What was that movie about the submarine with the hole in it?
January 6, 2011 12:20 PM Subscribe
Trying to remember the name of an old movie about a small submarine with an open bottom.
I saw this in (elementary?) school in the 70s, so it is at least that old. Color, probably Technicolor.
The central set piece was a tiny round submarine, big enough to comfortably seat just two or three people (although at one point there are a lot more). The bottom is open, so that when the ship goes underwater, passengers can actually reach down and touch the water.
Early in the film, there is an expositional conversation, in which one guy explains to another that the sub retains air in the same way as an upside-down cup, pushed into a sink or bathtub.
At one point, they actually lower the vessel on top of an underwater object, perhaps a statue. The statue comes up through the hole, bringing no water with it.
Ring bells?
I saw this in (elementary?) school in the 70s, so it is at least that old. Color, probably Technicolor.
The central set piece was a tiny round submarine, big enough to comfortably seat just two or three people (although at one point there are a lot more). The bottom is open, so that when the ship goes underwater, passengers can actually reach down and touch the water.
Early in the film, there is an expositional conversation, in which one guy explains to another that the sub retains air in the same way as an upside-down cup, pushed into a sink or bathtub.
At one point, they actually lower the vessel on top of an underwater object, perhaps a statue. The statue comes up through the hole, bringing no water with it.
Ring bells?
Response by poster: Well... I think it was more of a hybrid. Like what a modern diving bell would be like. I feel like they had control over its movement, but I could be wrong. And I'm not sure whether or not it was suspended from a cable.
posted by bingo at 12:28 PM on January 6, 2011
posted by bingo at 12:28 PM on January 6, 2011
The undersea house in Hello Down There had an open pool in the middle of the floor, but that was a fixed structure, not a vehicle.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:43 PM on January 6, 2011
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:43 PM on January 6, 2011
The bit with the statue sounds an awful lot like Warlords of Atlantis, though I am guessing you are not looking for a wacky SF/Fantasy film.
posted by Artw at 1:22 PM on January 6, 2011
posted by Artw at 1:22 PM on January 6, 2011
Voyage To the Bottom of the Sea. Was also a TV series, IIRC.
posted by DWRoelands at 1:24 PM on January 6, 2011
posted by DWRoelands at 1:24 PM on January 6, 2011
Response by poster: Hm. That could be it. The diving bell looks right. But why would that be shown to an auditorium of kids in school? Hm... wikipedia says the movie was remade as a one-hour pilot. Maybe that's what we saw... also, I don't remember anything about fire coming from the sky.
posted by bingo at 2:00 PM on January 6, 2011
posted by bingo at 2:00 PM on January 6, 2011
Perhaps you recall portions of The Sea Around Us, which was produced by Irwin Allen some years before his underwater TV series. It apparently has some diving bell scenes.
posted by dhartung at 11:38 PM on January 6, 2011
posted by dhartung at 11:38 PM on January 6, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by geegollygosh at 12:24 PM on January 6, 2011