Latitude Zero (film)
Latitude Zero | |
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Directed by | Ishirō Honda |
Screenplay by | Shinichi Sekizawa |
Based on | Latitude Zero by Ted Sherdeman |
Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka Don Sharp[1] |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Taiichi Kankura[1] |
Edited by | Ume Takeda[1] |
Music by | Akira Ifukube[1] |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Toho (Japan) National General Pictures (US) |
Release dates |
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Countries |
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Languages | Japanese English[1] |
Budget | ¥360 million[2] |
Box office | ¥170 million[3] |
Latitude Zero (緯度0大作戦, Ido Zero Daisakusen, lit. 'The Great Latitude 0 Operation') is a 1969 tokusatsu science fiction film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. An international co-production of Japan and the United States, it stars Joseph Cotten, Cesar Romero, Akira Takarada, Masumi Okada, Richard Jaeckel, Patricia Medina, and Akihiko Hirata.
Plot
Three men - Dr. Ken Tashiro, Dr. Jules Masson, and journalist Perry Lawton - are trapped in a bathysphere due to seismic activity. They are rescued by the crew of the supersubmarine Alpha, captained by Craig McKenzie, who they learn is over 200 years old (and that the Alpha was launched in the early 19th century). McKenzie takes them to Latitude Zero to heal Dr. Masson's injuries. Along the way, they are attacked by a rival supersubmarine, the Black Shark, captained by Kuroi, who works for a rival of McKenzie's, Dr. Malic. Using super-technology, McKenzie gives the Black Shark the slip.
The crew of the Alpha soon return to Latitude Zero, a super-advanced
Upon receiving an emergency signal from Okada, McKenzie organizes a rescue expedition. Tashiro, Masson and Lawton, Latitude Zero physician Dr. Anne Barton, and Kōbo volunteer to help. Equipped with James Bond-style devices and rendered resistant to physical harm by a special bath, they infiltrate Malic's island base, Blood Rock, fight their way to the enemy control center, and rescue the Okadas. As the team escapes, Malic enters the Black Shark and fires an onboard laser at them, but Kuroi turns against Malic and attacks the laser. The weapon collapses the island's cliffs onto the submarine, destroying it and killing everyone aboard.
Of all the visitors to Latitude Zero, only Lawton wishes to return home. He is picked up by a US Navy vessel and discovers that all his knowledge of Latitude Zero's existence has disappeared. Just as he is about to resign himself to the idea that his adventure never occurred, the ship receives a message stating that a cache of diamonds has been deposited in his name in a safe deposit box in New York City, and the ship is ordered to change course to Latitude Zero.
Cast
- Joseph Cotten as Captain Craig McKenzie, Captain of "Alpha"/Commander Glenn McKenzie
- Cesar Romero as Dr. Malic, Scientist of Blood Rock/Lt Hastings
- Akira Takarada as Dr. Ken Tashiro, Oceanographer
- Masumi Okada as Dr. Jules Masson, Geologist
- Richard Jaeckel as Perry Lawton, Journalist
- Patricia Medina as Lucretia, Lover of Malic
- Kin Ōmae as Kōbo; Crew of "Alpha"
- Linda Haynes as Dr. Anne Barton, Doctor of Latitude Zero
- Tetsu Nakamura as Dr. Okada, Japanese atomic physicist
- Mari Nakayama as Tsuruko Okada; Daughter of Dr. Okada
- Akihiko Hirata as Dr. Sugata; Doctor of Latitude Zero
- Hikaru Kuroki as Captain Kuroiga ("Black Moth", Captain of "Black Shark"
- Susumu Kurobe as Chin; Crewman of "Black Shark"
- Andrew Hughes as Sir Maurice Poeley
- Haruo Nakajima as Griffin, Giant Rat, Bat Man
- Harekichi Nakamura, Yu Sekida as Bat Men
- Teruo Aragaki, Nakamura Harekichias Giant Rats
Production
Writing
In 1967, Toho was struggling to get two ambitious projects off the ground. One was an adaption of Sakyo Komatsu’s manga ESPY and the other was The Flying Battleship, a spiritual sequel to Atragon. That same year, Toho executive Masami Fujimoto went to America where he met with Don Sharpe, head of Ambassador Productions, about doing a series of co-produced special effects films. One of Sharpe’s projects was a film adaption of Ted Sherdeman’s NBC radio serial Latitude Zero, which Sherdeman had been trying to get adapted into film for the past several years.
