DIVERS IN FILM (& TV)
How many of us boys grew up fantasizing about being deep sea or scuba divers, based on the late night movies we watched? It is possible to relive those dreams. The movies in this list feature (frogmen, commercial, hardhat) divers in various measures.
The listings, especially for TV, are incomplete, and any contributions to this database are welcome.
HELP! If you don't see a favorite of yours on this list, please email me! I'd love to add it in. If you have a copy of a film I haven't seen, I'd love to see a copy.
Updated March 29, 2007
MYSTERY CLIPS
 |
Do you know which movie this still comes from? Please let us know so I can add it! |
 |
Music video by Tube & Berger (2004) for "StraightAhead" features giant divers dancing through London. Anyone know where to get a full res. version? |
| "DIVERS" | the actors who "dive," at least in the storyline (you'll be amazed who's been deep sea diving!). |
| RATINGS | for dive action (D-DDDD) and acting (A-AAAA). Lack of rating indicates I have not seen it yet. |
| VHS/DVD | indicates available on Video/DVD (my info is probably out of date in some cases). |
| YES | indicates I am seeking a copy and will exchange some of these we have. Maybe we could swap! |
[ Hardhat Films | Frogman Films | On TV ]
Any info on these and other unreviewed movies or TV shows would be appreciated.
[ Hardhat Films | Frogman Films | On TV ]
Any info on these unreviewed films and other hardhat
[ Hardhat Films | Frogman Films | On TV ]
[ Hardhat Films | Frogman Films | On TV ]
HARDHAT MOVIES
TITLE
YEAR
"DIVERS"
U/W RATING
ACTING RATING
VHS/DVD
WANT COPY
CLIP
DIVING - DESCRIPTION
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (silent)
1916
?
DD
A
VHS
The original (silent); fair footage, but see Disney version
The Navigator (Silent)
1924
Buster Keaton
DDD
AAA
VHS
Some very amusing underwater scenes, worth a look
Submarine (Silent)
1928
Jack Holt
?
?
?
YES
Dir. Capra; 2 guys - 1 girl, friendship wins in the end . . .
Sea Bat
1930
?
DD
A
?
Unusual film, giant sea ray smothers one of our divers
Sea God
1930
Richard Arlen, Faye Wray
?
?
?
YES
Hardhat diver plods ashore on tropical isle, mistaken for a god!
Fifty (50) Fathoms Deep
1931
J Holt
?
?
?
YES
Hardhat divers and raingear, 2 guys - 1 girl . . .
Below the Sea
1933
Ralph Bellamy, Faye Wray
DDD
AA
?
Some good u/w footage, including squid fight, treasure hunt melodrama
No More Women
1934
Victor McLaglen, Edmund Lowe
?
?
?
YES
Divers swear off women until... Not seen it yet (Maltin gives it 3 stars), but with title like that...!
16 Fathoms Deep
1934
Lon Chaney, Jr.
DD+
AA
VHS
YES
Florida sponge divers; Remade 1948, Chaney in different role
Best Man Wins
1935
?
?
?
?
YES
Injured diver becomes bad seed . . .
Depths Below
1936
Chester Morris, Richard Dix
?
?
?
YES
WW2 salvage divers?
The Devil's Playground
1937
Chester Morris
?
?
?
YES
Remake of Fifty Fathoms Deep? (aka Depth Below?)
Vengeance of the Deep
1939
Lloyd Hughes
DD
A
VHS
Pearl divers battle for pearl, and girl
Minesweeper
1942
Richard Arlen
DDD
AA
VHS
Early WW2 short with hardhat divers clearing mines, perhaps . .
Reap the Wild Wind
1942
John Wayne, Ray Milland
DDD
AA
VHS
YES
One film in which Wayne croaks on screen; Squid Fight!
Rough, Tough & Ready
1945
Chester Morris?
?
?
?
YES
War adventure, 1 girl, 2 guys . . . (aka., Men of the Deep)
Wake of the Red Witch
1948
John Wayne
DDD
AA
VHS
YES
and here's another one! Same fate, no squid, tho.
16 Fathoms Deep
1948
Lloyd Bridges
DDD
AA
VHS?
YES
More sponge divers, okay u/w footage. Pre-"Sea Hunt" Bridges.
Pirates of the High Seas
1950
Crabb?
?
?
?
YES
Hardhats doing something?
Sea Hornet
1951
Rod Cameron
DDD
A
?
