For its first feature in Cinemascope, Disney Studios chose the Jules Verne classic, with Richard Fleischer (Fantastic Voyage, Tora! Tora! Tora!) directing, and undistinguished writer Earl Felton doing the script. In 1868, a mysterious sea monster, or maybe a narwhal, appears to be ramming and sinking ships all over the Pacific. Professor Pierre Arronax (Lukas) joins a Navy expedition to investigate the matter, with his assistant Conseil (Lorre) and a crack harpoonist named Ned Land (Douglas) along. They discover the "monster" is a marvelous submarine commanded by the brilliant but bitter Captain Nemo. This 1954 movie won Oscars for art direction and effects (the distinctive design of the Nautilus and a decent battle with a giant squid are among the memorable sights), and features uneven acting with a mediocre but earnest script. Mason largely rises to the occasion of embodying the slightly mad Nemo, Douglas is a hunky cartoon, and the others don't get to do much. For music, Douglas sings a silly sea chanty and Mason plays a bit of Bach's familiar Toccata and Fugue on a shipboard pipe organ. The film manages to avoid most of the usual Disney hokiness, save for a rather charming seal named Esmeralda.
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The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
