There's an art deco look to the streamlined images of many scenes from THE TUNNEL, giving it the futuristic look it needs to succeed as science fiction. There are even TV screens and/or videophones being used in 1935 for conversations between RICHARD DIX and his wife, MADGE EVANS, both of whom have to spend too much time on the domestic drama behind the main story of the tunnel.
Their unhappy marriage comes into play when he becomes heavily involved in construction of an Atlantic tunnel connecting the British mainland to the U.S.A. "His real self stays behind in the tunnel," she tells LESLIE BANKS, her husband's co-worker. Later, their grown son becomes a worker in the tunnel but is tragically killed during a volcanic burst of lava that forces a section of the tunnel to be sealed off by emergency doors so that many other lives can be spared.
There is much talk about the "depth of the Atlantic" and "the character of the sea bed", and references to "new steel and radium drills" that are supposed to make the concept of a transatlantic tunnel possible. And to the credit of the filmmakers, they do make such an undertaking look realistically possible, at least for the duration of the story.
C. AUBREY SMITH lends his sober presence to a good supporting role but the film is largely concerned with the domestic troubles of Dix and his wife. MADGE EVANS looks so much like Norma Shearer in the glossy close-ups she gets and was clearly one of the most classically beautiful of the '30s film actresses.
But when the action is centered on the tunnel, the film remains fascinating to watch, beautifully photographed in B&W. Unfortunately, RICHARD DIX is given to overacting at every opportunity, particularly during the melodramatic situations involving his marriage.
Summing up: Melodramatic, but in many ways, ahead of its time in true sci-fi style. WALTER HUSTON as an American president and GEORGE ARLISS as a British Prime Minister have cameo roles.
Their unhappy marriage comes into play when he becomes heavily involved in construction of an Atlantic tunnel connecting the British mainland to the U.S.A. "His real self stays behind in the tunnel," she tells LESLIE BANKS, her husband's co-worker. Later, their grown son becomes a worker in the tunnel but is tragically killed during a volcanic burst of lava that forces a section of the tunnel to be sealed off by emergency doors so that many other lives can be spared.
There is much talk about the "depth of the Atlantic" and "the character of the sea bed", and references to "new steel and radium drills" that are supposed to make the concept of a transatlantic tunnel possible. And to the credit of the filmmakers, they do make such an undertaking look realistically possible, at least for the duration of the story.
C. AUBREY SMITH lends his sober presence to a good supporting role but the film is largely concerned with the domestic troubles of Dix and his wife. MADGE EVANS looks so much like Norma Shearer in the glossy close-ups she gets and was clearly one of the most classically beautiful of the '30s film actresses.
But when the action is centered on the tunnel, the film remains fascinating to watch, beautifully photographed in B&W. Unfortunately, RICHARD DIX is given to overacting at every opportunity, particularly during the melodramatic situations involving his marriage.
Summing up: Melodramatic, but in many ways, ahead of its time in true sci-fi style. WALTER HUSTON as an American president and GEORGE ARLISS as a British Prime Minister have cameo roles.