Wikisource:WikiProject Film/Intertitles from GeoCities/20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1
The First Submarine Photoplay Ever Filmed
Based On Jules Verne's
"Twenty Thousand Leagues
Under the Sea"
Approved by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
Copyrighted 1916 by The Universal Film Mfg. Co.
Carl Laemmle, President All rights reserved
2
Directed by Stuart Paton
Photographed by Eugene Gaudio
3
The submarine scenes in this
production were made possible by the use of the Williamson inventions, and were directed under the personal supervision of the Williamson brothers, who alone have solved the secret of under-the-ocean photography.
4
ERNEST
and
GEORGE WILLIAMSON
5
FACT
When Jules Verne wrote
"Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", the startling inventions in this Masterpiece impressed the world as being the limit of imagination and impossibility ....
6 .... Jules Verne died a disap- pointed man because the world did not take him seriously, but after all, he was merely fifty years ahead of his time.
7 JULES VERNE.
8
FICTION
_____
Over fifty years ago the civil-
ized world was seized in a grip of terror on account of repeated reports of a gigantic sea mon- ster which attacked and de- stroyed ships, sending their crews to a watery grave ....
9 .... Terror prevailed on the high seas. Such was the sit- uation when the United States Government decided to send an expedition to rid the ocean of this demon of the deep.
10 Professor Aronnax, a distinguished French scientist, was stopping at the old Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York.
11 His daughter was his constant
companion.
12 Having accepted the invitation, the Professor goes aboard the "Abraham Lincoln," which sets out on its adventurous voyage.
13 On board, also, is the famous Ned Land, prince of harpooners.
14
THE WIZARD OF THE DEEP.
_____
At this time, unknown to the world, there lived a man of mystery who called himself Captain Nemo. He nursed a secret desire for revenge ....
15 .... He invented a strange craft in which he could navigate under the ocean .... With a loyal crew he traversed every sea, but never landed at any port, resolved to accomplish his vengeful purpose or die without disclos-
ing his secret to mankind.
16
CAPTAIN NEMO
______
In his cabin on board the
submarine, "Nautilus."
17 The mysterious "monster" of
the deep.
18 Slowly, silently, it rises from
unfathomed depths.
19 Captain Nemo, having built and launched the "Monster," followed the paths of vessels for 20,000 leagues in search of ven- geance.... Failing to locate his enemy he now heads his craft toward a point in the tropic seas.
20 Captain Nemo makes certain of
his bearings.
21 In secret, he grieves over his
unavenged wrongs.
22 After following the trail of the "monster" for many days the "Abraham Lincoln"
nears the waters where it was last
reported.
23 The "monster" is sighted.
24 "Its hide is too tough for harpoons."
25 "Even the cannon ball glanced
from its back."
26 Fearing that the secret of his submarine will be made known to the world, Captain Nemo rams the "Abraham Lincoln," pitching the Professor and his
party overboard.
37 Rudderless, the "Abraham Lincoln"
drifts on.
38 A strange rescue.
39 Despite his resolve never to allow anyone but his crew on board the submarine, Captain Nemo in compas-
sion saves the victims.
40 Professor Aronnax and his party, realizing that they are prisoners,
attempt to escape.
41 "I am Captain Nemo and this is my submarine, 'Nautilus' ....It has pleased me to save your lives.... You are my
prisoners."
42 "You shall never leave this ship
as long as I live."
43 Captain Nemo grants his lieutenant's
plea for leniency.
44 About this time, Lieutenant Bond and four Union Army Scouts frustrate an attempt to destroy their balloon, and are
carried out to sea.
45 For days they sail toward the tropics, until at last they sight
"Mysterious Island."
46 They near the island.
47 On "Mysterious Island" lives
a child of nature.
48 Soon they are hovering over a
beautiful beach.
49 Dropped from the clouds.
50 One remains clinging to the
balloon.
51 Captain Nemo, looking through the observation panel in his cabin, dis- covers the unconscious balloonist.
52 He orders two of his crew to help
the half-drowned man ashore.
53 Dawn.
54 "Where is Harding?"
55 Every cavern along the coast is
searched for their missing
comrade.
56 The stranded party is reunited.
57 Captain Nemo sympathizes with
the ill-fated castaways.
58 A chest of supplies is sent ashore.
59 They search the island for food.
60 "There must have been a
shipwreck."
61 Meanwhile on the submarine Pro- fessor Aronnax and his party are
summoned to Captain Nemo's
cabin.
62 "I wish to make you my guests--not my prisoners....Give me your promise never to attempt to escape and you shall
have the freedom of the ship."
63 "We promise."
64 In the meantime, a crude camp
has been constructed ....
65 . . . .And a pit dug to afford protection from prowling beasts.
66 "See what I found in the pit."
67 Captain Nemo reveals some of the marvelous mysteries of the deep.
68 "I call this my magic window."
69 "We are now at the bottom of
the sea."
