City Beneath the Sea (1953)

Sea adventure in Jamaica with Ryan and Quinn

Two American divers (Robert Ryan and Anthony Quinn) get a gig in Jamaica to find a sunken vessel with gold cargo while carousing and seeking out fair ladies (Mala Powers and Suzan Ball). Unfortunately, there are shady characters afoot (George Mathews). Woody Strode has a peripheral role.

"City Beneath the Sea" (1953) is an oceanic adventure/thriller that has the look and tone of “Dinosaurus!” (1960), but is thematically similar to "The Deep" (1977), "Into the Blue" (2005), "Into the Blue 2: The Reef" (2009) and "Fool's Gold" (2008).

The best of these, believe it or not, is “Into the Blue 2,” which was a direct-to-video release. This one is worthy too if you can acclimate to the early 50’s quaintness. It’s rollicking escapist fare with a buddy film foundation.

On the female front, Suzan Ball is reminiscent of a taller Salma Hayek while Mala Powers evokes Susan Hayward.

The film runs 1 hour, 27 minutes, and was shot at Universal Studios in Universal City, California.

GRADE: B