On the set of "20,000 Leagues under the Sea" (1954)

 

The outlandish setting over which movie actor James Mason is glowering (above) could easily be the Victorian salon of a Henry James novel. It is actually the Victorian salon of a submarine, as seen in the mind's eye of novelist Jules Verne and re-created for Walt Disney's movie "20,000 Leagues under the Sea". Since any practical, motor-driven submarine was still uninvented in 1870, Verne - and Disney - had free hand in designing the interior od Catpain Nemo's fabulous underseas boat, the Nautilus, just as Dinsey's technicians had in designing the imaginary deep-sea diving equipment for the film. In the submersible salon they put a dainty fountain playing over colored sea animals, Arabian scatter rugs, red velvet sofas and a gold pipe organ. Measuring 200 feet in length and 26 in width, the lavish Disney Nautilus and its film, launched this month, are set for a long voyage across America's screens.