The Mysterious Island

A 1929 American part-talkie science fiction film directed by Lucien Hubbard, based on Jules Verne's 1874 novel. Photographed largely in two-color Technicolor, the film follows Count Andre Dakkar (Lionel Barrymore), a benevolent scientist who has built a submarine on his volcanic island near the kingdom of Hetvia. When the despotic Baron Falon overruns the island, Dakkar's daughter Sonia and her fiancé Nicolai Roget pilot the submarine on its maiden voyage. Pursued by Falon in a second submarine, both craft dive to the ocean floor and discover a strange land populated by dragons, giant squid, and an undiscovered humanoid race. The film was a lavish MGM production budgeted at over $1 million, with additional direction by Maurice Tourneur and Benjamin Christensen.