Originally made for US TV, City Beneath the Sea is an underwater sci-fi adventure from producer/director Irwin Allen.
Following his success with sci-fi movies such as The Lost World (1960) and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961), Allen switched from director to producer role for a succession of popular TV shows including Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964-68), Lost in Space (1965-68) and Land of the Giants (1968-70). In a similar vein, the initial pitch of City Beneath the Sea in 1969 was as a weekly series. At first unsuccessful, Irwin was able to secure support for a TV movie based upon the idea and City Beneath the Sea duly premiered on the NBC network in January 1971, fulfilling its duel purpose as both a 'Movie of the Week' and as a pilot for a proposed series.
Set in the year 2053, City Beneath the Sea stars Stuart Whitman as commander of underwater city Pacifica. As storage for both the US gold reserve and the valuable yet highly unstable explosive H128, Pacifica is the target of an inside robbery from certain unsavory officials. However, this problem pales in significance to the imminent threat posed by an asteroid (or rather 'planetoid') on a direct collision course with the sub-aquatic metropolis!
A fairly impressive cast was assembled for the movie; joining the likeable, square-jawed Whitman are TV regulars Robert Wagner and Richard Basehart. A little extra cachet is added by blink-and-you-miss-them cameos from Joseph Cotton and boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. Of course it betrays its TV origins; the effects, largely utilising model work, are obvious but appealingly and in no way detract from ones enjoyment of the film. The colourful set design and costumes exhibit a nice 1970's futurist chic. Where the movie fails is in its narrative. The premise, while inherently silly, is a fairly strong one. But the screenplay, by John Meredyth Lucas, suffers from too much exposition and too little action. This, perhaps more than anything, sealed the fate of the property as NBC did not commission any further episodes. It did, however, secure release in UK cinemas. Retitled One Hour to Doomsday it played as the second half of a double feature to The Omega Man (Boris Sagal, 1971).
Following the failure of City Beneath the Sea, Allen forged a successful second career in cinema. As the producer of blockbusters The Poseidon Adventure (Ronald Neame, 1971) and The Towering Inferno (John Guillerman, 1974), his name would become synonymous with the newly popular disaster movie genre. Bridging the gap between the sci-fi series and the disaster epics, City Beneath the Sea comprises elements of both genres and as such can be regarded as the 'missing link' in Allen's career.
Despite its fair share of failures, Irwin Allen's legacy is a rewarding one, from fantastical futurist sci-fi to big budget all-star blockbusters. Sure, much of his output is camp and schlocky, but that is kind of its appeal. Through repeated TV screenings and its eventually release on home video City Beneath the Sea has attained a significant and deserved cult following. Almost 50 years after broadcast it remains an entertaining kitsch treat, especially for fans of vintage TV sci-fi and of the Allen oeuvre in particular.
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