A Greek family dives the reefs off Florida for sponges, and they clash with a group of crooks doing the same thing. 23 year old Robert Wagner is Tony, son of Mike (Gilbert Roland) in the Petrakis family. Lots of diving shots, lots of religious ceremony. Long, drawn out scenes... swimming underwater, or climbing the mast to place a wreath, but the director kind of flubs the big scene, where they place the wreath at the very top of the mast. Somewhat confusing... the music doesn't always match with what's going on in the film; it's overly ominous when they are swimming, and overly amusing when there's trouble brewing. And 32 year old Peter Graves is another "sponger", chasing after Gwyneth (Terry Moore). Apparently narrated by Rock Hudson, a couple years before being nominated for "Giant". They toss the word "Greek" around thrughout the film.. sometimes an insult, sometimes it's said with pride. Clearly a clash of the classes film... singling out and insulting an ethnic group. Of course, the anglo's girlfriend flirts with the Greek, and then the real trouble begins. According to the trivia, there are (at least) two versions.. the longer 20th Century Fox version, and all the others. the "Film Detective" channel has the longer version, which includes a scene not in the shorter one. Directed by Robert Webb (directed Love me Tender, a couple years later). It's uneven, but pretty good.
Review of Beneath the 12-Mile Reef
