or centuries, the dream of uniting Great Britain with the European continent by tunneling under the English Channel had seemed impossible. However, thanks to the resiliency of his patented Allanite steel, Richard "Mack" McAllan (Dix) was finally able to bore a passage under the treacherous waterway in 1940 . Now, the brilliant engineer has an even grander scheme: he wants to burrow beneath the Atlantic Ocean to connect England with the United States.
With the support of his wife Ruth (Evans) and his best friend, Frederick "Robbie" Robbins (Banks)--the inventor of the radium drill--McAllan presents his outlandish plan to the world's leading industrialists. Most of the tycoons scoff at the idea, but a couple are willing to commit the necessary funds, and work on the project begins.
Although progress is steady over the next few years, shareholder interest in the tunnel begins to wane. McAllan flies to New York and, accompanied by the gorgeous daughter of a key investor, embarks on a months-long public relations tour. At the same time, a strange "tunnel sickness" starts to afflict the laborers. Ruth, who, unbeknownst to her husband, has been volunteering in the underground infirmary, contracts the ailment and, realizing that it will distract her tunnel-obsessed spouse, runs away with their young son.
Despite cave-ins and other calamities, work continues on the project for nearly a decade. But, just as McAllan and his men are about to complete the immense endeavor, they encounter an unexpected subterranean hazard which threatens not only to destroy the tunnel, but also to kill his now-adult son Geoffrey (Jimmy Hanley).
Sudsy, socialistic science fiction
Released in 1935, Trans-Atlantic Tunnel--which is actually an Anglicized remake of a 1933 German film titled Der Tunnel--is a fascinating blend of science fiction, soap opera and subtle socialist dogma. The picture offers artful commentaries on corporate power and personal ambition, while at the same time marvelously capturing the uplifting, "can-do" spirit evidenced by so many of the great engineering feats of the Depression era.
As politicians utter grand statements over the worldwide "Ultrawave Television and Broadcasting Station," expounding on the project's peaceful potential, the industrialists funding the construction--including, among others, a leading arms merchant--actively manipulate the stock market to maximize their wealth. Their blatant exploitation of the media, government and even McAllan provide an interesting anti-aristocratic view of the future not terribly removed from that of the silent SF classic Metropolis, which had been issued only nine years earlier.
The picture also examines the impact of the massive undertaking on the personal lives of the people involved in the enterprise. In a typically chaste, 1930s-movie manner, a love affair develops between Ruth and Robertson, spurred in part by McAllan's prolonged absences and the obvious attraction of Varlia Lloyd (Vinson)--the financier's beautiful daughter--to the dashing engineer. While these romantic interactions are often overemotional, they unquestionably enrich the adventure.
Considering the period in which the film was made, the special effects are also impressive, especially those involving the various vehicles and machinery found in the tunnel's vast interior. At times Trans-Atlantic Tunnel can be too talky and melodramatic, yet, as an artifact of an age filled with both global optimism and gloom, it remains truly eye-opening
and enjoyable.
