''Krakatoa, East of Java'' is a 1968 American
disaster film starring
Maximilian Schell and
Brian Keith
Brian Keith (born Robert Alba Keith, November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997) was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his six-decade career gained recognition for his work in films such as the Disney family film '' The Parent T ...
. During the 1970s, the film was re-released under the title ''Volcano''. The story is loosely based on events surrounding the
1883 eruption of the
volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Ear ...
on the island of
Krakatoa
Krakatoa (), also transcribed (), is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. The caldera is part of a volcanic island group ( Krakatoa archipelago) comprising four islands. T ...
, with the characters engaged in the recovery of a cargo of
pearl
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...
s from a shipwreck perilously close to the volcano. The film was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Special Visual Effects.
Krakatoa is actually west of
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
, but the movie's producers thought that "East" sounded more atmospheric.
Plot
In 1883, the
volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Ear ...
on the island of
Krakatoa
Krakatoa (), also transcribed (), is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. The caldera is part of a volcanic island group ( Krakatoa archipelago) comprising four islands. T ...
in the
Netherlands East Indies begins to erupt, terrorizing the children at a mission school in
Palembang on nearby
Sumatra.
Meanwhile, across the
Sunda Strait at her
homeport of
Anjer on the west coast of
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
, the
steamer ''Batavia Queen'', under the command of Captain Chris Hanson, takes aboard passengers and cargo, including a
diving bell
A diving bell is a rigid chamber used to transport divers from the surface to depth and back in open water, usually for the purpose of performing underwater work. The most common types are the open-bottomed wet bell and the closed bell, which c ...
and a
balloon
A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...
. Among the passengers coming aboard are Douglas Rigby, the designer, owner, and operator of the diving bell; Giovanni Borghese and his son Leoncavallo, who own and operate the balloon as "The Flying Borgheses"; Harry Connerly, a
diver; Connerly's mistress Charley Adams, who is a professional
soprano and former
saloon hostess; four female Japanese
pearl divers
Pearl hunting, also known as pearling, is the activity of recovering pearls from wild molluscs, usually oysters or mussels, in the sea or freshwater. Pearl hunting was prevalent in the Persian Gulf region and Japan for thousands of years. On t ...
led by Toshi; and Laura Travis, a married woman who had an extramarital affair with Hanson in
Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
.
Laura was married to an abusive man with whom she had a son named Peter. Her husband did not want the marriage and threatened to take Peter away from her if she asked for a divorce. Wanting to be with Hanson, she had asked for a divorce anyway, and her husband had left her, taking both Peter and a fortune in
pearl
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...
s with him aboard the steamer ''Arianna''. The ''Arianna'' had sunk off Krakatoa during a storm, and a guilt-ridden Laura, fearing that Peter had died aboard the ''Arianna'' and blaming herself for his death, had spent a year in a
mental institution
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
before coming aboard the ''Batavia Queen''.
Hanson has organized the ''Batavia Queen''s voyage to find the wreck of the ''Arianna'',
salvage the pearls, and determine Peter's fate- and to find Peter if he is still alive. Hanson plans to use a variety of techniques to search for the wreck and salvage the pearls, with the Borgheses' balloon conducting an aerial search of shallow waters around Krakatoa, the pearl divers providing a mobile underwater search-and-salvage capability in shallow waters, Rigby in his diving bell searching in deeper water, and Connerly responsible both for recovering the pearls if they are in waters too deep for the pearl divers and for assisting in the heavy work of bringing the ''Arianna''s
safe to the surface. Colonial authorities arrive just before the ''Batavia Queen'' departs and force Hanson to take 30 convicts and their jailer aboard for transportation to
Madura Island
Madura Island is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately (administratively 5,379.33 km2 including various smaller islands to the east, southeast and north that are administrat ...
, countering his argument that the ship is not equipped to accommodate them and has no room for them by telling him to transport the prisoners in the ship's
hold
Hold may refer to:
Physical spaces
* Hold (ship), interior cargo space
* Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane
* Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Hold (musical term), a pause, also called a Ferm ...
in appalling conditions. Hanson plans to deliver the convicts to Madura after recovering the pearls off Krakatoa. One of the prisoners, Lester Danzig, is an acquaintance of Hanson's, and Hanson allows him to make the voyage on deck instead of in the hold. Aware that Krakatoa has begun to erupt and warned by a colonial official that the island is a "raging volcano", Hanson replies that the volcano had been quiet for the previous 200 years and posed no threat now.
