Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (C or 1.5/4 stars)
Director Robert D Webb’s 1953 adventure 'Beneath the 12-Mile Reef' (directed by Robert D. Webb) is a 1953 adventure flick starring Gilbert Roland, Robert Wagner & Terry Moore. Mike (Gilbert Roland, stellar) & Tony Petrakis (Robert Wagner, dashing) are a Greek father & son team who dive for sponges off the coast of the Florida Keys. After they are robbed by crooks, the Arnold & the Rhys brothers (Peter Graves & Richard Boone play the patriarchs), Mike decides to take his team of close-knit Greek divers to the extremely dangerous 12-mile reef to search for more sponges.
Mike is apprehensive because his eldest son, Peter, died there some time ago in a horrible accident. After a new tragic incident occurs deep below the ocean's surface, Tony takes the reins. Drama enters the fray when Tony falls for pretty Gwyneth (Terry Moore) ... from the enemy Rhys family. They marry, but a forbidden Romeo & Juliet-type romance narrative unfolds. Cue a giant octopus for the big action climax.
I just wasn't blown away by this action/adventure movie. For me, it's due to the blah execution of the story & some so-so acting. With a better script, more exciting direction & some more finely-tuned performances, this could have crept up into recommendation territory. No one is bad in this movie, per say; I particularly liked Gilbert Roland's 'heart of gold' patriarch. Wagner & Moore have nice chemistry & look great together; but that's about all.
This film was only the 3rd ever to use widescreen CinemaScope; so it has that distinction - plus a coinciding Academy Award nomination for its fanTASTic underwater sequences. I also really dug Bernard Herrmann's unsettling music score. And the film contains a myriad of colorful characters played by the likes of J. Carroll Naish, Angela Clarke & Harry Carey Jr., but they couldn't alleviate my general boredom with it all. The technical achievements are greater than the movie, itself.
Mike is apprehensive because his eldest son, Peter, died there some time ago in a horrible accident. After a new tragic incident occurs deep below the ocean's surface, Tony takes the reins. Drama enters the fray when Tony falls for pretty Gwyneth (Terry Moore) ... from the enemy Rhys family. They marry, but a forbidden Romeo & Juliet-type romance narrative unfolds. Cue a giant octopus for the big action climax.
I just wasn't blown away by this action/adventure movie. For me, it's due to the blah execution of the story & some so-so acting. With a better script, more exciting direction & some more finely-tuned performances, this could have crept up into recommendation territory. No one is bad in this movie, per say; I particularly liked Gilbert Roland's 'heart of gold' patriarch. Wagner & Moore have nice chemistry & look great together; but that's about all.
This film was only the 3rd ever to use widescreen CinemaScope; so it has that distinction - plus a coinciding Academy Award nomination for its fanTASTic underwater sequences. I also really dug Bernard Herrmann's unsettling music score. And the film contains a myriad of colorful characters played by the likes of J. Carroll Naish, Angela Clarke & Harry Carey Jr., but they couldn't alleviate my general boredom with it all. The technical achievements are greater than the movie, itself.