MovieChat Forums > City Beneath the Sea (1971) Discussion > Reused sets/props

Reused sets/props

posted 10 years ago by whosit
3 replies | jump to latest

Mr. Allen must've been an early environmentalist as he sure liked to recycle props, sets, shots, music, sound/visual effects and even actors! LOL

I do give him kudos for having a female security chief (and an Asian one at that!) long before Lt. Yar on Star Trek Next Generation.

In Time Tunnel (and at the 2:05 mark in this pilot) there's a downward looking shot inside the underground complex that features elevator pods moving up and down and walkways running across the open void in the center. These 'walls' in this shot later appear in the control room scene at 5:51 where a meeting is held.

Notice the background props that resemble tall apartment buildings with lots of windows, these are what I'm talking about.

As if all of this wasn't cheesy enough, I can't recall ever seeing the use of matte paintings for interior shots! Check out the establishing shot of a control center at 2:10 (thru to 2:27)

Go to YouTube and see if you agree!

PS What a let down for Zefram Cochrane LOL

[–] StuOz 10 years ago

Irwin Allen's sci-fi content from 1960 to 1971 was all produced at 20th Century Fox. That is part of the reason we keep seeing/hearing the same props, sets, sound effects.

Fox's Batman series/movie, Fantastic Voyage (1966) and the two Fox "Flint" films are also filmed with the same props, sets and sound effects.

But as your post suggests, Irwin always liked to use everything/everyone twice.

PS City Beneath the Sea may be known as a Warners film but there is no question that it has some Fox sets.

[–] neil-124 9 years ago

One of the prop sets that took me a while to figure out shows up throughout the underwater segments but is very visible when the evil "blue" submarine (looks a lot like the "Vulcan" sub that menaced the Seaview a few times) is shown in closeup; there's a large field of 1968 Ford Torino grilles lying all over the place and painted up to look like something other than Ford Torino grilles.

That's a bizarre prop even for an Irwin Allen production.

[–] ddc300 8 years ago

Yeah...noticed those car grilles, too. Most are 68 Fords, some I think are GM. Looks like the prop guys were running out of regular props (left over from "Lost in Space", or "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea"), so the film crew had to 'wing it' with the car grilles.