Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea  

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Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a 1961 American science fiction disaster film, produced and directed by Irwin Allen, and starring Walter Pidgeon and Robert Sterling. The supporting cast includes Peter Lorre, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Eden, Michael Ansara, and Frankie Avalon. The film's storyline was written by Irwin Allen and Charles Bennett. The opening title credits theme song was sung by Avalon. The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox.

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Plot

The new, state-of-the-art nuclear submarine, Seaview, is on diving trials in the Arctic Ocean. Seaview is designed and built by scientist and engineering genius Admiral Harriman Nelson (USN-Ret) (Walter Pidgeon). Captain Lee Crane (Robert Sterling) is the submarine's Commanding Officer. One of the on-board observers is Dr. Susan Hiller (Joan Fontaine), studying crew-related stress. The mission includes being out of radio contact for 96 hours while under the Arctic ice cap. The polar ice suddenly begins to crack and melt, with boulder-size pieces crashing into the ocean around the submerged submarine; surfacing, they discover the sky is on fire. After rescuing scientist Miguel Alvarez (Michael Ansara) and his dog at Ice Floe Delta, Seaview receives radio contact from Mission Director Inspector Bergan at the Bureau of Marine Exploration. He reports that a meteor shower has pierced the Van Allen radiation belt, causing it to catch on fire, resulting in a deadly increase in the global temperature. Nelson's on-board friend and scientist, retired Commodore Lucius Emery (Peter Lorre), concurs it is possible.

The President summons Admiral Nelson to a UN Emergency Scientific meeting. Nelson and Commodore Emery have devised a plan to end the catastrophe. Seaview arrives in New York Harbor two days later. Nelson informs the UN that, according to their calculations, if the increasing temperature is not stopped, it will become irreversible and the Earth will die in about three weeks. The Admiral and the Commander propose extinguishing the fire by launching a nuclear missile at the burning belt from the Mariana Islands. A nuclear explosion should overwhelm and extinguish the flames, "amputating" the belt from the Earth. Seaview has the capability of firing the missile. The chief scientist and head delegate, Vienna's Emilio Zucco (Henry Daniell) rejects the Admiral's plan as too risky. He believes the composition of the belt's gasses will cause the fire to soon burn itself out when reaching 173 degrees. Nelson disagrees with Zucco's theory, claiming that his estimated burn-out point is incorrect. Nelson and Emery's plan is rejected. The Admiral and the Commodore quickly leave the proceedings intending to get authorization directly from the President himself.

The Seaview races to reach the optimal firing position above the Pacific Ocean's Marianas trench in time for the needed angle of trajectory. Nelson and Crane attempt tapping the Rio-to-London telephone cable in an attempt to reach the President. An unsuccessful attempt on the Admiral's life indicates a saboteur is aboard. The rescued scientist, Miguel Alvarez, a religious zealot regarding the catastrophe, is the suspected saboteur. Dr. Hiller privately supports Dr Zucco's plan. Other obstacles present themselves: the sub narrowly escaptes minefield and the crew are near-mutiny. Crane begins doubting the Admiral's tactics and reasoning. During the cable tapping attempt, Crane and Alvarez battle a giant squid. They can only tap into the London cable, and Nelson learns there has been no contact with the U.S. for 35 hours. A hostile, unidentified submarine pursues them, diving deep into the Mariana Trench, exceeding its crush depth; the sub implodes before it can destroy Seaview.

The saboteur has shut down the sub's power. Crane encounters Dr Hiller, the saboteur, atop the shark tank, as she exits the restricted nuclear reactor core. Her radiation detector badge has turned red, showing she has been exposed to a fatal dose. When asked why, she says to prevent the sub from reaching its target. Suddenly an explosion rocks the sub, throwing Dr. Hiller into the shark tank, she falls in and is killed by the sharks. The Admiral learns that temperatures are rising faster than projected, proving Zucco's theory is incorrect. Alvarez, believing it is God's will for the Earth to be destroyed, attempts to sabotage the mission by threatening to explode a bomb. Crane, in SCUBA gear, launches the nuclear missile from outside the sub before Alvarez is aware.

Seaview reaches the Mariana Islands, and over Alvarez's threats and objections, a nuclear missile is launched toward the belt. It explodes, driving the burning flames away from the Earth and saving humanity.

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Cast


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