Although a bit dry and strangely dispassionate, especially by today's standards, "Transatlantic Tunnel" is worth a viewing for sci-fi buffs.The film starts out well enough, with some millionaires sitting around listening to a private symphony. The only real humor in the entire film happens here, where there is an exchange between one of the group and his wife: "Doesn't this song ever end?" To which she replies, "It's Beethoven... he's dead." "Good!" says the millionaire.
The group is at the home of a wheelchair-bound visionary, named Lloyd (C. Aubrey Smith), for the purpose of undertaking the greatest engineering feat of all time; the construction of an underground tunnel between Britain and America. The reasoning for building the tunnel is pretty weak, and the excuse of a tense political state between the US and England is laughable.
Regardless of common sense, construction is approved, and work begins from both the US side and the British side. As work speeds along (thanks to the invention of a "radium drill,"), the plot sinks into a mire of melodrama. The architect and hero of the story is Richard 'Mack' McAllan. His wife is jealous of the tunnel, as it keeps her obsessed husband from staying by her side. His best friend (played by Leslie Banks), who also works on the tunnel, spends more time with the wife than the husband. Any interesting plot twist that could come from this triangle (such as an adulterous affair), is glossed over and avoided. An interesting subplot, in which an arms dealer tries to take control of the corporation charged with building and running the tunnel is never resolved. There are also romantic complications with Lloyd's beautiful daughter that evaporate well before the film ends (I have Timeless Video's release, which clocks in at 71 minutes, while the original film is reportedly 94 minutes).
Along the way, there are threats of a debilitating poisoned gas which causes "tunnel sickness", and a volcanic explosion that kills hundreds of workers (including Mack's son).
This is an excellent example of Depression Era futurism. Like "Things to Come", this film shows that mankind can achieve greatness through science if we all work together towards a common goal, forsaking the dangers and tragedies that may be unleashed. The thinking of the day that the wealth and vision of the rich, combined with the genius of those in industry, will somehow save the world from itself is somewhat quaint.
The film has some good special effects, but I wouldn't say they were necessarily groundbreaking. The travel cars are interesting, as are the hospital transports and futuristic motorcars and airplanes. A precourser of the big screen in Times Square shows mass-communication via video and loudspeaker (although the announcer looks more like a scary, Orwellian authority figure than a friendly source of information). That and the early use of TV and 2-way TV communication set the film apart.
As for the print, it was pretty muddy and transferred in EP mode, but more or less watchable. I would have preferred a sharper image to better see the models of the radium drill. Also, about half-way through the Timeless Video version, there is a messy reel switch complete with countdown leader.