During the ''Batavia Queen''s voyage to Krakatoa, her crew and passengers observe strange phenomena: They see
seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...
s swarming in huge flocks by day, witness a series of fiery explosions erupting from the sea one evening, and hear a high-pitched, ear-splitting hissing and whistling sound like that of escaping
steam on another night. During a conversation on deck one night, Danzig discovers that Connerly is using
laudanum to kill the pain of a lung disease which he is keeping secret from Hanson because it might interfere with his diving abilities. Danzig informs Connerly of Laura's time in the mental institution, calling into question the veracity of her story about the pearls. The Borgheses, Connerly, Charley, Rigby, and Toshi confront Hanson about Laura's mental state, but Hanson assures them that Laura's story about the ''Arianna'' is true. Connerly takes so much
laudanum that he hallucinates one night, attacks one of the pearl divers, and assaults several crewmen coming to her aid before they can subdue him. On Hanson's orders, the ''Batavia Queen''s crew suspends Connerly in a slatted box above the
main deck
The main deck of a ship is the uppermost complete deck extending from bow to stern. A steel ship's hull may be considered a structural beam with the main deck forming the upper flange of a box girder and the keel forming the lower strength me ...
so that he will pose no danger to others aboard the ship; Charley tearfully pleads with Hanson for Connerly's release, and Hanson relents and frees him. Meanwhile, Leoncavallo and Toshi take a romantic interest in one another.
The ''Batavia Queen'' arrives off Krakatoa to find the island shrouded in thick smoke. It clears when she anchors off the island, and the Borgheses ascend in their balloon while Rigby descends in his diving bell. The Borgheses quickly discover the wreck of the ''Arianna'' and guide the ''Batavia Queen'' and the submerged Rigby to it. Immediately afterwards, the motor driving the
propeller that allows them to steer their balloon fails and they careen helplessly over Krakatoa and into its active
crater. They jettison the useless engine and propeller into the crater's
lava lake
Lava lakes are large volumes of molten lava, usually basaltic, contained in a volcanic vent, crater, or broad depression. The term is used to describe both lava lakes that are wholly or partly molten and those that are solidified (someti ...
to reduce weight and finally are blown clear of the crater by a volcanic explosion which sets their balloon afire. They drift away from the island, leap into the sea, and are rescued, but the fire destroys the balloon.
Danzig tells Hanson of Connerly's lung problems, and Hanson decides that he will dive on the ''Arianna'' instead of Connerly. While Connerly and Hanson argue over this, Rigby's diving bell becomes snagged on
coral
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...
. The pearl divers, Hanson, and Connerly all dive into the water to free Rigby, and while they and the ''Batavia Queen''s other passengers and crew are thus occupied, Danzig steals a pistol he finds in the ship's chart room, knocks the jailer unconscious, and frees the prisoners. They take over the ship, throw the unconscious jailer overboard to drown, and imprison the passengers and crew in the hold, where they also place Rigby and the pearl divers when they return to the ''Batavia Queen''. Before returning, and unaware of the turn of events aboard the ''Batavia Queen'', Hanson and Connerly swim to the wreck of the ''Arianna'', find the ship's safe, and attach a cable to it to have it hoisted aboard the ''Batavia Queen''. Upon their return, Danzig has Connerly lowered into the hold but forces Hanson to look on at gunpoint as he opens the ''Arianna''s safe on the ''Batavia Queen''s deck. They find nothing in the safe but a cheap
pocket watch
A pocket watch (or pocketwatch) is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist.
They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristw ...
. When an explosion on Krakatoa distracts Danzig, Hanson overpowers him, takes the pistol from him, pushes the heavy safe over onto one convict, shoots two others, and uses steam from a hose to force the rest of the prisoners to jump overboard. They swim to nearby Krakatoa, never to be seen again.
After Hanson frees the passengers and crew from the hold, Rigby finds another compartment in the safe which contains the ''Arianna''s
logbook. Laura and Hanson examine the logbook for clues about Peter's fate. The logbook reveals that the ''Arianna'' made a last port call at Palembang before sinking, and a letter tucked into the logbook says that Peter disembarked there to attend the mission school. Hanson decides to steam to Palembang to find Peter. By now, Krakatoa is erupting continually, and the volcano's explosions begin to hurl
lava bomb
A volcanic bomb or lava bomb is a mass of partially molten rock (tephra) larger than 64 mm (2.5 inches) in diameter, formed when a volcano ejects viscous fragments of lava during an eruption. Because volcanic bombs cool after they l ...
s into the surrounding sea. A number of them strike the ''Batavia Queen'' as she gets underway for Palembang, starting fires which the crew puts out. As Toshi runs across the deck toward Leoncavallo, one of the lava bombs strikes and kills her.
The ''Batavia Queen'' arrives off Palembang to find the mission school heavily damaged, burning and abandoned. Hanson hails a passing
junk, and someone aboard the junk tells him that the school's staff and students are all alive and had fled Palembang that morning aboard another boat, intending to sail to Java. The ''Batavia Queen'' soon comes to the assistance of an overcrowded and sinking
sampan, which proves to be the school's boat. The ''Batavia Queen''s passengers and crew rescue everyone aboard the sampan, including Peter, who has a joyful reunion with Laura. A chest belonging to Peter comes aboard the ''Batavia Queen'' during the rescue; it contains the pearls, and Connerly, Rigby, the Borgheses, and the three surviving pearl divers receive their shares of the fortune.
Krakatoa's violent explosions become larger and continuous; Hanson assumes that they will generate a
tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...
and begins to prepare the ''Batavia Queen'' to ride it out. Although Hanson assures him that a tsunami will destroy nearby Anjer and that he is safer at sea aboard the ''Batavia Queen'' if she can get to deep water in time, Connerly disputes the ship's ability to survive and demands that Hanson allow those who wish to go ashore to row to Anjer with him in one of the ship's
lifeboats
Lifeboat may refer to:
Rescue vessels
* Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape
* Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues
* Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen
A ...
. Giovanni Borghese, Charley, and the three surviving pearl divers join Connerly in the lifeboat and row to Anjer.
Krakatoa disintegrates in one final, cataclysmic explosion, which generates an enormous tsunami. It strikes Anjer shortly after the ''Batavia Queen''s lifeboat arrives there; unable to outrun the wave, Connerly and Charley embrace for the last time before the wave engulfs and kills them. At sea, Hanson, Laura, Peter, Rigby, Leoncavallo Borghese, the refugees from the mission school, and the ship's crew ride out the tsunami successfully aboard the ''Batavia Queen''.
Cast
(as given in end credits)
*
Maximilian Schell as Captain Chris Hanson
*
Diane Baker
Diane Carol Baker is an American actress, producer and educator who has appeared in motion pictures and on television since 1959.
Early life
Baker was born in 1938 at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California a ...
as Laura Travis
*
Brian Keith
Brian Keith (born Robert Alba Keith, November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997) was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his six-decade career gained recognition for his work in films such as the Disney family film '' The Parent T ...
as Harry Connerly
*
Barbara Werle
Barbara May Theresa Werle (October 6, 1928 – January 1, 2013) was an American actress, dancer and singer, best known for her role in ''Seconds'' (1966).
Career
Werle was born on October 6, 1928, in Mount Vernon, New York. She became a ballro ...
as Charley Adams
*
Sal Mineo
Salvatore Mineo Jr. (January 10, 1939 – February 12, 1976) was an American actor, singer, and director. He is best known for his role as John "Plato" Crawford in the drama film '' Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955), which earned him a nomination ...
as Leoncavallo Borghese
*
Rossano Brazzi
Rossano Brazzi (18 September 1916 – 24 December 1994) was an Italian actor.
Biography
Brazzi was born in Bologna, Italy, the son of Maria Ghedini and Adelmo Brazzi, an employee of the Rizzoli shoe factory. He was named after Rossano Ve ...
as Giovanni Borghese
*
John Leyton
John Dudley Leyton (born 17 February 1936) is an English actor and singer. As a singer he is best known for his hit song " Johnny Remember Me" (written by Geoff Goddard and produced by Joe Meek), which reached number one in the UK Singles Cha ...
as Dr. Douglas Rigby
*
J.D. Cannon as Lester Danzig
*
Jacqui Chan as Toshi
*
Rob't Hall as Guard
pelled "Robert" in opening credits*
Victoria Young as Kiko
*
Marc Lawrence as Mr. Jacobs (First Mate)
*
Midori Arimoto
Midori (みどり, ミドリ, , , ) is the Japanese word for "green" and may refer to:
Places
* Midori, Gunma
* Midori-ku, Chiba
* Midori-ku, Nagoya
* Midori-ku, Sagamihara
* Midori-ku, Saitama
* Midori-ku, Yokohama
People Given name
* M ...
as Midori
*
Niall Macginnis
Patrick Niall MacGinnis (29 March 1913 – 6 January 1977) was an Irish actor who made around 80 screen appearances.
