William Welch's 'Secret Of The Deep' opens with Seaview searching for an undersea lab, the headquarters of a gang of blackmailers who are threatening the world's shipping lanes with giant monsters. On board the sub is 'John Hendrix' ( Peter Mark Richman ), an intelligence agent who looks like James Bond but talks like Bela Lugosi. An electrical charge sends the Seaview out of control, necessitating the use of first the diving bell and the Flying Sub. Hendrix is the mastermind behind the blackmail operation, and he is on Seaview for one purpose alone - to destroy it.
I like this instalment, mainly because of Richman. Like Lloyd Bochner, he could usually be relied upon to portray a smooth, evil villain. He had previously played 'Gantt' in Season 2's 'The Monster's Web'. Like all good spies, he carries gadgets in his briefcase, and wears a signet ring that doubles as a radio in constant communication with the undersea lab.
Practically all of the action is stock footage; the monster on the sea bed was first seen in Season 1's 'The Condemned' and then in the following year's 'Deadly Creature Below!', while the shots of the huge swordfish was from 'Leviathan'. But the old stuff is well integrated with the new. Even so, I would have liked to have seen inside the undersea lab, even if only briefly, just to see what sort of people Seaview was dealing with. They are described as a bunch of scientists and renegades, and sound much like 'THRUSH' from 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'. Nelson and Crane even know a few of them. Hendrix's exact fate is not made clear; either he was killed by one of his 'dangerous denizens' or died when the lab took a hit from one of the submarine's missiles. Either way, it is fair to say he is probably not in good shape.
I like this instalment, mainly because of Richman. Like Lloyd Bochner, he could usually be relied upon to portray a smooth, evil villain. He had previously played 'Gantt' in Season 2's 'The Monster's Web'. Like all good spies, he carries gadgets in his briefcase, and wears a signet ring that doubles as a radio in constant communication with the undersea lab.
Practically all of the action is stock footage; the monster on the sea bed was first seen in Season 1's 'The Condemned' and then in the following year's 'Deadly Creature Below!', while the shots of the huge swordfish was from 'Leviathan'. But the old stuff is well integrated with the new. Even so, I would have liked to have seen inside the undersea lab, even if only briefly, just to see what sort of people Seaview was dealing with. They are described as a bunch of scientists and renegades, and sound much like 'THRUSH' from 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'. Nelson and Crane even know a few of them. Hendrix's exact fate is not made clear; either he was killed by one of his 'dangerous denizens' or died when the lab took a hit from one of the submarine's missiles. Either way, it is fair to say he is probably not in good shape.
