While "Below the Sea" is a relatively low-budget film and Ralph Bellamy seems oddly cast as a real rogue, this is a dandy adventure film--one I almost gave an 8. But, occasional lapses (such as the doll that was used in underwater shots in an aquarium full of gold fish or a small octopus!) keep me from giving it a higher score because of a few rough edges.The film begins with a prologue where a German sub is sunk in 1917. However, two members of the crew survive--and they know that the sunken ship was carrying gold! Here is where you get an idea of what sort of hard-edged film it is--as the Captain shoves the only other survivor off a cliff in order to preserve this secret! Many years pass and the Captain is working to get a diver who can help him retrieve the treasure. The man he gets, Steve (Ralph Bellamy), is a real creep--and the slimy pair also work with a nasty dame to get the gold. But, this expedition is doomed and the ship sinks! A few years pass. Now, the Captain and Steve try another approach--they latch on to a scientific expedition funded by an unusual heiress (Fay Wray) and you'll just have to see what happens next yourself.There was a lot to like in the film. As I mentioned above, there is a real hard edge to the film you just won't find in Post-Code films (films made after mid-1934)--when Hollywood was forced to make its films more family friendly. I like this edge--particularly at the incredibly cool (and rather gruesome) ending! I also loved that for once Fay Wray was given a real decent part--not some screaming lady or bubble-head but a woman who is all woman! Well worth your time.

Ralph Bellamy looks uncomfortable playing a tough deep-sea diver instead of his usual dork-who gets-dumped. He is Mac McCreary, a pipe chomping man of action in this one. His sneaky partner is Karl Shlemmer, former German U-Boat captain, who knows where the gold is and doesn't plan to share it with anybody. Fay Wray is the rich babe who finances the expedition on a boat that looks like a royal yacht. Then there is Lily, a tough waterfront babe who adds little and somehow gets lost along the way. If you can believe all this, how about Miss Wray--rich, beautiful, educated--falling for hunky but dumb, poor, and inarticulate Bellamy? The ending (HERE'S THE BIG SPOILER) is reminiscent of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre when the almost retrieved gold falls back into the ocean, never (for unexplained reasons) to be found again.

Below the Sea (1933) ** (out of 4) A German sub goes down carrying gold during WW1 and years later the commander (Fredrik Vogeding) and a scuba diver (Ralph Bellamy) head back to see if they can locate the treasure. The two exploit a woman (Fay Wray) who believes they are just going to sea to use a new diving bell, which can help them discover new things on the ocean floor. This film is pretty damn bland and boring but it does have a couple great sequences including the ending, which goes from camp to high adventure as a gigantic octopus attacks the diving bell and Bellamy must fight it. Seeing this fake looking octopus fighting Bellamy is worth sitting through the 78-minute running time. Also worthy is a great sequence out at sea where a ship gets caught in a storm but the opening sinking of the sub is also handled very well. All three actors deliver fine performances but the screenplay really lets them down because all they do is constantly fight, argue and make up and this gets very tiresome very quickly.

Having made it a point to see all the available Fay Wray films that have survived, I can tell you with certainty that you will never see her looking more beautiful than in her role, here. A radiant presence in a world of dangerous characters, she plays a moneyed adventuress bankrolling a 'scientific' expedition to document marine life. Unknown to her is the real purpose of her crews' intentions. Surprises abound in this 'A' title from Columbia Pictures. I had a hard time telling the full scale from the miniature set. And for humor, Fay lectures Ralph Bellamy about becoming a gentleman, as he descends a ladder, and she'll lean WAAYY over to make sure she has his attention. Another delight from the pre-code era. Highly recommended.