Early life
MacGinnis was born in Dublin in 1913. as Harbor Master (David)
* Joseph Hann as Mr. Kuan (Second Mate)
*
Sumi Haru as Sumi
*
Geoffrey Holder
Geoffrey Lamont Holder (August 1, 1930 – October 5, 2014) was a Trinidadian-American actor, dancer, musician, and artist. He was a principal dancer for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet before his film career began in 1957 with an appearance in ' ...
as Sailor
*
Alan Hoskins
Alan Hoskins is the American CEO of Energizer, and has been since July 2015. He has worked with the company in executive and other positions for 33 years. He began his career at Union Carbide. He also serves on the board of directors of the Retail ...
as Jan
*
Peter Kowalski as Peter Travis
Additionally,
Peter Graves
Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness; March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Jim Phelps in the CBS television series ''Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series), Mission: Impossible'' from 1967 ...
is listed in the opening credits.
Production
Development
In February 1955 Philip Yordan announced he would write and produce a film of the Krakatoa eruption with a budget of US$2 million to US$3 million being spent on
special effects. It was going to be the first film made under Yordan's contract with
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
.
Jerry Wald
Jerome Irving Wald (September 16, 1911 – July 13, 1962) was an American screenwriter and a producer of films and radio programs.
Life and career Early life
Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, he had a brother and sons who were act ...
would be executive producer. It took a number of years for the movie to be made, and in the meantime Yordan started making movies in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. In January 1967 he said he intended to film background footage for the movie in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
and wanted
Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Golde ...
to star.
In February 1967
Milo Frank arrived in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
to begin supervising production of the film.
Bernard L. Kowalski was attached to direct; Kowalski was best known for his
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
work, including the
pilots for ''
Mission Impossible'', ''
The Rat Patrol
''The Rat Patrol'' is an American action and adventure television series that aired on ABC between 1966 and 1968. The show follows the exploits of four Allied soldiers — three Americans and one British — who are part of a long-range desert ...
'', ''
The Monroes'', and ''
N.Y.P.D.''. The director said "That seemed to impress the Cinerama people who were looking for a young director who could handle what looked to be a pretty difficult picture."
[Thomas, Bob (19 August 1967). "Director Transfers to the Big Screen". ''The Los Angeles Times''. p. 15.] The script was co-written by
Bernard Gordon, a
blacklisted writer who did a number of scripts for Yordan under pseudonyms.
Special effects
In an unusual approach to making the film, the producers of ''Krakatoa, East of Java'' had the
special effects
Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wo ...
scenes shot before the script had been completed. The script then was written so as to incorporate the special effects sequences.
["Model Ships in the Cinema: ''Krakatoa, East of Java''"](_blank)
1969, including quotes from Lourié, Eugene, ''My Work in Films'', Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985. .
The French
film director,
art director,
production designer
In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...
,
set designer
Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly train ...
, and
screenwriter Eugène Lourié
Eugène Lourié (russian: Евгений Лурье; 8 April 1903 – 26 May 1991) was a French film director, art director, production designer, set designer and screenwriter who was known for his collaborations with Jean Renoir and for ...
had worked for the film's producers as art and special-effects director for the 1965 movie ''
Crack in the World
''Crack in the World '' is a 1965 American science-fiction doomsday disaster movie filmed in Spain. It is about scientists who launch a nuclear missile into the Earth's crust, to release the geothermal energy of the magma below; but accidentally ...
'', and they hired him to create the special effects for ''Krakatoa, East of Java''.
In 1965, Lourié scouted the coast of
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
for a suitable steamer for use in the film as the fictional ''Batavia Queen''; ultimately he chose a
cargo ship – a former
passenger-cargo ship employed as a
tramp steamer
A boat or ship engaged in the tramp trade is one which does not have a fixed schedule, itinerary nor published ports of call, and trades on the spot market as opposed to freight liners. A steamship engaged in the tramp trade is sometimes called ...
between Spain and
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
– he found unloading
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when ...
at a pier in
Bilbao
)
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize = 275 px
, map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao
, pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption ...
whose captain said she had been built in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
sometime around 1880.
Lourié had the steamer remodeled in
Málaga, Spain, at a
shipyard which transformed her into the ''Batavia Queen'' by increasing the height of her
funnel
A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening.
Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construct ...
and
masts and installing new
yards
The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly ...
on her masts and a new
bowsprit
The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay
A bobstay is a part of the rigging of a sailing boat or ship. Its purpose is to counteract the upward tensio ...
and carved wooden
figurehead
In politics, a figurehead is a person who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet ''de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that they ...
on her
bow. The steamer also was provided with functioning
sails for her masts and yards.
For special effects, Lourié's team constructed two models of the modified steamer, a one-to-ten-scale model that was long, and, for long shots of the ''Batavia Queen'' as she approaches Krakatoa, a one-to-twenty-scale model. The latter proved too small to provide realistic effects, so Lourié chose not to use it in the film, instead using only the larger model.
After considering a
water tank
A water tank is a container for storing water.
Water tanks are used to provide storage of water for use in many applications, drinking water, irrigation agriculture, fire suppression, agricultural farming, both for plants and livestock, chemi ...
in
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
, Lourié chose the water tank he had used for the 1964 film ''
Flight from Ashiya'' at
Cinecittà
Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios we ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
to film special effects sequences depicting the ''Batavia Queen'' at sea. The tank was approximately in area and had a sky backing of . The sequences were filmed using three
Super Panavision 70
Super Panavision 70 is the marketing brand name used to identify movies photographed with Panavision 70 mm spherical optics between 1959 and 1983.
Ultra Panavision 70 was similar to Super Panavision 70, though Ultra Panavision lenses were anamo ...
cameras running at three times normal speed to make the movements of the miniatures more realistic, although the cameras were not designed for such work and often overheated and required repairs. Lourié tried to disguise the miniature ''Batavia Queen''s lack of a crew or passengers as she gets underway for Palembang, slowly picking her way through a narrow passage under a rain of lava bombs while Krakatoa erupts nearby, by enveloping her in smoke. For the final sequence in which the ''Batavia Queen'' rides out a very large tsunami at sea, Lourié's team spent three days filming the model in the water tank in extreme conditions, creating large waves through the use of dump tanks with a capacity of 2,600 gallons (9,800 liters),
[The source does not specify the type of ]gallon
The gallon is a unit of volume in imperial units and United States customary units. Three different versions are in current use:
*the imperial gallon (imp gal), defined as , which is or was used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Austr ...
it uses. This metric
Metric or metrical may refer to:
* Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement
* An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement
Mathematics
In mathem ...
conversion from English units
English units are the units of measurement used in England up to 1826 (when they were replaced by Imperial units), which evolved as a combination of the Anglo-Saxon and Roman systems of units. Various standards have applied to English units at ...
assumes that the English unit used is the United States liquid gallon. If the unit used is the imperial gallon
The gallon is a unit of volume in imperial units and United States customary units. Three different versions are in current use:
*the imperial gallon (imp gal), defined as , which is or was used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Austral ...
, then the amount in liters is 11,800. spraying water into the tank with powerful
fire hose
A fire hose (or firehose) is a high-pressure hose that carries water or other fire retardant (such as foam) to a fire to extinguish it. Outdoors, it attaches either to a fire engine, fire hydrant, or a portable fire pump. Indoors, it can perm ...
s, and employing a
wind machine
The wind machine (also called an aeoliphone or aelophon) is a friction idiophone used to produce the sound of wind for orchestral compositions and musical theater productions.
Construction
The wind machine is constructed of a large cyli ...
to disturb the water's surface.
For sequences in which live actors are seen against a village in the background, the film employed
traveling matte
Mattes are used in photography and special effects filmmaking to combine two or more image elements into a single, final image. Usually, mattes are used to combine a foreground image (e.g. actors on a set) with a background image (e.g. a scenic ...
s in the foreground and miniatures in the background.
["Krakatoa, East of Java"](_blank)
''Model Ships in the Cinema''. (Captions for two stills from the film with actors in the foreground and village scenes in the background)
Alex Weldon
Alex Weldon (1914 - 10 January 2004) was an American visual effects artist. He was born in Budapest, graduated from Hollywood High School and attended UCLA.
He was nominated for two Academy Awards in the category of Best Visual Effects.
Sele ...
created the
pyrotechnic
Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating such things as fireworks, safety matches, oxygen candles, explosive bolts and other fasteners, parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, quarrying, and demolition. ...
sequences of Krakatoa erupting and, eventually, exploding. Scenes of the volcano erupting in the distance were created using a
split screen
Split screen may refer to:
* Split screen (computing)
Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into adjacent (and possibly overlapping) parts, typically as two or four rectangular ...
, with real footage of the ocean in the lower part of the frame and a flopped volcano miniature reflection added above it in an optical printer.
