Atlantis: The Lost Continent (1961)

Antillia, Princess of Atlants (Joyce Taylor, actress of Illinois) is lost at sea and rescued by two Greek fishermen. She is eager to return to her home where the clothes and food do not offend her, and smitten young Demetrios (Sal Ponti) agrees to help. Things don’t go all that well for him.

Some of the secondary characters were dubbed by Paul Frees, making them sound like cartoon characters. If you are unfamiliar with voice over legend Frees, he has almost four hundred credits over his forty year career. He is frequently credited as “Additional Voices” or “Narrator”, as he is here, doing the opening narration in a distinct Orson Welles voice. He was seldom the main cartoon character, but the characters the lead would interact with. He is perhaps best remembered as Boris Badenov, but I’m partial to the Burgermeister Meisterburger.

Azor, High Priest of Atlantis, is played by Edward Platt, who some may know as the Chief from Get Smart. Very different role for him here. John Dall (Rope, Gun Crazy) is principal antagonist Zaren. This would be his last film role, and would be gone within ten years. And so it goes.

With story elements reminiscent of The Island of Doctor Moreau, Atlantis is not without its charm. Unfortunately it is hampered by clumsy acting, a terrible script, and gawd-awful fight sequences. Director/Producer George Pal just came off a big hit with The Time Machine and thus was given a tiny budget to recreate an entire continent. The sets reminded me of ST:TOS. Clips from better movies were added to punch up the drama. AMRU 2.5.