BY LEE PFEIFFER
It's generally accepted that the blockbuster business generated by the release of "Airport" in 1970 inspired the disaster movie craze of the decade. However, the year before, Cinerama's "Krakatoa: East of Java" was a forerunner. The fact that the film was a critical and financial flop results in it often being overlooked in discussions of the disaster movie genre. The making of the film was covered in detail by Dave Worrall in Cinema Retro issue #22, but suffice it say, the entire production proved to be problematic both in terms of bringing it to the screen and also in regard to its marketing. The screenplay Clifford Newton Gould and Bernard Gordon uses the 1883 eruption of the titular island as the basis for an adventure epic, although what emerged was somewhat less than epic. Overlooking the fact that the historical record of the eruption, which had effect on nations worldwide, is presented in a simplistic, fictional manner, the production's dramatic qualities are also lacking, squeezing in a number of sub-plots that don't pay off in a satisfying manner.
Maximilian Schell plays Chris Hanson, captain of the steamer ship the Batavia, stationed in Java. When the story opens, he's loading passengers and cargo on to the vessel when he's told by government officials that he must take aboard 30 convicts who are in chains in order to drop them off with authorities on another island. Hanson resists but is legally bound to accept his unwanted passengers, who he is told to keep in the sweltering hold. Also on board is an unexpected former flame, Laura Travis (Diane Baker), with whom he had a torrid affair. She informs him that her abusive husband found out about the affair and has left for parts unknown, taking her beloved young son Peter with him. She has now returned to Hanson to find solace and try to cope with the blame she puts on herself for losing her son. Other troubled passengers include John Leyton as Douglas Rigby, an entrepreneur who has brought aboard a diving bell with which he intends to search for a sunken ship said to contain a fortune in pearls that belonged to Laura's father. (One of several absurd plot "coincidences"). He has in tow Connerly (Brian Keith), a gruff professional diver who is on his last legs in terms of health and finances. He and Captain Hanson will share in the loot if the pearls are located. Also along as part of the side mission to find the treasure is Giovanni Borghesi (Rossano Brazzi) and his son Leoncavello (Sal Mineo), who will utilize a hot air balloon to search for the wreck once they get near Krakatoa, where the sunken ship is said to be located. A superfluous character is Charley (Barbara Werle), a saloon girl with a heart of gold who is Connerly's lover and who shares his dream that the pearls will give them a new lease on life. The first half of the film is talky and not very exciting but is punctuated by ominous rumblings and explosions on Krakatoa that serve as a teaser for what is about to occur. This is couple dwith other warning signs including strange behavior by flocks of birds and smoky clouds that envelope the ship.
The pace of the second half of the film picks up considerably with a diving bell mishap that proves almost fatal. Once the wreck is located, the balloon goes astray, thus serving as a typical Cinerama production excuse to show Super Panavision 70 widescreen point-of-view shots of spectacular island valleys and mountains. By the time the wreck is searched, Krakatoa is exploding in increasingly spectacular fashion, thus leaving the passengers and crew of the Batavia in fear of their lives. The film pretends to be a Hollywood spectacular but it comes across as what it is: a European production with a sprinkling of respected international stars. (The movie was shot in Spain and in Italy). The finale is rather exciting though the effects must be judged by the crude technology of the era, as virtually every image of the distressed vessel is achieved through the use of very obvious miniatures and models. If you're retro movie lover, however, you'll appreciate the achievement of SFX master Eugene Lourie and his team. In fact, the quaint look of these scenes adds to the movie's appeal even if we see "Krakatoa" explode completely in one frame, only to be reconstituted in the next.
The film was directed by Bernard Kowalski, who had a few
undistinguished movies to his credit, though he would go on to find
great success in television. He does what he can to keep the often
sluggish pace as lively as possible and the cinematography of Manuel
Berenguer affords some eye-popping shots of island scenery. The actors
are all old pros and manage to deliver some clunky dialogue without
causing unintended laughter. Only Barbara Werle suffers. She is
primarily known for only two Cinerama productions: this film and "Battle
of the Bulge". That's because she was a longtime girlfriend of a
Cinerama bigwig who made it mandatory that she be cast in both movies.
In her most bizarre scene, Werle sings a sappy, sweet childlike song
that sounds like an outtake from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" to Brian
Keith while she performs a striptease for him! There's also a
predictably sappy ending involving Laura and her missing son that
stretches credibility even for this credibility-stretching film.
Director Kowalski was quite verbal about the problems of bringing the
production to the big screen but the challenges continued right up to
the opening of the movie. Cinerama backed "Krakatoa" with a first-rate
marketing campaign befitting of a genuine epic. In addition to a
superbly-designed film poster, the company sent out an abundance of
teaser promotional items including a trailer. The movie had been shot
under the working title "Krakatoa" but by this point, it had been
retitled "East of Java" and that was the title printed on the initial
advertising materials sent to the media. However, shortly before the
gala premiere in London, the company changed the title once again to
"Krakatoa: East of Java". At the last minute, the studio was made aware
of a major error in the campaign: it turns out that Krakatoa is west of
Java. Cinerama executives had no time to change the marketing materials
again so they gulped and spun the disastrous error as having been
intentional because- wait for it!- "East" sounded more exotic than
"West" in the title. Despite the inventive spin attempt, the film failed
with the critics and at the boxoffice.
Kino Lorber has released a Blu-ray edition of the film. The bad news
is that there are no special features except for a smattering of
trailers that doesn't include one for the main feature. The good news is
that the transfer is gorgeous and does justice to the creative work of
the special effects team. As Dave Worrall pointed out in his article,
the movie has had a confusing number of running times, with cuts having
been made for various countries and a 1970s re-release under the title
"Volcano". The KL Blu-ray runs 131 minutes, which, according to
Worrall's research, clocks in at three minutes less than the London
premiere time but is longer than some of the other releases.
This isn't a terrible movie, just a film that fell short of its
overall potential. It still makes for entertaining viewing and the K/L
Blu-ray is highly recommended.
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