YES
Yawner, some nice clear u/w footage, though
Smuggler's Island
1951
Jeff Chandler
?
?
?
YES
Hardhat and smugglers??? Jeff hot in hardhat
Smuggler's Gold
1951
Cameron Mitchell
?
?
?
YES
?
Volcano (ital.)
1951
?
?
?
?
YES
Italian salvage diver and girl troubles?
Mara Maru
1952
Errol Flynn
DDDD
A
VHS
YES
Plodding story, great underwater footage, no squid, tho
Road to Bali
1952
Bob Hope
DD
A
VHS
Bob goes 'deep sea diving' briefly; laughs but dive is faked
Jamaica/Jamaica Run
1953
?
?
?
?
YES
Divers in caribbean soap story?
Beneath the 12 Mile Reef
1953
Robert Wagner, Gilbert Roland
DDDD
AAA
VHS/DVD
Excellent u/w footage of sponge divers; 'blow-up, Squid Fight!
City Beneath the Sea
1953
Anthony Quinn, Robert Ryan
DD
A
?
YES
U/W footage okay, but one dive faked in dry "tank"
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1954
James Mason, etc.
DDDD
AAAA
DVD
Classic: excellent u/w - modified hardhats with Aquala suits!
Tesoro di Rommel (ital.)
1955
?
?
?
?
YES
Soap opera about hunt for treasure; maybe some diving? (aka. Rommel's Treasure)
Revenge of the Creature
1955
John Agar
DD
A
VHS
Opening battle of hardhat and Creature (from Black Lagoon)
Godzilla
1956
Takashi Shimura
DDD
AA
VHS
Great monster meets (first) end at hands of 2 hardhat divers who deliver "oxygen destroyer"
Ghost Diver
1957
James Craig, Nico Minardos
?
?
?
YES
Hardhat diver washes ashore, dead. Rest is a mystery. . .
Zombies of Mora Tau
1957
Gregg Palmer
D
-A
?
Tropical zombies . . . some hardhat-zombie action
Buldog Breed (brit)
1960
Peter Jones, Norm Wisdom
DD+
AA
VHS
UK Naval comedy with amusing hardhat scene
Sink the Bismarck!
1960
?
D
AAA
VHS
20 sec. footage german diver tries to free jammed rudder; look fast!
First Men in the Moon
1964
Edward Judd, et al.
DD
AA
VHS
Victorian astronauts explore Moon wearing, you guessed it, hardhat
suits (who needs gloves on an airless Moon)!
Assault on a Queen
1966
Frank Sinatra
DD
A
VHS
YES
Early scenes have Frank as a salvage diver. After that, ho hum.
Nobody's Perfect
1968
Doug McClure
?
A
?
YES
Navy diver hijinks at sub base Japan; diver trapped in typhoon
Krakatoa, East of Java
1969
Brian Keith, Max Schell
DDD
AA
DVD
Treasure ship nearly destroyed by fabled volcano (Look out, its about to erupt!). ...Krakatoa is WEST of Java
Red Tent
1971
?
DDD
AAA
VHS
2 minutes of VG footage of russian hardhat diver under polar ice
When Eight Bells Toll (brit)
1971
A. Hopkins +
DDD
?
VHS+
Al. MacLain spy story; helmet v. scuba diver knife fight; alas, our man loses
Black Bird
1975
George Segal
?
?
VHS
YES
All I have is a press photo of George in Mark V gear
Trapped Beneath the Sea
1974
?
DDDD
AAA
?
YES
Excellent hardhat scenes in mini-sub rescue film
Pacific Inferno
1979
Jim Brown
D
-A
VHS
Excellent WW2 POW story trashed in exploitation film
Oceans of Fire (TVM)
1986
?
DD
A
VHS
Off-shore oil rigs and divers; U/W footage not as great as should be
Dykket (The Dive) (dan.)
1989
Sundquist, Eidsvold
DDD
AAA
?
Gripping tale of two commercial divers trapped in bell
Abyss
1989
Ed Harris, M Mastranatonio
DDD
AAA
VHS
Good action film at bottom of ocean. Updated hardhat gear, liquid breathing fluid
Men of Honor
2001
C Gooding, R DeNiro
DDDD
AA
DVD
Great U/W action scenes, 1st black master diver
Submerged (TV)
2001
Matthew Wait, Sam Niell
DDDD
AAA
?
