''Underwater!'' is a 1955

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

starring

Jane Russell Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell (June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011) was an American actress, model, and singer. She was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s and starred in more than 20 films throughout her career. R ...

, Richard Egan, and

Gilbert Roland Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso (December 11, 1905 – May 15, 1994), known professionally as Gilbert Roland, was a Mexican-born American film and television actor whose career spanned seven decades from the 1920s until the 1980s. He was twice no ...

, and directed by

John Sturges John Eliot Sturges (; January 3, 1910 – August 18, 1992) was an American film director. His films include '' Bad Day at Black Rock'' (1955), '' Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' (1957), ''The Magnificent Seven'' (1960), '' The Great Escape'' (19 ...

Plot

Johnny and his wife Theresa, along with mercenary Dominic Quesada, priest Father Cannon, and Gloria, the boat owner, search for sunken treasure in the Caribbean. While on a dive, they come across a wreck that they assume holds treasure. When they resurface, they are confronted by a boat of local shark-hunters with an unhealthy curiosity in their activities. In their effort to find funding to raise the wreck, they discover that what they are looking for is a 17th-century ship that contains a life-size solid gold

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

encrusted in precious gems and that it lies in a different underwater location. So they make plans to acquire it. However, it is on the edge of a precipice, and the shark-hunters intend for them to do all the difficult and dangerous recovery, then take the treasure from them.

Cast

– Theresa Gray * Richard Egan – Johnny Gray *

– Dominic Quesada *

Lori Nelson Dixie Kay Nelson (August 15, 1933August 23, 2020), known professionally as Lori Nelson, was an American actress and model mostly active in the 1950s and early 1960s. She had roles in the TV series ''How to Marry a Millionaire (TV series), How to ...

– Gloria * Robert Keith – Father Cannon *

Joseph Calleia Joseph Calleia ( ; born Joseph Alexander Caesar Herstall Vincent Calleja, August 4, 1897 – October 31, 1975) was a Maltese-born American actor and singer on the stage and in films, radio and television. After serving in the Merchant Navy (Un ...

– Rico Herrera *

Eugene Iglesias Eugene Luis Francisco Iglesias Carrillo (3 December 1926 – 4 February 2023) was an American actor from Puerto Rico who was active mainly in 1950s and 1960s. In 1955, Iglesias appeared as Alfredo on the television western ''Cheyenne'' in the ...

– Miguel Vega * Ric Roman – Jesus

Production

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

acquired the rights to the unpublished ''The Big Rainbow''. Partially filmed on location in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, ''Underwater!'' was completed in a newly constructed underwater tank in an

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

soundstage. It was the first RKO film released in Superscope. The film's budget increased from its initial $300,000 and a large amount of the budget was used on footage cut from the film. Lori Nelson claimed Howard Hughes wanted her for the lead and paid

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

for her use; however, Jane Russell owed RKO a film. The lead was given to Russell with a part written for Nelson so she could keep her fee.

Soundtrack

The film contained the songs " Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" and " Rhythm Sticks" performed by Perez "Prez" Prado and his Orchestra (" The King of the Mambo").

Release

For its world premiere on January 10, 1955, the film was projected on a submerged movie screen at Silver Springs,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, and members of the press viewed the film 20 feet underwater while wearing aqualungs. The song " Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" featured in the film became a major hit.

References

Works cited

External links

*
''Underwater!'' at AllMovie
* * {{Howard Hughes 1955 films 1950s action adventure films American action adventure films Films directed by John Sturges Films scored by Roy Webb Films set in the Caribbean Films shot in Hawaii Films shot in Mexico RKO Pictures films Films about treasure hunting Underwater action films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language action adventure films