20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916)
1h 39m | PG-13
Captain Nemo has built a fantastic submarine for his mission of revenge. He has traveled over 20,000 leagues in search of Charles Denver - a man who caused the death of Princess Daaker. Seeing what he had done, Denver took the daughter to his yacht and sailed away.
Director: Stuart Paton
Studio: The Universal Film Mfg. Co.
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Action, Science Fiction
Video: 720p
Cast
Allen Holubar
as Captain Nemo, also known as Prince Daaker
Jane Gail
as A child of nature/Princess Daaker
Howard Crampton
as Cyrus Harding
Matt Moore
as Lieutenant Bond
William Welsh
as Charles Denver
Joseph W. Girard
as Major Cameron
Reviews
Based on Jules Verne's story of revenge, this is actually quite an impressive production that tries pretty hard to deliver a reasonably plausible production of this tale of "Nemo" (Allen Holubar). He has built this magnificent undersea vessel so he can avenge the death of his beloved Princess "Daaker" at the hands of "Denver" (William Welch). Meantime, acclaimed French scientist "Aronnax" (Dan Hanlon) and his daughter (Edna Pendleton) have embarked upon a ship that is sunk by "Nemo" and both of them, as well as harpoonist "Ned Land" (Curtis Benton) are taken on board. Initially as prisoners, but once the captain discovers the credentials of "Aronnax" that regime is relaxed. How long can this man continue to raid the shipping lanes before the military might - and a bit of a fifth column - track him down? To get any joy from this, you have to remember not just how embryonic cinema was then, but underwater photography (and action imagery, at that) too. Certainly, the cast are really nothing to write home about and much of the start has more to do with the author's "Mysterious Island", but it is still a groundbreaking piece of cinema that though frequently rather slow and stodgy, is still worth watch.