Ted Sherdeman’s radio serial was broadcast in 1941 by NBC.[4] The first episode of Latitude Zero concerned three crew members of the old vessel “Hope,” who discover a futuristic submarine after surviving a storm in the Bering Sea near the Arctic Circle. The submarine, called the Omega, was launched in 1805 and Captain Craig MacKenzie is incredibly old despite his appearance. His bodyguard, Simba, has incredible strength and cannot be harmed by bullets. Serialized stories relate to their adventure as they battle the enemies of the underwater world of Latitude Zero (in particular, the evil Lucretia). The plots of the other episodes (17 in total) have been lost to time though the first episode has been preserved somewhere.[1][5] The Japanese version credits Shinichi Sekizawa as the screenplay adviser, a role described by Stuart Galbraith IV as writing the Japanese version.[1]
Filming
Unlike other 1960's Toho productions starring American actors, Latitude Zero was filmed entirely in English. The Japanese actors, including Akira Takarada and Akihiko Hirata, deliver all of their lines in English.
During the start of production, there were plans to film the movie in 70mm Panavision but the equipment wasn’t available to Toho, so the format was switched back to CinemaScope.
In his autobiography Vanity Will Get You Somewhere, actor Joseph Cotten stated that the American producer Don Sharp sent the American cast to Japan just as his company was about to go bankrupt.[6] Cotten noted that Toho picked up most, if not all the film's production budget.[6]
Dr. Okada was originality played the by Takamaru Sasaki (Throne of Blood (1957), The Sword of Doom (1966)) but the latter became ill and was replaced by Tetsu Nakamura, which implied for Honda reshooting all scenes involving the character.[citation needed]
During shooting, there were two major points of consideration: the first involved the bath of immunity. At the time, the Motion Picture production code had just been lifted in America and Lewis wanted to take advantage by showing Lynda Haynes breasts as she entered the bath. Ishiro Honda refused to film such a shot and this included the idea of an alternate version just for her to appear naked, though she wasn’t really. Haynes remembered this topical matter like so: “They wanted me to be nude when getting out of the bath scene… I was told. ‘Well, in Japan, that’s no big deal.’ But I refused to do that, and they even put some kind of skin-colored foam rubber over by breasts to get me to do the scene - must have been a long shot.”[citation needed]
Special effects
The immense wall of smoke and flames which erupted from the explosion of the underwater volcano was created using a small water tank against which a camera was secured upside down beneath the water line. A sky backdrop was placed behind the water, and colored paints were poured into the water, creating billowing, smoke-like clouds. This same method was also used in
Release
Latitude Zero was released in Japan on July 29, 1969 with a print that was dubbed into Japanese.[1] It received a release in the United States by National General Pictures.[1] Akira Takarada and Akihiko Hirata speak English in the English-language version and are not dubbed.[1] The film received a test screening in Dallas in July 1969 and received a general theatrical release on December 1970.[1] The film was re-issued theatrically in Japan in 1974 on a double bill with Mothra.[7]
Reception
In contemporary reviews,
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Galbraith IV 1996, p. 261.
- ISBN 978-4-864-91013-2.
- ISBN 9780819577412.
- Time Magazine. June 23, 1941. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1994, p. 186.
- ^ a b Galbraith IV 1994, p. 188.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1994, p. 363.
- ^ Willis 1985, p. 248–249: "Review is of 84 minute version viewed in Venice on August 31, 1969"
- New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 41, no. 480. British Film Institute. pp. 178–179.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-89950-853-7.
- ISBN 0-688-00842-9.
- Galbraith IV, Stuart (1996). The Japanese Filmography: 1900 through 1994. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0032-3.
- Willis, Donald, ed. (1985). Variety's Complete Science Fiction Reviews. Garland Publishing Inc. ISBN 978-0-8240-6263-7.
External links
- Latitude Zero at IMDb
- Latitude Zero at Rotten Tomatoes