Also known as "Night Without Stars", it is a 1951 black and white science-fiction movie with a run time of 74 minutes. The plot of the film centers around a group of scientists lead by Dr. Morley, who believe that the world will soon end in atomic annihilation. They plan to save humanity by leading an expedition deep beneath the Earth's crust, and wait out the deadly radiation. However, the group fails to receive any government funding and instead find funding in the heir of journalism empire, Mr. Wright Thompson. Mr. Thompson's one stipulation is that he accompany the intrepid scientists on their journey deep to the center of the Earth!
Written by Millard Kaufman
Staring Victor Kilian as Dr. Jeremiah Morley, Marilyn Nash as Joan Lindsey, Bruce Kellogg as Wright Thompson, Otto Waldis as Dr. Max A. Bauer, Tom Handley as Dr. James Paxton, Dick Cogan as Dr. George Coleman, and Jim Bannon as Andy.
Directed by Terry O. Morse
It has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 8%, and an IMDb score of 3.9 stars out of 10.
Released on October 26, 1951 by Lippert Pictures.
Fun Fact: Some scenes for the movie were filmed at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Bronson Caves and Pismo Beach California.
The film begins with the popular format of putting the credits first, probably a way to stretch the run times like how certain TV shows today use cutaway gags. After the initial credits the movie starts out in a film reel format, "Civilization vs The Atom"!! It gives you the post-war optimism that I love about 1950's America. (Before you start in on me, I like the optimistic vibe we had. That we could do and make anything, not the racism and sexism. Those were awful, and should go without saying.) It also conveys the overlying fear that was felt throughout the entire Cold War, of nuclear destruction. They use the film reel as a way to introduce us to the main cast of characters; Doctors Morley, Bauer, Paxton, Coleman, and Lindsey. Dr. Joan Lindsey being the only female character in the entire movie, and later feels more like a tool the writers use for love interest and drama. We are also introduced to the token "meat head" of Andy, a Marine Corps veteran. It is revealed that they are all apart of an organization that wishes to preserve humanity and civilization by traveling deep below the Earth, and here is where it gets crazy for me. You see, all these brilliant scientists and Doctors seem to think that the Earth is more or less hollow, because of course. It all has a very "Journey to the Center of the Earth" vibe, entering through an extinct volcano in the North (Alaska in this movie) and traversing deep cave tunnels. They finally get the money that they need to fun the expedition from a rich thrill seeker named Wright Thompson, who only wants to travel with them as his one stipulation.
The team finally sets off using a specially designed vehicle called a "Cyclotram", which has an art-deco design to it and a giant drill on the front. They enter through an extinct volcano in Alaska and drive down to the bottom of it where they use explosives to get through the first rock wall. Why not use the big drill on the front? It is here that I realized something, they plan one saving humanity and they have six dudes and one woman. Brilliant scientists, brilliant. As they begin their descent into the depths of the Earth, someone mentions that it was "getting rough" though it looked like a gentle rocking to me.And this proceeds through the slow moving first half.
One of the more fantastical parts of the film, that is honestly pretty cool, was all the food being in pill form. After "breakfast" the team is at a depth of 2.6 miles below the Earth's surface, here they discover a mysterious note left behind by a previous exploration. They also "discover some pressure" caused by a nearby volcano, that being fire burning on rocks, and they claim to be geologists? As they descend deeper I noticed another glaring plot hole, is the use of gas masks instead of respirators (I'll settle for old-timey diving equipment) and instead of using ANY equipment to check the air quality they just ripped off their masks to "normal, fresh, clean air". Obviously these guys were really just trying to avoid any O.S.H.A. fines.
Later on, they all begin to feel the symptoms of prolonged isolation, the loneliness and depression. Something I'm sure many of us could relate to during our self isolations, lock downs, and quarantines. At around 100 miles down, Doctors Paxton and Coleman exit the Cyclotram to do some on foot scouting. Suddenly the toxic gas alarm goes off, causing the crew inside to turn on their emergency air supply. They notice that Paxton and Coleman forgot their gas masks! They all rush out to find the two lying down on the ground. So instead of checking for a pulse or anything of that nature, they are just declared dead and promptly buried. This is just 33 minutes into the movie, but it felt like hours.
At 240 miles down, they discover that their water supply was ruined by the toxic gas. So now the hunt for a water source begins. After a short but tense search they discoverer a seepage in one of the cave walls. Thompson and Andy begin to use sledge hammers to break open the wall, only it wasn't water seeping through the wall it was condensation. The wall erupts in a burst of steam, burning Thompson's arm. Here, the first argument about weather they should continue or go back to the surface. They choose to continue on. As they continue on they find a large underground lake where Andy catches some rather large sightless fish. Thompson begins to feel like this is all been a waste of time and wishes to go back. Though, Dr. Morley has the final say and they yet again continue down.
The slow moving plot at times even felt rushed, a long and arduous discussion on weather or not to continue down and stock footage of the Cyclotram digging away interrupted by brief flashes of excitement. Such as when they stop once again to do some on foot scouting. This is when Thompson slips and slides down a steep incline, macho-man Andy rushes to his aid and ties off a rope to repel down to Thompson. He rescues Thompson, who makes it back to the top, and right as Andy reaches the top himself, the rope snaps and he plummets into the abyss. The best stereotypical way to die in a cave, cave ins suck.
Mournfully they continue on until they find a strange and mysterious light source. Rushing towards it, as one does, the remaining team find a veritable utopia underground. A large cavern, around 1640 miles below the surface, with a luminous ceiling that was high enough to generate it's own clouds. However their joy is short lived as after a few in film days their utopia explodes, literally. A storm forms out of nowhere generating massive lightning strikes as a volcano erupts. Bauer, Lindsey and Thompson all rush back to the safety of the Cyclotram while Morley lingers unwilling to return to the surface world. The Cyclotram is washed away by the rising underground sea and the team falls to a depth of over 2500 miles. The water pressure should have imploded this thing by now, seriously at 2500 miles below sea level the pressure would be at 5.86564e+6 psi (or 404422 bar, 4.04422e+7 kPa). And as the survivors accept their fate they get caught in an current raising them to the surface of the sea, where they magically don't suffer from the bends, next to a tropical island.
My overall score is 1.8 out of 5 stars. An interesting initial plot line ruined by bad storytelling and camerawork, the acting wasn't too bad on this one either. Kind of like a dollar store "Journey to the Center of the Earth".
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Thanks for reading! -Fargo
Sources: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes
