Richard Dix

Leslie Banks

Madge Evans

Helen Vinson

C. Aubrey Smith

Basil Sydney

Henry Oscar

Hilda Trevelyan

Cyril Raymond

Jimmy Hanley

George Arliss

Walter Huston

Maurice Elvey

Marianne

Bernhard Kellermann

L. du Garde Peach

Curt Siodmak

Science Fiction

The Tunnel

Gaumont-British Picture Corporation

United Kingdom

CinemaSerf

Richard Dix is visionary engineer "Richard McAllan" who manages to convince a group of investors to support his plans for a transatlantic tunnel linking the UK and the USA. Immediately, all of my claustrophobic genes kicked in - that's about 4,000 miles of reinforced concrete at an average depth of 11,000 feet - no, I'd sooner embark of a flying tube travelling 35,000 feet in the air at 700 mph! Anyway, what follows is a clever piece of industrial leisure de main, amidst an environment of dealing and double-dealing; betrayal - and, of course - the obligatory romances (Madge Evans and Helen Vinson) which I thought rather distracted from the quite forward-looking storyline. Clearly, we don't have one of these tunnels, so there is little jeopardy as to what happens in the end - but the story is quite well paced; with shades - I though - of Metropolis (1927) about it. The acting isn't really up to much, and it does run a bit too much to sentiment - but Leslie Banks and C. Aubrey Smith add a little weight to it, and I found it surprisingly engaging 85 years on...

English