Captain Nemo (Latin for no one) was made for
our times. A modern man. A psychopath with his cult. It reminds me of the
film Time After Time when Jack the Ripper finds himself in the present day
and thinks this was made for me. If Nemo was around today, he would be a
Jim Jones figure, or he might be ahead of the Republican Party. He is one
of the great figures in literature thanks to the pen of Jules Verne back
in 1870. There have been a few film versions of Captain Nemo, but this is
the classic film. And though it looks like he has met his end in both the
book and here, Nemo returns in the book and film The Mysterious Island. It
is in that book where the reader learns more about his background. He was
the son of a Rajah in India that the British overthrew, and he has an abiding
hatred of imperialism. He now goes around sinking imperialist ships in his
highly advanced submarine by ramming them and blowing them up. Killing all
aboard. Hero or villain? Psychopath or Saviour? This film tilts more towards
psychopath I would say but makes him understandable - till the end. The film
gives Nemo a different background that is much less interesting.
This is a terrific film produced by Walt
Disney. It was one of the most expensive films ever made at the time - shot
beautifully in Technicolor with wonderful sets and a fine cast of male actors.
No women to be seen after the first few minutes when we are introduced to
the Kirk Douglas character Ned Land when he is arm in arm with two bar girls
- clearly prostitutes - what was Walt thinking. Ned Land is a rugged crude
sea man - a harpoon specialist - the common man who loves freedom and he
is the contrast in the film to Nemo (James Mason).
Nemo and his devoted crew are sinking ships,
and the public thinks that there is a giant monster doing it and shipping
has come to a standstill. The Navy outfits a ship to go in search of a monster
or prove that there isn't one. Land volunteers as do two other civilians
- the scientist Professor Aronnax (Paul Lukas) and his assistant Conseil
played by the wonderful Peter Lorre. The captain is named Farragut - perhaps
no coincidence in that Farragut was the hero in the Civil War who said "Damn,
the torpedoes, full speed ahead". And later had a ship named after him in
Star Trek. For months they trawl the ocean with no sight of anything.
Finally, the monster shows up - the Nautilus
- the submarine - and the ship is battered with Land, Aronnax and Conseil
being thrown overboard and after a while picked up by Nemo who first considers
killing them. As things turn out, that may have been the best decision. In
his discussions with the Professor, Nemo posits that murdering a few hundred
on the ships is worth it to save thousands if those ships deliver armaments.
Land chafes under his conditions and wants to escape - to an irritating degree
really. You are on one of the most marvelous technological creations in the
world - appreciate it. Stop bitching all the time. Some fine scenes - the
fight against the giant squid is brilliant - the escape from the cannibals
is fun but it is the steely fanatical absolutist Nemo that steals the show
and Mason nails his performance. It was a big hit and started a series of
films based on Verne - all the best ones were produced in the 1950s and early
60s'.
