Below The Sea

Below the Sea (1933)

Runtime: 74 minutes

Directed by: Albert S. Rogell

Starring: Ralph Bellamy, Fay Wray, Frederick Vogeding, Esther Howard, Paul Page

From: Columbia

This is a random movie I saw last night that not many people in these modern times have seen. It's not great but it's not bad either. I talk all about it below: 

Here is a random motion picture that I watched late last night on Turner Classic Movies. Throughout that day they showed films featuring Fay Wray. I decided on this one as it fit my schedule and it is obscure to the point that it only has a few people rating it here on Letterboxd. While this only turned out to be about average, I do not regret seeing the movie.

The plot of this Wray and Ralph Bellamy picture is that a German U-boat is sunk in World War I; years later, the surviving captain (who isn't painted in a good light; then again it is the early 1930's) hires several people to try and retrieve it; Wray is rich so she funds it and goes along, much to the consternation of the grumpy McCreary (Bellamy). I tell you, this McCreary isn't like MacReady from The Thing. Anyhow, things don't go quite as planned as there's plenty of bickering... and among other things, Wray is threatened with a spanking; as I just said, this is from the 1930's. She also gets The Bends. There's a phrase I never thought I'd ever say, “Fay Wray was suffering from The Bends.” Oh, and there is a GIANT OCTOPUS, I almost forgot.

The movie is watchable but that's about it. It definitely isn't a must-see and it doesn't compare to Wray's most famous works-King Kong or The Most Dangerous Game. It's average all around aside from the performances to the script to the plot. Really, it's the wackiness of the giant octopus (which comes out of nowhere) that adds some excitement, along with an ending that-even if it wasn't the intention-made me heartily laugh, as it is on the absurd side. “Slip on a banana peel” is the perfect description for the ending. There isn't much else to say about it; it is at least competently made and all the scenes on the boat or underwater are reasonably believable. Even the giant octopus has its low budget charms.