Krakatoa, East of Java

A not terribly convincing Maximilian Schell is “Hansen”, and intrepid sea captain who heads into the Dutch East Indies to track down a wreck. He has been told by his lady friend “Laura” (Diane Baker) that there is a submarine on which her late husband served nestling nicely at the bottom somewhere, replete with a cargo of pearls. He engages the services of the veteran diver “Connerly” (Brian Keith) as well as the enthusiastic young “Rigby” (John Leyton) who has a diving bell, and “Leoncavallo” (Sal Mineo) who has his own hot air balloon and off they go in search of their loot. There are a few complications. Their licence to explore was only agreed on condition that they embark a bunch of reprobates for transportation too, and as these men learn a little more of the true nature of this mission then mutinous thoughts start to cross their minds. Furthermore, with all of these onboard activities smouldering away, they head out to sea under the gaze of the grumbling volcano that is showing distinctly hostile signs that an eruption is imminent. “Hansen” now has lots to do, few he can trust and billowing clouds of toxic smoke - what chance he can succeed? The cast here are all fairly easy on the eye, but they have to deliver some fairly banal dialogue and struggle to ignite this scenario with their internecine plots, romances and grudges. It needed a much more robust lead character, and quite possibly quite a few fewer of the others enabling it to focus more on the treasure hunting elements rather than the personality ones. It does redeem itself well for the last fifteen minutes though as Krakatoa decides it has seen enough of this film and makes it’s presence felt. A combination of actuality and some fairly impressive visual effects bring the thing alive and show us just how violent nature can be when she has to watch a plodding melodrama on a Sunday afternoon. It’s not a bad film, but don’t go looking for much depth to the story or the characters.