Submarines That Never Really Were, 1st Bubble Quiz

Answer: The Hunt for Red October

Tom Clancy's novel "The Hunt for Red October" (1984) was turned into a nail-biting underwater suspense movie starring Sean Connery as Marko Ramius, the captain of a Russian Alpha submarine gone missing. A main premise of the story is the Soviet development of a revolutionary propulsion system, which was science fiction at the time. President Ronald Reagan liked the novel which gave it a remarkable boost in sales.

Answer: The Beatles

The children's song "Yellow Submarine" was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon and released on their 1966 album "Revolver." They wrote it expressly for Ringo Starr to sing. The song describes a happy voyage on board a submarine. In addition to human voices and musical instrument, sound effects were added to the track. Lennon created the sound of bubbles by blowing through a straw into a basin of water. Lennon and McCartney created the captain's voice by yelling orders through tin cans. United Artist turned the song into a motion picture in 1968.

The song has been adopted by anti-fascist movements, striking labour unions, football fan clubs, and drug-legalisation advocates but the Beatles insist that there was no hidden nor allegorical meaning in the lyrics, only a song about a yellow submarine.

Answer: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

The Irwin Allen movie was successfully transformed into a successful and long-running television series. The first crisis solved (the one in the movie) was that the Van Allen belt caught fire and the world was going to end in three weeks if the Seaview didn't launch a missile from the Marianas Trench that would rip the belt from its orbit around the planet.

As if that were insufficiently far-fetched, subsequent episodes involved extraterrestrials, evil foreign agents, ghosts, sea monsters, a disembodied brain from outer space, and time travelers.

The movie begat the television series which begat novelisations, comic books, and a board game. It also prompted a Mad Magazine spoof entitled "Voyage to See What's on the Bottom" (March 1966).

Answer: "Crimson Tide" (1995)

This cautionary film about the danger of nuclear war takes place on board a US nuclear missile submarine named the Alabama. The film's title refers to the nickname of the University of Alabama's football team, the Crimson Tide. 'Bama was once coached by Paul "Bear" Bryant. The submarine captain's dog is named "Bear", presumably in Bryant's honour.

Answer: The Enemy Below

This motion picture was based on a novel by D.A. Rayner. Heine Schwaffer was played by the Austrian character actor Theodore Bikel. Robert Mitchum played the captain of the US destroyer. This was the last film directed by Dick Powell before he began his career as a television director.

Answer: "Operation Petticoat" (1959)

Cary Grant played the captain of the Sea Tiger, the pink hue of which was based on an actual historic case of an American sub in the South Pacific. Despite being set in wartime, the movie is very funny. For example, the following radio message is sent by Sea Tiger to her command: "Subject, Toilet paper. One: on 6 June 1941, this vessel submitted a requisition for 150 rolls of toilet paper. On 16 December 1941 the requisition was returned with stamped notation, 'Cannot identify material required.' Two: the commanding officer of the USS Sea Tiger cannot help but wonder what is being used at the Caviti Supply Depot as a substitute for this unidentifiable material once so well known to this command."

Answer: Sting Ray

The Stingray was captained by Troy Tempest, assisted by Lieutenant George Lee "Phones" Sheridan. Their onshore commander is Sam Shore, confined to a "hoverchair" and the father of Troy's love interest, Lieutenant Atlanta Shore (sic!). Gerry Anderson, who produced "Sting Ray" (1964-1965) also produced "Thunderbirds"; both series used puppets and miniature sets. Underwater scenes were filmed on a "dry" soundstage by shooting through glass aquaria set between the camera and the scene. Audio episodes were produced and released on vinyl.

Answer: Crash Dive

"Crash Dive" was filmed in 1943, during WWII, "Up Periscope" in 1959, "Torpedo Alley" in 1953, and "Torpedo Run" in 1958. "Crash Dive" won the 1944 Oscar for Best Special Effects. It was Power's last film before reporting for active duty with the United States Marines.

A black actor, Ben Carter, plays crew member Oliver Cromwell Jones. Black roles of this sort were rare at this time. Jones figures in a subplot with Chief Petty Officer Mac McDonnell. Jones says "Mac, it's none of my business, and it certainly isn't up to me to give you advice, but if I had a weak heart ..." to which Mac replies "What are you talking about?" and Jones responds "A man don't take nitroglycerine for dandruff." In another scene, where other crew members are blackening their faces for a nighttime raid, Jones says "It looks like I am the only natural born night fighter here!"

Answer: Deep Trouble

Jim Field Smith and Ben Willbond co-wrote "Deep Trouble" for BBC Radio; Jim Field Smith played Captain Paul Wade and Ben Willbond played Weapons Officer Lt. Jack Trainor. The narrator, Jonathan Ryland, who sounds like Tom Clancy, says "In an increasingly uncertain defence environment, a deadly new arms race has begun.

In an attempt to secure her boundaries, Britain has deployed the very latest sub-sea military technology. Beneath and beyond the front line, these are the adventures of the HMS Goliath: a 55,000 tonne M-Class nuclear stealth submarine, prowling 5,000 metres below the surface ... manned by idiots." The show produced eight thirty-minute episodes 2005- 2007.

Answer: Fantastic Voyage

The script for "Fantastic Voyage" was written by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby. While the 1966 film was in production, Bantam Books obtained novelisation rights and approached Isaac Asimov to produce a book. The novel was released before the movie which led to the incorrect assumption that the film was based on a story by Isaac Asimov.

The film starred Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch (in a very revealing rubber suit), Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasence, and Arthur Kennedy. The movie begat (1) a novel by Isaac Asimov entitled "Fantastic Voyage "Destination Brain" (1987), which was in no way a sequel; (2) a novel by Kevin J. Anderson entitled "Fantastic Voyage: Microcosm" (2001) which was a sequel; (3) a 1967 comic book; (4) an animated television series; (5) a MAD Magazine parody; and (6) an Aurora plastic model kit. Guillermo del Toro has expressed interest in directing a 21st-century sequel.