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20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954) 

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science fiction
directed by : Richard Fleischer
featuring : Kirk Douglas - James Mason - Paul Lukas - Peter Lorre - Robert J.Wilke
running time : 2 hours 15 minutes 

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This 1954 Disney version of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea represented the studio's costliest and most elaborate American-filmed effort to date. Exuding macho from every pore, Kirk Douglas plays a trouble-shooting 19th century seaman, trying to discover why so many whaling ships have been disappearing of late. Teaming with scientist Pual Lukas and diver Peter Lorres, Douglas sets sail to investigate—and is promptly captured by the megalomaniac Captain Nemo (James Mason), who skippers a lavish, scientifically advanced submarine. The film is a smorgasbord of thrilling highlights, including an outsized battle with a giant squid. Though some of the special effects pale in comparison to recent Steven Spielberg and Tim Burton films, they were impressive enough in 1954 to win an Academy Award. A major box-office success, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea is best enjoyed on a huge cinemascope screen; many videocassette versions not only clumsily "crop" the picture, but also artificially speed up the action (that's why Kirk Douglas sounds like Alvin the Chipmunk when he sings A Whale of a Tale). 

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