Transatlantic Tunnel (AKA “The Tunnel”)
Directed by Maurice Elvey
1935/UK
Gaumont British Picture Corporation
First viewin
Richard ‘Mack’ McAllan: There are bigger things than money.
Airways Magnate: We don’t deal in ’em.
It is the near future (as of 1935). The Channel Tunnel was completed in 1940 and a Bahamas-Miami Tunnel is profitable. Television is everywhere and people talk by “Televisor” even from their seats in airplanes. Intrepid American engineer Richard “Mack” McAllan (Richard Dix) proposes a tunnel to link England with America an accomplishment that would “unite the English-speaking peoples” and “bring World Peace”, made possible by a new giant radium drill He convinces a group of greedy industrialists to back his plan and sets to work on the multi-year project. His obsession with the project leads him to neglect his wife (Madge Evans) and son and leave them in charge of his best friend and fellow engineer (Leslie Banks). Mack’s publicity duties have him frequently on the arm of a key investor’s lovely daughter (Helen Vinson). No spoilers here but illnesses, mass deaths, and a volcano cannot deter Mack’s determination to complete his task. World Peace is more important than the problems of a few little people! With C. Aubrey Smith as a magnate, George Arliss as the British Prime Minister, and Walter Huston as the U.S. President.
I think its a lot of fun to look at the future from the perspective of the past and I came into this movie with high hopes. I have to admit that it delivered in terms of the special effects and art decoration. The problem is that the story gets bogged down in the same old plot points that are in every second non-science fiction film of this era. Far too much time is spent on the love rectangle between the engineer, his wife, his best friend and the magnate’s beautiful daughter. Not only that but this sub-plot is milked for every bit of melodrama that can be wrung out of it. We also meet a second problem which is that Richard Dix apparently figured he didn’t need to work on his acting any more after he won the Best Actor Oscar for Cimmaron. He is pretty awful.
Also, I never did figure out how exactly the tunnel was going to lead to World Peace or how the engineers got around their volcano problem. I could have overlooked my questions, though, if we had more tunnel and less tears.
Clip – opening
I like these old science fiction films. Their perspective on the future look so curious from our modern viewpoint. The plot of this one sounds interesting, though is seems like it suffers the usual problems with science fiction films – not enough courage to focus on the science fiction element and a need to throw in conventional stuff. I have not seen this one and I do not really feel encouraged to see it now reading your review.
Actually, even the science part is pretty silly. It could have been so good! Maybe they thought the melodrama would lure female viewers?
I think that Richard Dix was a wooden actor even in his Oscar winning performance. I never could figure the appeal or how he became a top actor since he could not act; It seems like he was sleep-walking through his part and I hope he wasn’t as boring in real life as he appeared on film.
Yes, he could not act and he was not particularly handsome (at least not to me)! This is not his fault but there is a scene where he says his son thinks he’s a god that is just laughable.