Mysterious Island, The
Entry updated 13 November 2023. Tagged: Film.
US film (1929). Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Directed by Benjamin Christensen, Lucien Hubbard and Maurice Tourneur. Written by Lucien Hubbard, loosely based on the works of Jules Verne. Cast includes Lionel Barrymore, Jacqueline Gadsden, Lloyd Hughes and Montagu Love. 95 minutes. Originally predominantly two-colour Technicolor, but apparently only black and white copies survive [see American Film Institute under links below].
The year is 1850. A volcanic island off the coast of a Russia-like state named Hetvia is owned by the Scientist Count Andre Dakkar (Barrymore), who believes that "the peasant who tills my field is my equal". His friend Baron Falon (Love) plans a revolution to make themself King of Hetvia (see Politics), but Andre would rather talk about evidence that suggests a relative of humanity followed a similar Evolutionary path to us – but Under the Sea: thus legends of mermaids and Lorelei. He has invented and built a pair of submarines (see Transportation) to investigate; they will be armed, just in case of trouble. This interests Falon greatly, and he remarks, "With that we could conquer the world" (see Imperialism); but Andre hates that idea.
Later, when Falon arrives to witness the launch, he sees chief engineer Nicolai Roget (Hughes) kissing Andre's sister, Countess Sonia (Gadsden); calling Nicolai "a common workman", he threatens to have him horsewhipped, until Andre reminds him that, "Here – on this island – all men are equal." One of the submarines, captained by Nicolai, goes on its maiden voyage ... but now an army of Falon's men arrives and invades the island. The Baron is after Andre's blueprints and formulae, which have been hidden by Sonia: she is Tortured but refuses to give them up. Nicolai and his men, escaping an attempt to seize the submarine, now use diving suits to break into the house and rescue Andre. Shortly after a message comes over the submarine's radio (another of Andre's Inventions), purportedly from Sonia, saying she will meet them at midnight: in fact this is another woman tortured by Falon into imitating her.
Surfacing, the submarine is fired upon; it is damaged and sinks into the depths, but one of Andre's men has managed to rescue Sonia and they go to the spare submarine, which is crewed – only to have Falon and his men board before they can escape: her rescuer is killed and, distraught, Sonia throws a bomb at the air compressor – so that submarine sinks too. Andre's submarine lands on the seabed first, where they are surrounded by thousands of short creatures that look "almost like men!" (see Lost Races). They attack the submarine with a battering ram, but are scared off by a Monster (an alligator with horns attached) which is then killed with torpedoes. Andre and the surviving crew now leave the submarine, having donned metal diving suits that can withstand the water pressure. The second submarine now settles close to the first: Sonia, Falon and some of his men also put on metal diving suits, intending to commandeer the other's air compressor.
The two groups met on the seabed and fight: Falon is killed, his pierced helmet releasing "warm blood! The cold depths of the sea – the bloodless creatures in it – had never known the like before", finding it "bewildering – maddening"; the sea people try to capture the humans by setting "a sluggish monster of terrific strength" (an octopus) on them. Sonia and Nicolai make it to the first submarine, remove the air compressor and take it back to the other vessel, followed by the survivors of the underwater men's attack; the tentacles of the giant octopus briefly get into the submarine via the entrance chamber but are beaten back. The air compressor is installed and the submarine rises to the surface: now armed, Andre's men retake the island. The dying Andre destroys his shipyard and pilots the remaining submarine into the ocean's depths, to be his coffin: "I do not wish to be remembered as one who brought into the world an instrument of death and destruction."
Apart from Andre's name, The Mysterious Island has little to do with Verne's novel L'île mystérieuse (1874-1875; trans W H G Kingston as The Mysterious Island 1875), though it borrows from some of his other writings. Work on the film began in 1926: intended to be a silent movie, the production dragged on, so sound effects and dialogue had to be added to reflect the changes in the industry, resulting in a film with a few talking segments, but otherwise either silent or with sound effects only. Additionally, the director was twice replaced. This troubled history is reflected in the end product. The underwater people (see Lost Races) look reasonably interesting, but do little more than attack the submarines. The special effects are variable: the shipyard, metal diving suits and submarine interior shots are reasonably good, but the model work is poor. Barrymore gives a good performance, as does Gadsden, whose role is more proactive than the typical love interest of the era (see Women in SF). [SP]
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