[miketardis]

LATITUDE ZERO (1969)
Directed by Ishiro Honda. Stars Joseph Cotten, Cesar Romero, Richard Jaeckel, Linda Haynes, Patricia Medina, Akira Takarada, Masumi Okada. Toho made this entertaining Jules-Verne-inspired undersea adventure. The Nemo-esque Craig McKenzie (Cotten) rescues a trio of scientists whose bathysphere is endangered by a volcano eruption. McKenzie brings the three aboard his submarine and takes them to Latitude Zero, an elaborate underwater city protected by a waterproof and shockproof dome. Most of the population seems to be famous scientists and artists who were believed to be missing or dead, as well as sexy women in miniskirts. Even after all this (admittedly overwhelming) evidence, the three men, including American Perry Lawton (Jaeckel), are hesitant to believe McKenzie’s claims of being 200 years old. They do offer to chip in on a rescue mission when McKenzie’s equally elderly but more deadly archenemy Malic (Romero) kidnaps another prominent scientist en route to Latitude Zero. Malic also operates from a secret base, which houses his alluring sidekick Lucretia (Medina) and some homemade monsters, including walking bat-men, giant rats and a flying lion with wings. GODZILLA vets Eiji Tsuburaya and Akira Ifukube contribute exciting special effects and music, respectively. I was surprised to hear some minor swearing in the G-rated American dubbing, but the movie is still kid-friendly. It didn’t open in New York until Christmas 1970, where it played on a double bill with the M-rated Italian western DAY OF ANGER.