Sharad of Atlantis (1936)
Crash Corrigan, a recent graduate of Annapolis, and Diana, a go-getting reporter, join Professor Norton for a search for the source of a string of earthquakes, Atlantis. They ride Prof. Norton's rocket submarine searching the sea and little Billy Norton, the professor's son stows away, of course. When they find Atlantis they are caught in a war between peaceful Atlanteans, note their white capes, and war-monging Atlanteans, note their black capes. After many harrowing moments for Crash, Diana, Prof. Norton and Billy, they barely get away with their lives when they escape a tower of Atlantis raised to the surface for the sole purpose of dominating or destroying the Earth (Which one depends on the compliance of the upper world dwellers.)
Watch Trailer
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
Touches You
To me, this movie is perfection.
the audience applauded
Simply Perfect
This one has some laugh out loud moments - some intentionally funny and other times non-intentional. It's a riot - really fun to watch. I have a feeling the kids back then really enjoyed this one. It's kinda feels like you are watching the original Flash Gordon series in a way.What's really fun - watching these guys in their costuming... very much a comic book brought to life on screen - in particular "Wolf Man" Lon Chaney Jr. - just a treat to see this serial.If you are into the sci-fi superhero B-films/serials then you should like Undersea Kingdom (1936) - this one is really crazy fun.8/10
This serial is just howlingly fantastic. Bonkers and almost pornographic in its butch antics. I used to show this in a cinema in the 1970s and the audience would just go berserk. As the credits started they would almost scream the roof off...the title comes on over a shot of a phallic submarine entering a seaweed encrusted cave. Our hero, "Crash" DOES only wear his fish-scale pattern underpants with a cape and big silver boots....and a very groovy helmet with a big fin. There is a lot of leftover BEN HUR and NOAHS ARK props to be seen from silent epics pressed into squeaky service at Republic for their first sci fi serial spectacular and I am sure this was a big fat hit with the kids in its day as it was 50 years later. A exact remake of the 1935 Mascot Pictures serial PHANTOM EMPIRE inherited when Republic absorbed Mascot, This one even has the tin can robots and a big metal Volkswagen they hoon around in. Wait until you see the part when Crash is tied spread eagle on the bonnet and his pubic hair is showing..A real crown pleaser if ever there was!. A must for every collection.
Granted it is not like our cliff hangers today but enjoyed watching it. It had no foul language or off color jokes. It is a good family friendly series. It keeps the attention of the viewer. I like older movies anyway(there cleaner than the filth that HELLYWOODS putting out today).
UNDERSEA KINGDOM must rank at the very bottom of the cliffhanger serials. Why`s it so bad ? Well it was shown on consecutive nights on BBC2 many years ago and watching every episode less than 24 hours apart it becomes patently obvious that the audience are being cheated . Every single cliffhanger is re-edited at the reprise , the worst example is an episode that finishes with a tank that has the hero strapped to its front smashing through a wooden gate of a fort , a loud crash , splinters everywhere there is no way our hero could possibly have survived the impact - then the following episode shows ( !!!!POSSIBLE SPOILER !!!! ) the people inside the fort opening the gate before the tank crashes through . This goes beyond cheating and remains the worst resolution to a cliffhanger ever . So give this rubbish a miss unless you`re interested in seeing Lon Chaney Jr in a cameo in the first episode or you`re wanting to laugh at some bizarre robots who are obviously men with a water boiler over their heads