Sharad of Atlantis

Sharad of Atlantis (1936)

Undersea Kingdom

BATTLING UNKNOWN TERRORS IN A LAND OF PERIL UNDER THE OCEAN'S FLOOR!

Crash Corrigan, a recent graduate of Annapolis, and Diana, a go-getting reporter, join Professor Norton for a search for the source of a string of earthquakes, Atlantis. They ride Prof. Norton's rocket submarine searching the sea and little Billy Norton, the professor's son stows away, of course. When they find Atlantis they are caught in a war between peaceful Atlanteans, note their white capes, and war-monging Atlanteans, note their black capes. After many harrowing moments for Crash, Diana, Prof. Norton and Billy, they barely get away with their lives when they escape a tower of Atlantis raised to the surface for the sole purpose of dominating or destroying the Earth (Which one depends on the compliance of the upper world dwellers.)

Date of release
1936-05-30
TMDB
4.4 / 10 (19)
Runtime
3h 46m
Genres
Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Director
B. Reeves Eason, Joseph Kane

Casting

Interesting facts

Undersea Kingdom (1936) is a Republic Pictures 12 chapter film serial released in response to Universal's Flash Gordon. It was the second of the sixty-six serials made by Republic. In 1966, the serial was edited into a 100-minute television film titled Sharad of Atlantis.

Production

Undersea Kingdom was budgeted at $81,924 although the final negative cost was $99,222 (a $17,298, or 21.1%, overspend). It has the lowest budget of any Republic serial but it was only the third cheapest in actual production cost. The serial was filmed between 3 March and 28 March 1936 under production number 417. The only cheaper serials were the subsequent The Vigilantes Are Coming ($87,655) and, in 1938, The Fighting Devil Dogs ($92,569).

Tom Steele started his serial career in this serial. He went on to work in most of the subsequent serials produced by Republic and Universal Pictures.

These include the Volkites (The robotic army of the Black Robes), The Juggernaut (their tank), Vol Planes (Atlantean rocketships) and Professor Norton's Rocket Submarine, as well as sets and Unga Khan's tower.

This is the first appearance of the "Republic Robot" (as the "Volkites"). It would turn up again in Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940) and Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952). It is parodied in Star Trek: Voyager's The Adventures of Captain Proton.

Some of the model effects seen within the serial:

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