["Krakatoa, East of Java"](_blank)
''Model Ships in the Cinema''. (Caption for a still from the film showing miniature volcano erupting across the ocean)
The visual effects, relying entirely on in-camera model work, are still impressive today and considered an immense achievement by 1969 standards, enough so for it to be nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It lost to ''
Marooned Marooned may refer to:
* Marooning
Marooning is the intentional act of abandoning someone in an uninhabited area, such as a desert island, or more generally (usually in passive voice) to be marooned is to be in a place from which one cannot escape ...
''.
Lourié himself makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in ''Krakatoa, East of Java'', portraying a
lighthouse keeper on the coast of Java who observes Krakatoa's final, cataclysmic explosion and enters the lighthouse to send news of it by
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
.
["Krakatoa, East of Java"](_blank)
''Model Ships in the Cinema''. (Caption for a photograph of a lighthouse keeper operating a telegraph)
Yordan's departure
In addition to its challenging special effects, the makers of ''Krakatoa, East of Java'' encountered various difficulties during the film's production. Producer
Philip Yordan
Philip Yordan (April 1, 1914 – March 24, 2003) was an American screenwriter of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who produced several films. He acted as a front for blacklisted writers although his use of surrogate screenwriters predates the McCar ...
dropped out of the production after its special effects had already been shot, and a new associate producer came on board who commissioned a new script.
["Krakatoa, East of Java"](_blank)
''Turner Classic Movies''.
These changes in leadership led to conceptual changes that created some inconsistency in tone and odd moments in the finished film.
While apparently conceiving ''Krakatoa, East of Java'' overall as a family-friendly adventure story, the producers also opted to attract a more adult audience by including some sordid and racy elements: the tortured relationship between Connerly and Charley and Laura's extramarital affair with Hanson, as well as a
striptease Charley performs for Connerly in their
state room.
At other times, the film's soundtrack is clumsily incorporated into the narrative: while performing her striptease, Charley sings a rendition of "A Nice Old-Fashioned Girl" that would be appropriate in a
musical but seems strangely out of place in an adventure or disaster film, and the vocal version of the film's romantic theme song "East of Java" incongruously plays during scenes of filthy prisoners shuffling into the ''Batavia Queen''s hold and sweating sailors performing the labor necessary to get the ship out to sea as she begins her voyage from Anjer.
Kowalski said "We had more than our share of problems because you can't control such varying conditions as weather, sea, children and animals. But nearly everyone bore up under very trying circumstances. My life was only threatened four times."
Kowalski added that "the tendency in Cinerama has been to employ wide-angle shots that show everybody in the scene. I'm not doing that. I'm cutting quickly from one shot to another so things happen. I'm also devoting much care to the characters. I think if you have a bunch of people that the audience cares about, then you can build up the big scenic effects with no difficulty."
Title
During production of ''Krakatoa, East of Java'', its producers became aware that Krakatoa is, in fact, west of Java – and east of Sumatra. (
Mount Tambora
Mount Tambora, or Tomboro, is an active stratovolcano in West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Located on Sumbawa in the Lesser Sunda Islands, it was formed by the active subduction zones beneath it. Before 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora, 1815, its e ...
, on
Sumbawa
Sumbawa is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. Along with Lombok, it forms the province of West Nusa Tenggara, but th ...
, much less well known than Krakatoa despite its own – and even larger – cataclysmic explosion in 1815, is the violent volcano east of Java.) Despite the geographic error in the film's title, its makers chose to leave it unchanged, apparently believing that it was a more exotic title than ''Krakatoa, West of Java''. Furthermore, the film aided in popularizing
the spelling "Krakatoa", as opposed to the Indonesian spelling "Krakatau".
Film format
''Krakatoa, East of Java'' was filmed in Super Panavision 70 (with some scenes filmed in
Todd-AO
Todd-AO is an American post-production company founded in 1953 by Mike Todd and Robert Naify, providing sound-related services to the motion picture and television industries. For more than five decades, it was the worldwide leader in theater s ...
), and presented in
70 mm Cinerama
Cinerama is a widescreen process that originally projected images simultaneously from three synchronized 35mm projectors onto a huge, deeply curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. The trademarked process was marketed by the Cinerama corporati ...
in some cinemas. Appearing in cinemas as interest in Cinerama's widescreen format waned, it is the only disaster movie ever to appear in the format.
Novelization
Michael Avallone
Michael Angelo Avallone (October 27, 1924 – February 26, 1999) was an American author of mystery, secret agent fiction, and novelizations of television and films. His lifetime output was over 223 works (although he boasted over 1,000), publish ...
wrote a novelization of the movie with the same title.
