The Tunnel
The Tunnel
NR | 27 October 1935 (USA)
The Tunnel Trailers

An engineer leads the building of a trans-Atlantic tunnel linking Britain and the United States.

Reviews
Hellen

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

... View More
KnotMissPriceless

Why so much hype?

... View More
Micah Lloyd

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

... View More
Wyatt

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

... View More
Bob-45

How do you make a story as potentially exciting as building a tunnel from England to the U.S. dull and uninvolving? If you want to know, watch the dull camera-work, plodding direction, trite script and melodramatic acting in "Transatlantic Tunnel." Too bad, because the special effects and art direction are first rate for the period. They are,in many ways, superior to those used in "Things to Come." I have difficulty faulting the acting style used in "Transatlantic Tunnel;" it's a carryover from silent films, and many movies of the period are equally overacted. However, the script is strictly "by-the-numbers," and the direction of actors is so slap-dash, it's impossible to care much about them.Little, if any, attempt is made to age the actors, in a story that spans at least 7 years. Only the child "grows up" to be a man, and his scenes are brief and unmoving.The film feels excruciating slow when it generates any emotional involvement at all.The film's message of "peace through joining the English-speaking peoples, is embarrassingly naive, even for the time. When the "English-speaking peoples" get together, it's generally for anything but peace.I give "Transatlantic Tunnel" a "5," and that for the special effects and art direction. Entertainment value is pretty near zero.

... View More
ksf-2

Quite similar to "Just Imagine" from 1930, where they try to give some insight into what the future will look like. Some cool inventions, like picture telephones, airplanes that can hover like the Osprey, and the "radium" tunnel drill. They even talk about the man who "built the Channel Tunnel in 1940" . Another viewer mentions that at the end, they saw cars driving into the tunnel, but I never saw that. I saw the 92 min, 40 sec version on TCM in March 2008, so it seems there's a minute or two missing from the TCM print. "Tunnel" stars Richard Dix and Leslie Banks, with various other co-stars. It combines the challenge of building a tunnel (where the shareholders keep pulling the financing) with a troubled family life. They even take a couple swipes at millionaires. George Arliss, star of the silents, appears as the British Prime Minister. The big shot shareholders take a minute to point out that the lead engineer is "just another employee, and he must remember that!" When he asked why they couldn't tell him what was wrong over the telephone, they insisted he come in person... I wondered if they were avoiding saying things over the air, but they don't indicate that (this was just prior to WW II) I also felt bad for the workers down in the tunnel -- heavy equipment is being pulled up on cable, but no-one is wearing hardhats. Fun to watch if you keep in mind that it was made in 1935. I could have done without the silly side portraits of the key characters at the last couple minutes, but someone must have felt that added something. Entertaining early science fiction.

... View More
oigres

Finally saw this movie after many years of eager anticipation only to find myself bored. I have to agree with Maltin's summary of the two-dimensional characterization of the players in this movie. The characters in this movie do nothing more than bicker and argue.The movie was released in Britain in 1935. A darkening time for Europe was on the horizon with Adolph Hitler's rise to power in Germany. The characters in the movie hint at using the tunnel for uniting the "English" speaking people of the world; not to mention the transportation of armaments to Britain should war break out! Perhaps this movie was supposed to quell the fears of the British by offering an avenue of escapism in the promise of new and revolutionary technology (ie. the Radium Drill!) to avert war.Never the less the movie does utilize futuristic sets and models that were ahead of their time and still hold their own today. Transportation historians will find this movie interesting. 6.5 out 10.

... View More
Meredith P. (Etoile)

The concept of the movie is very basic: the building of a tunnel connecting the eastern United States with the island of Great Britain. If this were actually possible, it would probably have been done long before now -- but this film is an excellent portrayal of the possibilities. It's quite entertaining for not only fans of old movies, but for history buffs as well -- and even students of transportation should enjoy it!

... View More