The Incredible Petrified World (1957)

Director:

Jerry Warren

Writer:

John W. Steiner (writer)

Release Date:

1957 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

See women trapped in fantastic caverns at the center of Earth!

Plot:

Four adventurers descend to the depths of the ocean when the cable on their underwater diving bell snaps...

Plot Keywords:

Marine Life | Friendly Rival | Bathysphere | Komodo Dragon | Underwater Cave

Cast

John Carradine	...	Prof. Millard Wyman
Robert Clarke	...	Craig Randall
Phyllis Coates	...	Dale Marshall
Allen Windsor	...	Paul Whitmore
Sheila Noonan	...	Lauri Talbott
George Skaff	...	Dr. J.R. Matheny
Maurice Bernard	...	Old Man in the Caverns
Joe Maierhouser	...	Jim Wyman
Lloyd Nelson	...	Wilson, Sonar Man
Harry Raven	...	The Captain
Milt Collion	...	Hank
Robert Carroll	...	Narrator
Lowell Hopkins	...	Reporter
Jack Haffner	...	Jimmy, Reporter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jerry Warren	...	Plane Passenger Behind Wyman (uncredited)

Directed by
Jerry Warren

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
John W. Steiner		writer

Produced by
Jerry Warren	....	producer

Cinematography by
Victor Fisher

Film Editing by
Harold V. McKenzie
James Sweeney

Art Direction by
Marvin Herbert

Production Management
Brianne Murphy	....	production supervisor (as G.B. Murphy)
Lloyd Nelson	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Martin Harbor	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Mel Fisher	....	underwater photographer

Music Department
Josef Zimanich	....	musical director

Other crew
Raymond Guth	....	set supervisor (as Ray Guth)
Brianne Murphy	....	dialogue director (as Bri Murphy)

Production Companies

• GBM Productions

Distributors

• Governor Films (1957) (USA) (theatrical)
• Astral Films (1960) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2003) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Nostalgia Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Kelpsuit  wardrobe

Runtime:

70 min | USA:64 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Colossal Cave Mountain Park, Vail, Arizona, USA

Company:

GBM Productions

Trivia:

Shot in 1957, not released until 1959.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the characters are trapped undersea in the diving bell, they simply leave by climbing up to a hatch, supposedly at the top of the bell. Such an action underwater would immediately flood the bell. Yet, not even a drop of water enters the bell when they exit.

Quotes:

Dale Marshall: [to Lauri] You just listen to me, Miss Innocent. There's nothing friendly between two females. There never was. There never will be.
Lauri Talbott: Sorry you feel that way. I was hoping we could help each other.
Dale Marshall: You don't need help - neither do I. Not as long as we have two men around us.

Movie Connections:

Edited into "Muchachada nui: (#1.10)" (2007)

Unusual, unexpected, but still not very good '50s sci-fi

Like The Mole People, Unknown World and The Abyss, The Incredible Petrified World (IPW) defies sci-fi conventions by taking place entirely in inner space. Also like Mole People and Unknown World, inner space seems to have been built for human habitation - not only are the cave networks the perfect size for humans to walk upright in, the absurd Cyclotram of the unknown world even has a nicely graded (though bumpy) road to travel along while drilling through solid bedrock.

The only resemblance between this film and The Abyss is the underwater setting. IPW was made with less than a fraction of The Abyss' budget and the most talented actress in the film (Coates) was not paid. The film proceeds with mostly character-actors, and little to no character development.

Four people - a professional diver, two oceanographers and the stereotype female reporter - man the first deep-sea submersible diving bell (ya, this technology was already somewhat obsolete by the 1950s and the Navy was doing far more interesting things but who cares) on its first exploratory mission. Predictably, something goes wrong. But soon enough the crew finds itself in an underwater maze of caverns complete with fish ponds, potable water, a monitor lizard and a vaguely menacing hermit with extremely bad hair.

Putting all the absurdities aside (which is asking a lot), the plot is at least different and does take a few unanticipated turns. The terrestrial portion of the plot - focusing on Carradine as the philanthropic engineer sponsoring all of this - is actually more or less believable and interesting. But any value this plot adds is easily balanced by the laughable goings-on down below - especially the unnecessary and ridiculous hermit subplot.

All in all, I think this film deserves a better rating than it has here on IMDb, but I was seriously reconsidering my rating after I read about Ms. Coates' difficulties resulting from this film.

Recommended for B-sci-fi fans. AAAC (avoid at all costs) for everybody else.