Historical inaccuracy
The catastrophic
1883 eruption of Krakatoa destroyed most of the uninhabited island and generated tsunamis exceeding 30 meters (100 feet) in height that struck the western coast of Java and southern coast of Sumatra, killing about 35,000 people, while a
pyroclastic flow
A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of b ...
from the volcano that traveled across the Sunda Strait killed about another 1,000 people on Sumatra. ''Krakatoa, East of Java'' is only very loosely based on the actual events surrounding the eruption, which it uses merely as a backdrop for its storyline.
Hanson's statement early in the film that Krakatoa had been quiet for 200 years is accurate – the last eruption prior to 1883 appears to have been in 1680 – and his view that the ongoing volcanic activity on the island, which had begun in May 1883, did not pose a threat to anyone not actually on Krakatoa itself reflected the attitude of many people in the area during the summer of 1883, some of whom treated the erupting volcano as a tourist attraction.
Krakatoa is actually located west, not east, of Java.
The ''Batavia Queen'' appears to require at least three days to make the voyage from Anjer to Krakatoa. In fact, the two locations are only apart, and the ship could have made the voyage in a few hours.
The beginning sequence of the film depicts the fictional mission school at Palembang as lying within sight of Krakatoa; in fact, Palembang lies from Krakatoa. Late in the film, when the ''Batavia Queen'' arrives off Palembang in search of Peter Travis, Palembang appears to be along the coast of Sumatra; however, Palembang, while accessible to ships via the
Musi River, lies well inland. The ''Batavia Queen'' finds the mission school in ruins and ablaze because of Krakatoa's eruption; although Krakatoa's eruption was audible in Palembang and the air pressure wave from its final explosion was strong enough to shake the walls of houses and cause cracks to appear in some, the town did not suffer the serious damage implied by the condition of the mission school in the film.
The violent and continuous explosions on Krakatoa as the ''Batavia Queen'' steams from Krakatoa to Palembang and then to the vicinity of Anjer late in the film appear to depict the final, cataclysmic eruption of the volcano on 26–27 August 1883. The huge tsunami that engulfs Anjer and its
lighthouse in the film's climactic sequence is consistent with the wave that struck the west coast of Java on the morning of 27 August 1883, rising to a height of at
Merak and destroying both Anjer – where it was tall – and the Fourth Point Lighthouse.
While the ''Batavia Queen'', her passengers and crew, and the story of her voyage are entirely fictitious, her experience in encountering the tsunami at sea at the end of the film bears a striking resemblance to that of the interisland steamer ''
Gouverneur-Generaal Loudon'', which rode out a very large tsunami while steaming in the Sunda Strait on the morning of 27 August 1883.
The film's depiction of the salvage participants dividing up the pearls among themselves is legally flawed. The pearls are not found on the wreck; they are later located in the possession of Laura's son. Nevertheless, the salvage partners divide the treasure equally. According to
maritime law, the pearls are not salvage and are the legal property of the boy. The salvage partners have no right to the pearls.
Critical reception
''Krakatoa, East of Java'' was commercially unsuccessful and received generally poor reviews, with critics claiming that the story was pedestrian, badly paced, and poorly told, and the special effects so constant and overwhelming as to become numbing.
The geographic error in the film's title of placing the doomed island east of Java was widely mocked in the reviews.
However, a few critics declared the film enjoyable and a vivid depiction of exotic places and life at sea.
The ''Los Angeles Times'' called it "one of the best movies ever made in Cinerama ... Excellent in all aspects, it is an artistic as well as a cinematic triumph."
Later releases
Reprocessed in "Feelarama", a version of the then-popular
Sensurround Sensurround is the brand name for a process developed by Cerwin-Vega in conjunction with Universal Studios to enhance the audio experience during film screenings, specifically for the 1974 film ''Earthquake''. The process was intended for subsequent ...
, the movie was re-released under the title ''Volcano'' during the 1970s.
Although it originally had a running time of 127 minutes (not counting overture, intermission, and exit music included in the 1969 theatrical release), the movie has often been seen since then on television and in
16 mm
16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, edu ...
prints in a truncated 101-minute version, with some scenes shortened or deleted.
In the 101-minute version, the sequences showing key passengers arriving aboard the ''Batavia Queen'' at Anjer and the voyage of the ''Batavia Queen''s lifeboat to Anjer are shortened, while the opening sequence showing terrified children at the mission school in Palembang, Charley's song and striptease for Connerly in their stateroom, and Charley's tearful pleas to Hanson to have Connerly set free from the box suspended above the ''Batavia Queens deck are missing.
