Beneath the 12-Mile Reef *** (1953, Robert Wagner, Terry Moore, Gilbert Roland) – Classic Movie Review 9006

Director Robert D Webb’s 1953 adventure Beneath the 12-Mile Reef stars the young and innocent-looking Robert Wagner and Terry Moore as a latter-day Romeo and Juliet, brightening up an early CinemaScope tale of love, hate and revenge between American and Greek sponge-fishing families in Florida’s Key West.

In rather odd casting, Wagner is supposedly Tony Petrakis, the son of Greek swimmer Mike Petrakis (Mexican actor Gilbert Roland), while Moore is playing Gwyneth Rhys, the daughter of Anglo diver Thomas Rhys (Richard Boone).

The colourful support cast (also including Peter Graves, J Carrol Naish, Angela Clarke, Jay Novello and Harry Carey Jr), unsettling music score by Bernard Herrmann, Edward Cronjager’s Technicolor CinemaScope cinematography and fine sub-aqua filming final underwater scenes (filmed at Nassau, Bahamas) are the main pluses.

Roland and Boone are fun as the rival patriarchs, and young Wagner gets to fight an octopus!

But where was Anthony Quinn when they needed him? He would have been perfect in the Roland part, though admittedly he was Mexican too.

Also in the cast are Jacques Aubuchon, Gloria Gordon, James Harakas, Charles Wagenheim, Rush Williams, Marc Krah and Guy Carleton.

The film was removed from public domain by 20th Century Fox and a quality DVD released through Fox Cinema Archives, with stereophonic sound (it was originally advertised as ‘with all the wonders of true and complete Stereophonic Sound!’) and clean images, and a supposed lost scene where Roland stuffs a cigar into Graves’s mouth after beating him in a fistfight.

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef is directed by Robert D Webb, runs 102 minutes, is made and released by 20th Century Fox, is written by A I Bezzerides, is shot by Edward Cronjager, is produced by Darryl F Zanuck (executive producer) and Robert Bassler (producer) , is scored by Bernard Herrmann, and is designed by George Patrick and Lyle R Wheeler.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9006

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