20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916 film)
| 20000 Leagues Under the Sea | |
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Newspaper advertisement
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| Directed by | Stuart Paton |
| Produced by | Carl Laemmle |
| Written by |
Jules Verne (novel) Stuart Paton |
| Starring |
Allen Holubar Jane Gail |
| Cinematography | Eugene Gaudio |
| Distributed by | Universal |
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Release date
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Running time
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105 min |
| Country | US |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1916 silent film directed by Stuart Paton. The film's storyline is based on the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. It also incorporates elements from Verne's The Mysterious Island.
This was the first motion picture filmed underwater. Actual underwater cameras were not used, but a system of watertight tubes and mirrors allowed the camera to shoot reflected images of underwater scenes staged in shallow sunlit waters.
The film was made by The Universal Film Manufacturing Company (now Universal Pictures), not then known as a major motion picture studio. Yet in 1916, they financed this film's innovative special effects, location photography, large sets, exotic costumes, sailing ships, and full-size navigable mock-up of the surfaced submarine Nautilus. Hal Erickson has said that "the cost of this film was so astronomical that it could not possibly post a profit, putting the kibosh on any subsequent Verne adaptations for the next 12 years."
On May 4, 2010, a new print of the film was shown accompanied by live performance of an original score by Stephin Merritt at the Castro Theatre, as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival. In 2016, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress, and selected for preservation in its National Film Registry.
A strange giant "sea creature" has been rampaging the seas. The American naval ship Abraham Lincoln is sent to investigate, but is rammed by "the creature" which turns out to be The Nautilus, the fantastic submarine of the enigmatic Captain Nemo, and "Rudderless, the 'Abraham Lincoln' drifts on". Then, in "A strange rescue" he guides the sub to surface under those pitched overboard and his crew take them, including Professor Aronnax, and his daughter (who are French) below through a hatch in the surface of the deck. After they pledge not to escape, Nemo shows them the wonders of the underwater world, and even takes them hunting on the sea floor.
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