City Under the Sea
A lost city beneath the sea, a century-old captain.
Here is the rewritten encyclopedia entry:
**City Under the Sea** (titled *War-Gods of the Deep* in the United States) is a 1965 British-American science fiction adventure film. It was the final movie directed by Jacques Tourneur and featured Vincent Price, Tab Hunter, Susan Hart, and David Tomlinson. The story follows the discovery of a sunken city off the Cornish coast. Price plays a captain who commands a group of sailors who have lived there for over a century, their lifespans extended by a unique mixture of gases.
The film was a period fantasy in the style popularized by Disney’s 1954 *20,000 Leagues Under the Sea*. It sought to ride the wave of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe films starring Price. To that end, it borrowed its title from Poe’s poem “The City in the Sea,” though the plot only loosely connects to the poem—a recitation of the poem opens the film, with a brief reprise at the end. The story also draws loosely from H. P. Lovecraft’s novella *The Shadow over Innsmouth*.
**Plot**
Around the turn of the century, American mining engineer Ben Harris is working on the Cornish coast when he discovers a body washed ashore. While making inquiries at a nearby hotel, he speaks with fellow American Jill Tregellis, the hotelier’s daughter, and an eccentric artist named Harold Tufnell-Jones. A mysterious intruder appears but quickly vanishes.
Later that night, Jill is kidnapped by gill men. Ben, Harold, and Harold’s chicken Herbert follow the trail through a secret door into caves beneath the house, where they are sucked into a pool. They emerge in a vast, cavernous city on the ocean floor. The city was built by an ancient race that now survives only as gill men. It is currently inhabited by a group of smugglers led by a cruel, tyrannical Captain who hid there in 1803 and, due to the strange oxygen mixture, has not aged in over a century. However, the volcano powering the city has become unstable, and the Captain imprisons the newcomers until Ben can find a way to maintain it.
Dan, one of the Captain’s men who wants to leave, offers to help Ben and Harold escape if they secure him a full pardon for his smuggling past. The Captain discovers the plan and reveals that exposure to sunlight would cause anyone who has breathed the gas to age rapidly and die. Dan is sent to the surface as an execution, while Ben and Harold are granted an audience with Jill. T
- Release year
- 1965
- Director
- Jacques Tourneur
- Starring
- Vincent Price, Tab Hunter, Susan Hart, David Tomlinson
- Genre
- Adventure science fiction
- Production companies
- American International Pictures (AIP) and Anglo Amalgamated
- Based on
- Loosely on H. P. Lovecraft's The Shadow over Innsmouth and Edgar Allan Poe's 'The City in the Sea'
Lore & Background
The plot follows American mining engineer Ben Harris, who discovers a body on the Cornish coast and later investigates the disappearance of Jill Tregellis. He and eccentric artist Harold Tufnell-Jones (accompanied by his chicken, Herbert) follow a trail through a secret door into caves and are sucked into a pool, emerging in a cavernous city on the ocean floor. The city is inhabited by smugglers led by a tyrannical Captain who hid there in 1803 and, due to a strange mixture of oxygen, has not aged in over a century. The Captain believes Jill is his deceased wife Beatrice and imprisons the group until Ben can stabilize the city's unstable volcano.
Reader's Guide
City Under the Sea is significant as Jacques Tourneur's final film and as part of a series of co-productions between AIP and Anglo Amalgamated. The film's production was marked by tension between producers Dan Haller and George Willoughby, and script rewrites by Louis M. Heyward that added humor, including the comic chicken and David Tomlinson's character. Charles Bennett, who wrote the original script, called the result 'the worst thing I was ever involved in.' The film was released in New York on a double bill with Beach Blanket Bingo, and The New York Times reviewer considered it the better of the two, calling it 'a briny safari.' A comic book adaptation was published as Dell Movie Classic: War-Gods of the Deep.
Did You Know?
- The film was released as War-Gods of the Deep in the United States.
- Director Jacques Tourneur's final film was City Under the Sea.
- The plot is loosely based on H. P. Lovecraft's novella The Shadow over Innsmouth.
- Charles Bennett, the original scriptwriter, called the finished film 'the worst thing I was ever involved in.'
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