cell, and climbs into the fray. Land frees Nemo from his captor and saves his life. Nemo returns the favor by letting Land go free in the ship.
When the ship gets to Vulcania, Nemo and his crew is ambushed by other naval ships. Nemo then decides to destroy his base, and his discoveries. He goes into the base to destroy everything, but when returning to the ship, he is struck by a bullet from a sailor's rifle. The charges in the water then permanently cripples the Nautilus. Dying, Nemo decides to let the ship sink, along with him and the crew.
Ned Land fights back, saying he does not want to be part of a suicide. He grabs Conseil, but has trouble getting Arronax, who says he must go back for his journal. Land then knocks out Arronax and carries him to the lifeboat, where Conseil is waiting. The group witness the destruction of Vulcania in a huge atomic explosion. The Nautilus then sinks to its watery grave. Nemo's words are echoed that someday, when man is ready, all of his inventions will be rediscovered, "in God's good time".
Reaction
The film received positive reactions, and has become a classic film of the Disney corporation. It is fondly remembered for the squid fight and the Nautilus itself.
The film has inspired a dark ride at Tokyo DisneySea and a walk-through at Disneyland Paris.
Comparisons with the book
- Ned Land is an unwilling and recalcitrant passanger in both versions, but only in the movie is he locked up in the brig.
- In the book, Professor Aronnax is more delibate about joining the original expedition than in the movie.
- Conseil doesn't speak in third person like in the book.
- Esmerelda, the trained seal, was created for the film.
- The film's main song "A Whale of a Tale" was also created for the film. The song is heard even before Ned sings it during the voyage.
- The Nautilus in the book is thin and speedy, while the Nautilus of the film is thick and slow, but incredibly powerful. As well, while in the movie it is nuclear-powered, in the book it is powered by electricity.
- While the book's version of Nemo did have an island stronghold where he stopped to resupply his ship, the final sea-battle at Volcania was fabricated for the movie; the Nautilus in the book disappeared in a whirlpool, and whether or not it actually sank was a mystery that was only resolved in Verne's later book Mysterious Island.
Trivia
- In the opening credits, the title banner does not have a comma between the first and second zeroes "20000 Leagues Under the Sea" although a comma does appear on the poster and all related print advertisements.
- This was the first Disney live action movie with no animation sequences to be made at Walt Disney's studio in the United States, although several times during the film, there are animated fish.
- This was Disney's first feature in Cinemascope and one of the first productions outside of 20th Century Fox to sign up for Cinemascope. The Cinemascope lens had to be leased from Fox. At the time, Bausch & Lomb had not been able to manufacture enough anamorphic lenses to meet demand. Only one Cinemascope lens was available to Disney. This prevented multiple units from shooting at the same time which contributed to the lengthy production schedule.
- The climactic squid battle on the Nautilus was originally shot with a serene sunset and a calm sea. Director Richard Fleischer was troubled by the look of it because the cams and gears that operated the squid could easily be seen, making it look obviously fake. Walt Disney visited the set one day and Fleischer told him about the problem. Disney came up with the idea of having the squid battle take place during a fierce storm (another story is that it was actually screenwriter Earl Felton who came up with the idea). The scene was reshot that way and is considered by many to be the highlight of the film.
- Richard Fleischer was surprised at being considered for the director's chair for this film, as he was the son of Disney's biggest competitor, Max Fleischer. He approached Walt Disney to inquire if Disney knew who he was. Disney told him that he was well aware of who he was and hired him because he thought he was the best man for the job.
- One of the models of the Nautilus created by Harper Goff was a "squeezed" version which could be filmed with a standard lens and still look normal when projected in Cinemascope.
- The entire squid was a fully-functioning model, while the part squid was a mechanic.
- The actual undersea footage was shot in the Bahamas in the same location that was used for the original 1916 silent version.
- Walt Disney said that Peter Lorre claimed that the giant squid got the role that was usually reserved for him.
- In addition to his many contributions as the production designer, including designing the Nautilus for the film, Harper Goff also taught Kirk Douglas to play the guitar for the "Whale of a Tale" number.
- Charles Boyer was originally considered for the role of Professor Arronax and Ralph Richardson was considered for Captain Nemo at one point.
- The whole movie, except for the scenes where Ned Land and Conseil go ashore at New Guinea and meet the cannibals, and most of the underwater scenes with the divers, were filmed at the Disney Studio.
See also
External links
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