Great hardhat rescue of Squalus sub in '39
SpongeBob SquarePants
2004
?
DD+
AA
DVS
"Cyclops" menaces our heros!
FROGMAN-SCUBA MOVIES
TITLE
YEAR
"DIVERS"
U/W RATING
ACTING RATING
VHS/DVD
WANT COPY
CLIP
DIVING - DESCRIPTION
The Frogmen
1951
Richard Widmark
DDD
AA
DVD
WW2 UDT teams, some Aquala-style rubber suits
Hellraiders of the Deep (ital.)
1954
?
?
?
?
YES
WW2 human-torpedos in great drysuits! (when will this be released?)
Creature from the Black Lagoon
1954
R Carlson
DD
A
VHS
Skin divers search for the rubber clad Creature
Hunters of the Deep
1955
?
?
?
?
YES
Documentary?
Above Us the Waves
1955
?
?
?
DVD
YES
Charioteers and WW2 frogmen
King of the Coral Sea
1956
C Rafferty, R Taylor
?
?
?
YES
Scuba adventure, also involving fight with a hardhat diver
Hellcats of the Navy
1957
(R Reagan & N Davis)
DD
AA
?
Frogmen in sub action flick; no, Ron doesn't don a drysuit (whew!)
Incredible Petrified World
1957
J Carradine, R Clarke +
DD
A
VHS
Divers trapped in bell escape, find cave . . .
Monster that Challenged the World
1957
Tim Holt
DDD
A
VHS
Clumsy giant worm rises from Salton Sea: unusual Healthways wetsuits
Underwater Warrior
1958
Dan Dailey, James Gregory
?
?
?
YES
Late WW2 UDT teams (not yet seen)
Silent Enemy
1959
Lawrence Harvey
DDD
AAA
VHS
WW2 human-torpedos at Gilbralter
Up Periscope
1959
James Garner
?
?
?
WW2 shallow water divers: don't know if rubber suits are used
Atomic Submarine
1959
A Franz, D Foran +
DDD
A
VHS
Frogmen in white wetsuits battle slow-witted alien . . .
Forbidden Island
1959
John Agar
DD
A
VHS
U/W intrigue involving emerald...and murder
Secret of the Purple Reef
1960
?
?
?
?
YES
Starring R. Chamberlain . . . ?
September Storm
1960
Mark Stevens, Robert Strauss
?
?
?
YES
?
Secret of Deep Harbor
1961
Ron Foster
?
?
?
YES
?
Voyage t/t Bottom o/t Sea
1961
var.
DDD
AA
DVD
Nuke sub saves world: squid fight, launched series
Underwater City
1961
Wm. Lundigan, Chet Douglas
DD
A
?
Wetsuit clad divers plod around sound stage . . . in boots!
The Valiant (brit.)
1962
Robert Shaw, John Mills
?
?
?
YES
More UK u/w WW2 frogman in drysutis (plus hardhat); not yet released?!?)
Thunder Island
1963
Gene Nelson
?
?
?
YES
?
Raiders from Beneath the Sea
1964
Ken Scott, Merry Anders
DDD
?
?
YES
Wetsuited bank robbers
Thunderball
1965
Sean Connery
DDD
AAA
DVD
Classic U/W Bond
Seven Golden Men (ital.)
1965
?
?
?
?
YES
Well rated adventure, 7 Italian frogmen rob banks (there's a Sequel!)
Around the World Under the Sea
1965
Lloyd Bridges, Bryan Kelley
DD+
A
VHS
U/W scientists 'save' world in white wetsuits
Fantastic Voyage
1966
S Boyd, E O'Brien, R Welch
DD+
AA+
DVD
Landmark film, wetsuit divers 'inside' body to save victim
Assault on a Queen
1966
Frank Sinatra
DD
A
VHS
Starts w/ Frank as salvage diver who finds sub, morphs into scuba
Modesty Blaise
1966
Terence Stamp
DD
AA
DVD
Spoof spy thriller; Terence in wetsuit
Catalina Caper
1967
Tommy Kirk
D
A
DVD
Rereleased on Mystery Sci Theater 3000 - should tell what you need to know
Come Spy With Me
1967
Troy Donahue
?
?
?
YES
?
Spirit is Willing
1967
Sid Caeser?
?
?
?
YES
Frogman beach caper?
Submarine X-1 (brit.)
1968
D Sumner, J Caan +
DDDD
AA
DVD
WW2 UK frogmen, perhaps best drysuit movie ever
Shark!
