Sunday, April 12, 2009

UNKNOWN WORLD / Lippert Pictures - 1951 / Music by Ernest Gold

As promised, here's another 'World' we're featuring here at the Dungeon!.. I was raised on this movie, I mean, we got our 1st TV in 1953, and, I swear, this thing played about every 2 months, and, I loved it! Also, the numerous 'Caves' Viewmaster disks were my absolute favorites, I could really get lost in those! And, the Cyclotram knocked me out too, because, I was very into car design... Wasn't everyone?

Ernest Gold does the honors tonight here at the Dungeon... He composed the music for UFO and THE SCREAMING SKULL, but here's a short list of other TV and movie composing accomplishments: GERALD McBOING! BOING!, MAGOO SLEPT HERE, THE DEFIANT ONES, ON THE BEACH, INHERIT THE WIND, EXODUS, JUDGEMENT AT NUREMBERG, IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD!! 'Nuf said!

He does a nice job with sci-fi elements, remember, its 1951! So, get ready to enter THE UNKNOWN WORLD!

This was actually a fairly intelligent movie, really questioning the reality of what was happening in the world at that time. Dr. Morley has an plan to see if living under the Earth would be possible in case of nuclear disaster topside.

You get some investors together (plus a hot chick) and show them the plans for the Cyclotram, an awesome machine that can drill through rock whenever necessary, on it's way to the center of the Earth!

Once the Cyclotram is built and finally delivered to Alaska, we can begin the journey!..

Sucker can climb!!

Of course, there's adventure after adventure!

And, finally, they find their UNKNOWN WORLD!

But, it turns on them in a display of devastation!

The giant cavern floods and they are driven to the bottom of unknown depths!

Slowly, but, surely, they begin to head in an upward direction.

After desperate hours, the Cyclotram surfaces.

That reminds me, it even bothered me as a kid, the crappy look of that depth guage printing!! Yow!

Man, some unbelievable luck!!

1 comment:

Wendel said...

THIS is a classic that is never shown anymore. Back in the days when there WERE independent stations, Saturday afternoons were filled with great movies like this and not hour long ads for food choppers and wash cloths. Now all TV stations are owned by "make a buck" guys who never show the fun films you cover here.

Sad really.
Keep up the good work.

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