Home media
''Krakatoa, East of Java'' was released by MGM Home Video on March 22, 2005, as a Region 1 widescreen DVD.
In popular culture
''Krakatoa, East of Java''s storyline bears many similarities to that of the 1953 film ''
Fair Wind to Java
''Fair Wind to Java'' is a 1953 American adventure film in Trucolor from Republic Pictures, produced and directed by Joseph Kane, that stars Fred MacMurray and Vera Ralston. With special effects by the Lydecker brothers, the film was based on the ...
'' starring
Fred MacMurray, which tells the story of a race between an American sea captain and an
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n
pirate
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
leader to recover a legendary fortune in
diamond
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...
s from Krakatoa in 1883 just before the island explodes.
In the episode "Someone to Watch Over Me" of the series ''
Frasier
''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons. It premiered on September 16, 1993, and ended on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee (as Grub ...
'', one of the titles between sections reads "KRAKATOA, WEST OF JAVA (THE MOVIE WAS WRONG)".
The film is mentioned by
Jerry Seinfeld in the ''
Seinfeld'' episode "
The Truth
The Truth may refer to:
Film
* ''The Truth'' (1920 film) starring Madge Kennedy
* ''The Truth'' (1960 film) or ''La Vérité'', a French film by Henri-Georges Clouzot starring Brigitte Bardot
* ''The Truth'' (1988 film), a Hong Kong trial crim ...
": "Those brave Krakatoans, east of Java, who sacrificed so much for so long!"
It is parodied in the
Monty Python sketch "Scott of the Antarctic" as "Krakatoa, East of
Leamington".
In the final episode of ''
Eerie, Indiana'', one character can be heard saying on the phone, "Who cares if Krakatoa isn't really east of Java?", referring to getting a bad grade on a test.
''Krakatoa, East of Java'' was the first film that British film critic
Mark Kermode ever saw.
The phrase "Krakatoa, east of Java" is used in the lyrics to the 1979 song "Lava" by
The B-52's
The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, ...
, included in their first album ''The B-52's'': "My heart's crackin' like a Krakatoa. Krakatoa, east of Java, molten bodies, fiery lava." It also appears in the song "New World Disorder" by
Biohazard
A biological hazard, or biohazard, is a biological substance that poses a threat to the health of living organisms, primarily humans. This could include a sample of a microorganism, virus or toxin that can adversely affect human health. A bioh ...
, from the
album of the same name.
The film is mentioned in the ''
Wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...
'' episode "Just Say No". When Brian jokes that if his date the previous night had been a movie, "waves would be crashing, rockets would be launching, and volcanoes would be erupting," Lowell replies, "I've seen that movie: ''Krakatoa, East of Java''. There wasn't much sex, but nobody had any time."
In 1982 the French group Indochine wrote the song, ''À l'est de Java'', narrating the story of the movie. The lyrics were written by Nicola Sirkis and the music was composed by Dominik Nicolas.
An exterior shot of the
Cinerama Dome
Pacific Theatres' Cinerama Dome is a movie theater located at 6360 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Designed to exhibit widescreen Cinerama films, it opened November 7, 1963. The original developer was William R. Forman, founder of Pa ...
in the 2019 film ''
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'' depicts the theater in 1969 advertising ''Krakatoa, East of Java''. The recreated vintage posters were left on the theater's exterior as part of ''Once Upon a Time in Hollywoods
70mm
70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a wide high-resolution film gauge for motion picture photography, with a negative area nearly 3.5 times as large as the standard 35 mm motion picture film format. As used in cameras, the film is wi ...
engagement there.
See also
*
List of American films of 1968
This is a list of American films released in 1968.
'' Oliver!'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Top-grossing films
# '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''
# '' Funny Girl''
# '' Planet of the Apes''
# '' Rosemary's Baby''
# '' The Odd Couple''
# ...
Notes
References
External links
*
*
Photo gallery of models, miniatures, and special effects used in ''Krakatoa, East of Java'' and Eugène Lourié's account of filming the special effects sequences at Model Ships in the Cinema
{{Cinerama
1969 films
1960s disaster films
American disaster films
Films scored by Frank De Vol
Films set in Indonesia
Films directed by Bernard L. Kowalski
Krakatoa
Seafaring films
Films about volcanoes
Films set in 1883
1960s historical drama films
American historical drama films
Cinerama Releasing Corporation films
1883 eruption of Krakatoa
1960s English-language films
1960s American films