1968
Burt Reynolds
DDD
A
VHS
Good wetsuit action
The Destructors
1968
Richard Egan
DD
A
VHS
Effort to foil theft of gov't ray-gun
Daring Game
1968
Lloyd Bridges
?
?
VHS
YES
LLoyd Bridges u/w investigation
Dirty Heroes
1969
Curt Jurgens
?
?
VHS
Dirty Dozen for the B-movie set
Mission Phantom (span.)
1970
?
DD
?
VHS
Gems, espionage, eastern Europe . . .
Yog: Monster from Space (jap.)
1970
Y Nakamori, S Takashi
?
?
?
YES
White-suited Frogmen battle alien??? Original title too long . . .
When Eight Bells Toll (brit)
1971
A Hopkins +
DDD
AA
VHS +
A MacLain spy story: helmet and scuba diver knife battle!
Black Water Gold
1971?
Keir Dullea +
DD
A
VHS
Gold hunters, good wetsuits
The Mechanic
1972
Charles Bronson, Jan M. Vincent
?
?
VHS
Hired guns: our "heros" in gear for a spell
Salty
1973
M Slade, C Hoard
?
?
?
YES
Scuba kids adopt sea lion
Juggernaut
1974
Richard Harris
DD
A
VHS
Frogman team tries to save Britannic
Shark's Treasure
1975
C Wilde +
?
?
?
YES
sharks, treasure, caribbean . . .
Mako: Jaws of Death
1976
Richard Jaeckel +
DD
A
VHS
Shark advocate exploited, goes nuts
The Deep
1977
N. Nolte, J. Bisset
?
?
VHS
Scuba divers and drugs
Pacific Inferno
1979
Jim Brown, Richard Jaeckel
D
-A
VHS
POW's forced by "Japs" to dive for Manila treasury: more exploitation than drama
Escape to Athena
1979
Roger Moore +
DDD
A
VHS
WW2 escape thriller & art heist; frogman fight
ffolkes
1980
Roger Moore +
DDD
AA
VHS
U/W mercenary on govt mission . . .
Goliath Awaits
1981
Mark Harmon, Robert Foster +
DD
A
?
Superlight divers find wreck survivors submerged 40 years!
The Patriot
1987
Stack Pierce
DD
-A
VHS
Ex-vet restores "good" name
Amsterdamned (neth.)
1988
?
DDD
AA
VHS
Drysuit diver slashes way thru Amst'dam
Shark Hunter
2001
Antonio Sabato
?
?
VHS
not reviewed
and scuba movies or TV shows would be appreciated.
TELEVISION
TITLE
YEAR
"DIVERS"
U/W RATING
ACTING RATING
VHS/DVD
WANT COPY
CLIP
DIVING - DESCRIPTION
Sea Hunt
1958-
1961Lloyd Bridges +
DDD
AA
VHS
Classic; Mike Nelson battles bad guys & elements, a few hardhat, mostly scuba; comic books
Diver Dan
1960-
1961?Frank Freda
D
A
DVD
Children's show featured "live" action and puppet fish, mermaid, and their hi-jinks.
The Aquanauts
1960-
1961Larsen, Slate
?
?
?
YES
Two hot young men in scuba adventures; ran 20 episodes, 1 Comic book
Flipper
1964-
1968?
?
?
VHS
Some scuba episodes.
Voyage t/t Bottom o/t Sea
1964-1968
Hedison, Monroe +
DDDD
AA
DVD
1960's series featuring lots of scuba divers (& monsters) throughout
Undersea World of Jacque Cousteau
1966-
1973Cousteau & others
DDD
AA
?
Ze Scuba documentry series that rrran in ze 1960's: Oui!
Hawai'i 5-0 (pilot)
1968-1982
J. Lord +
DDDD
AA
DVD
Cocoon - Pilot episode: submerged in wetsuit for hours
Primus
1971-
1972Robert Brown
DD
A
-
Short-lived Ivan Tors series
Bugs Bunny and Friends
195?
Sylvester
D
A
-
Yes, even Slyvester the putty-tat has been deep sea diving. Don't know year or title, but featured always annoying Tweety Bird.
Baywatch #107
1995
Shawn Thompson
DDD
A
-
"Deep Trouble" - hardhat diver forced by drug-runners to dive for their stash; natch, they cut his airhose; a few additional hardhat and scuba episodes out there . . .