- Original theatrical poster - image courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art
There's so much going on in the shoestring gem that is The Atomic Submarine that it seems only incidentally science fiction, just one of the film's many aspects that makes the eventual encounter with the unearthly that much more transfixing and bizarre.
Shot in a whopping eight days for just over $135,000, it's an adventure of hyperbolic proportions, fitting for a story that includes nothing less than the fate of the world and references, on more than one occasion, the Greek tragedy of Odysseus. It also has what might be the best played extra-terrestrial reveals this side of Steven Spielberg's career.
Whatever qualities The Atomic Submarine might have lost to the blatancy of its miniscule budget (underwater sets make dubious repeated appearances, stock footage, while well incorporated, is obvious, and the submarine miniatures sometimes look like little more than toys in an oversized bathtub) it more than makes up for with a deft use of minimal sets, a who's who cast of veteran character actors on top of their game, smart dialogue embodying a battle of ideas in contrast to the physical war being waged, and a singularly weird score by Alexander Laszlo. Frayed ends and all coalescence into a moody, electrifying whole.
Few films were so lucky, but the team behind this overlooked bit of genre boilerplate knew how to pound them out, given no other choice by studios typically apathetic to such material. The producer, Alex Gordon, was keen on casting skilled performers who'd lost their appeal, while a surprise cameo by Joi Lansing, Frank Sinatra's then-girlfriend, provides the film with its lone jolt of sensuality.
Most scenes were accomplished in just one take, resulting in an organic spontaneity common to independent and guerilla productions, and one that is particularly beneficial when selling the absurd.
The story is a classic UFO encounter. The oceanic passageways of the north pole have come under attack by an unknown source, with vessels above and below the surface being eradicated with frightening ease. The titular sub is the Tiger Shark, the most advanced ship of its kind. Manned by the best fleet available, it's sent to locate and, if possible, remove the threat, one that reveals itself in the form of an underwater flying saucer with a large, haunting, Cyclops-like eye.
The majority of the film resides within the Tiger Shark, and though the film doesn't try (and probably couldn't have afforded) to accomplish the kind of claustrophobia later marked by films like Das Boot, the conflict within the ranks on board more than suffices in exuding the tightness of space.
The hunt for the Cyclops is no easy affair, and as theories are made and tested about the alien visitor, tensions within the crew highlight the controversy of the day over the brewing technology of their ship.
Lieutenant Richard Holloway (Arthur Franz) is contemptuous of Dr. Carl Neilson (Brett Halsey), an anti-nuclear advocate whose publicity forced his father, a war hero and friend of Holloway, into early retirement.
Without revealing much of the plot development, it's safe to say that the third act is something of a masterstroke of understated set design and special effects, once again proving that it's not always what you have, but how you use it. Even the producer was so convinced of the flimsiness of the alien created for the film that he refused to partake in its inclusion; all the better when its eerie effectiveness was proven by positive audience reception, and if you sense that the intelligent being from afar looks oddly familiar, you're probably thinking of Kang and Kodos from none other than The Simpsons.
Sadly allowed to fall into the public domain, the film was later rescued by a sterling DVD release by The Criterion Collection, a fitting testament to its B movie awesomeness.
The Atomic Submarine is available for free on YouTube ( click here for part one).
The Atomic Submarine. Dir. Spencer Gordon Bennet. Perf. Arthur Franz, Dick Foran, Brett Halsey, Paul Dubov, Bob Steele, Victor Varconi, Joi Lansing, John Hilliard, Pat Michaels. Allied Artists, 1959. Running Time: 72 min.
