The Mysterious Island
On a volcanic island near the Kingdom of Hetvia rules Count Dakkar, a benevolent leader and scientist who has eliminated class distinction among the island's inhabitants. Dakkar, his sister Sonia and her fiance, engineer Nicolai Roget have designed a submarine which Roget pilots on its initial voyage just before the island is overrun by Baron Falon, despotic ruler of Hetvia. Falon sets out after Roget in a second submarine and the two craft, diving to the ocean's floor, discover a strange land populated by dragons, giant squid and an eerie undiscovered humanoid race.
From the archive
I've been researching newly public domain films from 1929 and earlier, so I'm uploading the best possible copies that I can find. The Mysterious Island, based on the 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas series by Jules Verne, is an early mostly-silent science fiction film. The budget for the film was fairly large, and especially for a mostly untested genre like science fiction. Unfortunately, the film was a massive financial flop, which likely deterred studios from exploring the genre for at least a few years.
Why this is free to watch
The Mysterious Island (1929) is hosted by the Internet Archive as a public-domain or openly licensed work, which means its copyright has expired, lapsed, or was released by the rights holder. The uploader declared an explicit licence, linked in the source panel. Nitrate streams the file directly from the Archive and hosts no video itself.
- Director
- Benjamin Christensen
- Starring
- Lionel Barrymore, Jacqueline Gadsden, Lloyd Hughes, Montagu Love, Montagu Love, Snitz Edwards, Gibson Gowland, Dolores Brinkman
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