Producer: Michael Balcon. A Gaumont-British picture. Copyright 11 November 1935 by Gaumont British Picture Corp. of America. New York opening at the Roxy: 27 October 1935. U.K. release through Gaumont-British Picture Corporation, Ltd: January 1936. Australian release through 20th Century-Fox: 17 June 1936. 10 reels. 94 minutes. U.K. release title: The TUNNEL. SYNOPSIS: In the mid-1940s, work begins on an underocean tunnel to link the United States and Great Britain. Twenty years later, after many vicissitudes, the project is completed. NOTES: A re-make of a 1933 German film Der Tunnel directed by Curtis Bernhardt, starring Paul Hartman and Ferdinand Marian.COMMENT: Although cursed with an impossibly dime-novel domestic plot, this is still an impressive piece of science fiction with some great models and special effects. No expense has been spared with sets and extras. Elvey has directed the action and mob scenes with assurance and flair. He's also managed to prevent the old-fashioned plot from swamping the more interesting construction work by handling it at a rapid pace. The four leads do what they can with their bits of romantic nonsense, with vampish Vinson coming off best. The support players, led by Smith, Sydney and Oscar, with guest cameos by Arliss and Huston, are as usual more interesting than the top-billed stars. A lot of money has been spent on this film. And it's all up there on the screen. OTHER VIEWS: Although the premise of an underocean tunnel may not seem all that promising, this science fiction classic is still a pretty stunning visual experience even in this day. No doubt many of the impressive sets were salvaged for use as stock shots from the German film. All the same, there are no visible joins.

Visually quite Impressive, this Depression Era Sci-Fi Film is one of the few in the Genre outside Kid-Stuff Serials, because Science Fiction never Really Caught On until the Fifties. It nicely Aligns with "Metropolis" (1927), "Just Imagine" (1930), and "Things to Come" (1936).It seems a bit Early to Wear its War Paranoia so Heavily and Much is Made about how a Transatlantic Tunnel Uniting Britain and America will Stem the Tide of another World War and makes the Case that it will End War altogether.Much Melodrama concerning the Incredible Feat of Construction. The Cost in terms of Dollars and Human Lives. The Strength of the Movie however is the Eye-Popping SFX. The Art-Deco Set Designs are Amazing and the Slick Production is Top-Notch and Enthralls, Excites, and Captivates at Every Turn.Two-Way "skype" Like Television Screens of All Sizes Populate the Picture and there is Some Attempt to Show Futuristic Aircraft and Automobiles. The Over Baked Drama is Almost Deadly at Times with its Heavy Handed British Style Acting, and Subplots Concerning Family Strife and Capitalism, but Not Enough to Take Away from the Overall Enjoyment of the Spectacle. Overall, Recommended Despite the Melodramatics. It Remains an Eye-Candy Treat for Young and Old and Looks as Good as Any British Film of the Era.

It's always interesting to see science fiction from the past and see what the conception of the world is from years past. How close are we to realizing a tunnel across one of earth's oceans?In 1994 the English Channel Tunnel commenced operations and at that it is only the second largest tunnel on the planet. The Seikan Tunnel which connects the Japanese islands of Hokkaido and Honshu is the largest. At that the Swiss will have beaten both of these when the Gotthard tunnel is finished which will be under several Alps speeding transportation across Switzerland and Europe in general.Politics as well nature delayed the construction of the English Channel Tunnel. So when and if we're ever ready to cross the Atlantic Ocean, by that time we may be rocketing to different worlds.In the world that The Tunnel is set in the construction of this undersea passage will forever cement the home world of the British Empire to the United States of America. At that point the English speaking people's of the planet will take on anybody. At least President Walter Huston of the USA and future Prime Minister George Arliss hope that the powers will be joined at the hip forever so to speak.The reason this is all possible is a radium drill that scientist Leslie Banks has invented. The Colonel Goethals of the project is hard driving American Richard Dix. Dix sacrifices all for the project including family because he believes in it so. The women in both their lives at different points are Madge Evans and Helen Vinson.The sheer idea of the technological achievement dwarfs the story and the players. The special effects are primitive by today's standards, still the film does entertain. When we get into the personal lives of those involved, the film veers over into the melodramatic.Some thirty years after this film there was this Grade C science fiction film that involved a trans Pacific tunnel. But that was being worked on in secret by the Communist Chinese to invade the United States. That epic was called Battle Beneath the Earth and it is the worst nightmare of every demagogic politician who worked up the crowds concerning the yellow peril.I guess the moral of both stories is when Occidentals build it, it's a good thing, when Orientals do it it's bad.

I was 11 years old in 1935, and an avid movie goer. I was absolutely fascinated by the idea of digging a tunnel from England to America, no more unbelievable at that time, than building a tunnel under the Channel from England to France which was actually begun by Napoleon in 1802 and completed in the 1990's. It is now over 70 years since I saw the film and cannot remember much of the detail except that the lead actor was Richard Dix who if my memory serves me correctly was the chief engineer. I don't know why it is referred as science fiction as many movies over the years have to do with construction projects, and I saw it as a real happening. Perhaps towards the end of this century it may be accomplished.