70 "Through these crystal plates con- structed to withstand the pressure of the water at this great depth, we gaze on scenes which you might think God
never intended us to see."
71 "Behold the beautiful marine
gardens."
72 "Those are sponges growing among
living corals."
73 "Notice how brilliant is the reflection of the sun's rays on these coral beds, fathoms
below the surface."
74 "See the blueheads, looking for sea eggs' on which they feed."
75 "At the base is dead coral, formed by skeletons of the little coral polyp
--a marine animal."
76 "That is the wreck of an old
blockade runner."
77 "There's a great barracuda, which is often six feet long .... some are
dangerous as sharks."
78 "Look! Sharks!"
79 "Think! Only the crystal plates of our window protect us from those
man-eaters."
80 "Wonderful! Isn't it?"
81 "Tomorrow, I shall show you scenes even more wonderful .... I shall take you on a hunting trip on
the very floor of the ocean."
82 Preparing for the promised hunt.
83 "From this cabin, we shall descend into the water chamber, from which we will pass out through a trap-door into the ocean."
84 "These suits are my own invention .... instead of receiving air from above, we breathe through tubes connected with
oxygen tanks."
85 "Although we have neither life lines, nor air pipes, we need not fear .... With our supply of oxygen we can remain under
water indefinitely."
86 First the hunters visit the marine
gardens.
87 They make slow headway against
the swift current.
88 Two of the party search for pearls.
89 Shark hunting.
90 The guns which the hunters carry are discharged by compressed air.
91 Captain Nemo takes Professor Aronnax on a thrilling adventure.
92 They arrive at the vast ocean meadows infested by tigers of the
sea.
93 The hunters release impure air
from their helmets.
94 Regardless of danger, they attack
the sharks.
95 One bold man-eater charges them.
96 The hunters return to the
"Nautilus."
97 In a distant land, sometime before the preceding events, Charles Denver, a retired ocean trader, is haunted in his dreams.
98 Twelve years before this time he had forced his attentions on the wife of Prince Daaker,
of India.
99 He is terrorized in his dreams by the gruesome details of his crime against the
Princess Daaker.
100 One night in his bedchamber the ghost of the Princess tortures him
to the point of madness.
101 To escape further mental torture, Denver takes to the sea in his
yacht.
102 "Do you remember your mother?"
103 She relates how, when a child, she was dragged from her dying mother's arms
and taken to sea on a boat.
104 Wondering if the child still lives, he decides to search for her.
105 "If I do not return by nightfall,
come for me."
106 Lost on "Mysterious Island."
107 Captain Nemo sights a yacht
lying off shore.
108 "Go ashore and learn who
commands that yacht!"
109 They struggle against the undertow.
110 Meanwhile, one of the lieutenant's party violates their code of honor.
111 The scoundrel is made an outcast.
112 "I was shipwrecked and have lived on this island -- alone."
113 "We are from Charles Denver's yacht .... He is lost in the jungle."
114 The outcast plans to gain control of the yacht and abduct the island
maid.
115 The conspirators set out.
116 "I have the honor to report that the yacht is owned by Charles
Denver."
117 "At Last."
118 The conspirators start to escape
with the yacht.
119 "That ship must not get away.... go to the torpedo room....Let me
take the wheel."
120 "This torpedo must not miss its
mark."
121 "Ready!"
122 "Load!"
123 "Fire!"
124 "Rescue them!"
125 A revelation!
126 "Allah be praised--it is my child!"
127 The comrades of Lieutenant Bond are taken off the island.
128 Captain Nemo reveals the tragic secret of his life, which Jules Verne
never told.
129 ".... Years ago, I lived in peace in an Empire beyond the sea, where I was
known as Prince Daaker . . . ."
130 "....A beloved wife and daughter were the rarest treasures in my
palace ....."
131 ".... Charles Denver, an adven-
turer, had gained my
confidence ...."
132 ".... At this time the mutter- ings of the natives portended
an early uprising ...."
133
".... The crafty Denver, who secretly
coveted the Princess, falsely accused me of
inciting the rebellion ...."
134 ".... On the night air came the weird sounds of the tom-toms and the frenzied shouts of the natives, who had learned of my
imprisonment ...."
135 ".... It was the signal for an
open rebellion ...."
136 ".... I escaped from prison and hastened to my palace . . . ."
137 ".... With her dying breath, the Princess told me how Denver had attacked her and taken our child
away ...."
138 ".... When her spirit had taken flight, I bore her body from the
palace ...."
139 ".... My native land was made a place of death and desolation ...."
140 ".... There beside the body of my beloved, I prayed that Allah might some day bring me face to face with mine enemy ...."
141 "This is a picture of your mother."
142 The death of Captain Nemo.
143 With heavy hearts, the crew obey
his last command.
144 The funeral under the sea.
145 "May his soul rest in peace."
146 The Great Commander gone, his crew disbanded, the "Nautilus" sinks into the silent depths, manned only by the spirit of the "Wizard of the Sea."
147 THE BENEDICTION.
THE END
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