Richard
Dix stars as an engineer who makes a proposal to build an underwater tunnel to
connect England and America. A group of
millionaires decide to back the project and he devotes himself fully to the job. As a result, it ruins his marriage. Distraught, Dix plunges himself into his work. When his estranged son joins the team, it’s
an opportunity for Dix to mend fences with his family. However, tragedy strikes when a disastrous
accident claims the life of Dix’s son, along with many others.
Written
by Curt (The Wolf Man) Siodmak, The Tunnel takes place in the then near
future. I liked that the futuristic look
was grounded and seemed (at the time anyway) almost practical. The scenes of the tunnel being constructed
are impressive and some of the special effects and set design are reminiscent
of Metropolis and Things to Come. The
“futuristic” technology, like the telephone TVs are pretty cool too.
The
potentially boring scene of Dix’s proposal is offset by some occasionally funny
humor. The part where they are forced to
listen to Beethoven before the meeting is good for a laugh. Unfortunately, the relationship drama that
comes out of Dix’s obsession with building the tunnel is hit and miss. Sometimes the film begins to veer into
melodrama and when it does, it drags a bit.
There’s also a lot of rigmarole involving the state of the stock market
and Dix having to appease the tunnel’s shareholders. While this stuff would certainly occur if
such an endeavor happened, it doesn’t exactly make for riveting cinema.
AKA: Transatlantic Tunnel.
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