WilliamBoyd8
Active member
I finally got around to watching the 1961 film "Atlantis, the Lost Continent".
I had seen it when it came out, but all I remembered was the heat ray and the
men with animal heads.
The film was directed by George Pal, who made such well known 1950's science-fiction films as
"War of the Worlds" and "The Time Machine".
The script was by Daniel Mainwaring, who wrote a number of hard-boiled crime films in the 1940's
including "Out of the Past".
It starts with a prologue showing similarities between European and North American cultures,
including lust for gold, coins, pyramids, and witches riding brooms, and implying that they had a
common source.
(Kids, don't use this film for school history papers)
Plato's description of Atlantis is then read.
The film is set during ancient Greek times.
Demetrios, a Greek fisherman rescues an Atlantan princess Antilla and takes her home.
He is captured and made into a slave, as all foreigners are not allowed to leave.
Map of Atlantis in the palace
The society is depicted as being scientifically advanced, with some electricty, submarines,
and a crystal that absorbs sunlight to create heat.
Some of the people are decent, but the rulers behave like Nazis.
The king is a weak-willed man, and the actual ruler Zaren wants to be a dictator.
For punishment, Demetrios is taken to a mad scientist who is performing experiments
to turn men into animals, who are portrayed by men wearing animal heads.
However, he is rescued before being turned into a boar, and undergoes a gladiator contest.
After killing another gladiator, he is allowed to live in Atlantis as a citizen,
and collaborates with Zaren.
Zaren wants to conquer the world with their invention, a heat ray made out of crystals.
He proclaims that the Atlantans are the "race of masters".
The heat ray
An interesting scene for me as a coin collector was a payment Zaren makes to Demetrios
for a map of Greece.
The payment bag appears to contain coins, and Demetrios states the he likes gold.
The prologue also contained a visual reference to coins.
The high priest is a dissenter, believes on one god, and that Atlantis will be destroyed for its sins.
He is right.
Destruction of Atlantis
Some of the slaves escape on boats and are shown sailing to different parts of the world and
spreading Atlantan technology and beliefs.
I had seen it when it came out, but all I remembered was the heat ray and the
men with animal heads.
The film was directed by George Pal, who made such well known 1950's science-fiction films as
"War of the Worlds" and "The Time Machine".
The script was by Daniel Mainwaring, who wrote a number of hard-boiled crime films in the 1940's
including "Out of the Past".
It starts with a prologue showing similarities between European and North American cultures,
including lust for gold, coins, pyramids, and witches riding brooms, and implying that they had a
common source.
(Kids, don't use this film for school history papers)
Plato's description of Atlantis is then read.
The film is set during ancient Greek times.
Demetrios, a Greek fisherman rescues an Atlantan princess Antilla and takes her home.
He is captured and made into a slave, as all foreigners are not allowed to leave.
Map of Atlantis in the palace
The society is depicted as being scientifically advanced, with some electricty, submarines,
and a crystal that absorbs sunlight to create heat.
Some of the people are decent, but the rulers behave like Nazis.
The king is a weak-willed man, and the actual ruler Zaren wants to be a dictator.
For punishment, Demetrios is taken to a mad scientist who is performing experiments
to turn men into animals, who are portrayed by men wearing animal heads.
However, he is rescued before being turned into a boar, and undergoes a gladiator contest.
After killing another gladiator, he is allowed to live in Atlantis as a citizen,
and collaborates with Zaren.
Zaren wants to conquer the world with their invention, a heat ray made out of crystals.
He proclaims that the Atlantans are the "race of masters".
The heat ray
An interesting scene for me as a coin collector was a payment Zaren makes to Demetrios
for a map of Greece.
The payment bag appears to contain coins, and Demetrios states the he likes gold.
The prologue also contained a visual reference to coins.
The high priest is a dissenter, believes on one god, and that Atlantis will be destroyed for its sins.
He is right.
Destruction of Atlantis
Some of the slaves escape on boats and are shown sailing to different parts of the world and
spreading Atlantan technology and beliefs.
