In 1868, the heavily-travelled shipping lanes of the Pacific Ocean were suddenly menaced by a strange and awesome monster, which destroyed vessels swiftly and surely. So terrifying was this apparition that ships were afraid to venture into the wide areas where it roamed.
The U.S. Government organizes an expedition to track down and destroy the mysterious sea creature. It assigns the armed frigate, the Abraham Lincoln, to the chase and on board are Ned Land (KIRK DOUGLAS), a harpooner; Professor Pierre Aronnax (P AUL LUKAS), a distinguished authority on undersea life; and Conseil (PETER LORRE), his assistant. The monster sinks the Lincoln but picks up Ned, Aronnax and Conseil, the only survivors, who soon discover it is no outsize freak of nature, but a manmade submarine commanded by Captain Nemo (JAMES MASON). He and his crew, hating the world which treated them so harshly, mean to destroy everything they can. However, their evil genius demands respect. The submarine, the Nautilus, is operated by the power that runs the universe, and boasts electricity, electric rifles and many other mechanical marvels. In their involuntary roles as prisoner-guests, the trio makes a trip around the world observing at first hand the many wonders of the ocean depth.
Although Aronnax and Conseil would be content to stay aboard and learn more of Nemo’s science and inventions, Ned is impatient to escape. He tries once when the submarine stops at a lonely island, but savage cannibals chase him back to the comparative safety of the Nautilus. Seizing every opportunity, he inserts notes containing the exact geographical location of Nemo’s secret island, Vulcania, in bottles and tosses them hopefully into the ocean.
Shelled by a lone warship, the Nautilus sinks thousands of feet into the ocean before Nemo and his crew can repair a broken shaft and regain control. While they are deeper than man has ever ventured, they observe the strange and magical wonderland of life miles down in the sea. As they head for Vulcania, the submarine is attacked by a giant squid. Ned saves Nemo’s life after he has been grasped by a tentacle. Softening his harsh attitude toward his captives, Nemo reveals his plans to use them as emissaries to negotiate a peace with the outside world.
But enemy warships wait for them in the harbor at Vulcania. Ned’s bottles have done their job. Nemo, determined now not to share his secrets, manages to get ashore and set a time bomb. He is fatally wounded on his trip back to the submarine, but before he dies he orders a straight-down course for the last voyage of the Nautilus. Ned eludes the guards who have been assigned to watch him and flees the doomed vessel with Aronnax and Conseil. Safe at last, they watch in fascination as the enormous bomb goes off, obliterating the island, the warships, Nemo’s secrets and the Nautilus, and muse about some future era that may know how to handle such destructive and violent force with more intelligence and reason.
Inset:
Mat SEA-1A ©Walt Disney Productions
BRINY CHARACTERS . . .
The cast of Walt Disney’s Technicolor prodtiction, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” are outfitted in diving suits especially designed according to descriptions in the classic Jules Verne novel. The Buena Vista re-release stars Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Peter Lorre and Paul Lukas.
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