''The Incredible Petrified World'' is a 1959

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

produced and directed by

Jerry Warren Jerry Warren (March 10, 1925 – August 21, 1988) was an American film director, producer, editor, screenwriter, cinematographer, and actor. Warren grew up wanting to get into the film business in Los Angeles, California. He appeared in s ...

, and starring

John Carradine John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later Jo ...

and

Robert Clarke Robert Irby Clarke (June 1, 1920 – June 11, 2005) was an American actor best known for his cult classic science fiction films of the 1950s. Early life Clarke was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He decided at an early age that h ...

. The film follows four explorers who travel down into the depths of the sea and get stranded in an underwater cavern. The film was completed by Warren in 1957, but remained unreleased until it was distributed starting in November 1959 and, more widely, in April 1960 on a

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with Warren's ''

Teenage Zombies ''Teenage Zombies'' is a 1959 science fiction horror film written, produced, edited and directed by Jerry Warren, and starring Katherine Victor, Don Sullivan, Chuck Niles and Warren's then-wife and production manager Brianne Murphy. Warren wrote ...

''.

Plot

Professor Millard Wyman (John Carradine) sends a crew of two men, Paul Whitmore (Allen Windsor) and Craig Randall (Robert Clarke), and two women Lauri Talbott (Sheila Noonan) and Dale Marshall (Phyllis Coates), down to ocean depths never before explored. But, there's a technical problem during the launch. The diving bell breaks free of the cable connecting them to the surface and loses contact with the surface. The mission is believed lost. But the crew, having survived their ordeal, don their scuba gear and leave the bell. Instead of reaching the surface, they surface in a cavern. The crew members explore the cave and find a skeleton, then a disheveled old sailor named Matheny (George Skaff) who tells them that he and another sailor suffered a shipwreck fourteen years prior and has been living in these caves ever since. He claims there is no way out and a volcano provides air from the surface. Meanwhile, up on the surface Prof. Wyman's younger brother builds another bell and launches it in an attempted rescue mission. However, with the old man in the cave starting to leer lecherously at the women, and the volcano growing more unstable, the second mission may not find them in time. The old man reveals to the women that he murdered the other sailor years ago, increasing their apprehension. Just as he is about to assault one of the girls, the volcano erupts and the old man is crushed under falling rocks. The stranded crew of the diving bell make their way up toward the surface and are rescued.

Cast

as Dr. Millard Wyman *

as Craig Randall * Allen Windsor as Paul Whitmore *

Phyllis Coates Phyllis Coates (born Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell; January 15, 1927) is an American former actress, with a career spanning over fifty years. She is best known for her portrayal of reporter Lois Lane in the 1951 film ''Superman and the Mole Men'' and ...

as Dale Marshall * George Skaff as Metheny, the crazy old sailor * Lloyd Nelson as Wilson - Sonar man * Sheila Noonan (aka Sheila Carol) as Lauri Talbott * Maurice Bernard * Joe Maierhauser as Jim Wyman - Brother * Harry Raven as Captain * Jack Haffner as Jimmy - Reporter * Jerry Warren (director cameo) man on the plane * Milt Collion as Hank * Robert CarrollWarren, Bill (1986). "Keep Watching The Skies Volume 2". McFarland & Co., Inc. . Page 748

Production

In an interview, star

said that the cinematographer was a well-known Hollywood cameraman who used the pseudonym "Victor Fisher" to avoid trouble with the

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

for taking a job on a non-union picture. The cavern sequences were shot at Colossal Cave in

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, Arizona.The Incredible Petrified World TCM notes

was never paid for her performance. Warren had a monster suit built to use in the film, but "it ended up looking too bad even for Warren",Warren, Bill (1986). "Keep Watching The Skies Volume 2". McFarland & Co., Inc. . Page 424 so the suit was scrapped. The ad line retained the mention of the monster however, stating "A Nightmare of Terror in the Center of the Earth with Forgotten Men, Monsters, Earthquakes and Boiling Volcanos!"Warren, Bill (1986). "Keep Watching The Skies Volume 2". McFarland & Co., Inc. . Page 423

Release

The film was completed around March 1957. It remained unreleased for two-and-a-half years until it was put on the bottom of a double feature with another of Warren's films, ''

'', first showing on November 12, 1959, later released on April 16, 1960.

Reception

Thomas Reddy in the ''

Los Angeles Examiner The ''Los Angeles Examiner'' was a newspaper founded in 1903 by William Randolph Hearst in Los Angeles, California. The afternoon '' Los Angeles Herald-Express'' and the morning ''Los Angeles Examiner'', both of which had been publishing in the ...

'' commented "In a film of this type, you'd expect a monster or two. But no, not one teensy-weensy monster. The closest thing to it is a bearded bum found living in the cavern....it's incredible that for more than a hour, nothing the least bit exciting happens." The film opens with some stock footage showing a shark battling, and tearing apart, an octopus (perhaps these were the monsters spoken of in the ad line). Bill Warren said "The film is so uneventful that it's puzzling as to why it was ever made....it has no possible reason for existence....there is at least one zombie in ''Teenage Zombies''". He goes on to state "The film may have taken an entire week to shoot, and Carradine probably did all his work in one day."

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Incredible Petrified World, The 1960 films 1960 independent films 1960s science fiction adventure films American black-and-white films American science fiction adventure films American independent films Films directed by Jerry Warren Science fiction submarine films Films set in subterranea 1960s English-language films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films 1960s American films