The Science!? 01: Unknown World (1951)

Dr. Morley is a far sighted, if not incredibly optimistic scientist. For him the invention of the H-bomb guarantees the self-destruction of humankind and the complete uninhabitability of the planet's surface. But he has a plan: To find a habitable place deep under the Earth's surface as a haven for humanity. After the US government (who was obviously as science-hating then as it is now) rejects his plans, the vapid, but adventurous son of a millionaire, promises to finance the project, if he will be part of the explorative mission. The scientist and his team agree and they soon start to use one of those underground drilling vehicles movies love so much to search for a better place for mankind. Although not much is going to happen along the way, not every intrepid explorer will survive.
Unknown World makes reviewing very difficult. On one hand it is clearly a boring and slow piece of work, neither very well acted nor in any way exciting. On the other hand, I doubt that it was meant to be exciting. Clearly someone in the production (director? writer? producer?) had the idea to make a filmic version of hard SF and tried his hardest to stay as plausible and earnest as possible, avoiding everything exciting and totally unrealistic Fifties SF excelled in. The end product shows how difficult it is to avoid the stupid without losing the fun, too. I watched without any emotional relation to the proceedings.
Another failure, probably the one most destructive for the kind of movie this is trying to be, is its lack of sense of wonder. If you are trying to show us something relatively mundane, show us how beautiful and strange the seemingly mundane can be. Instead we get to see the (ineffectively lit) Bronson Caves.
The last failure of Unknown World is again rooted in an attempt to be different and better than its contemporaries. I saw obvious signs of interest in a deeper and more realistic characterization let down by equally obvious signs of the ability to think character arcs through to their logical end. Instead the writings uses lazy short cuts to push the characters back into the usual clichéd positions.
So, is the movie boring? Yes, very much so. Do I recommend it? Not really, no. Is the wish to make something different commendable? Yes, absolutely.