HYDRONAUT - From the 1966 MGM film ‘AROUND THE WORLD UNDER THE SEA’ produced by Ivan Tors.

This film was a science fiction adventure about an undersea mission to stratgeically deploy special seismic sensors all ove the seabed and provide a warning systen for Earthquakes. The film was produced by Ivan Tors - creator and producer of ‘Flipper’ and ‘Sea Hunt’ and featured the expceted adundance of underwater action.

The vessel used for the mission is ‘The Hydronaut’ which was in fact a full scale real working submersible, built in the 1950s (and called the Submanaut - see link below), augmented to look more scientifically advanced and credible for the special mission. In the film they talk about the apparent colour of the ship changing as it travels deeper in the ocean.

A 2 foot (approx) miniature was also created for the more expansive underwater shots. These were shot dry-for-wet by Projects Unlimited Inc. which was a visual effects company who also handled lots of vfx work on ‘The Outer Limits’ TV Show as well as other films such as ‘The Master of the World’ (1961) and ‘The 7 Faces of Dr Lau’ (1964)

The film was made in 1966 and was a modest hit, and is primarily remembered for the submarine and lengthy scuba diving scenes featuring Shirley Eaton and Lloyd Bridges.