The Lost Continent (1968)

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The Lost Continent (1968)

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The Lost Continent is a 1968 adventure fantasy film made by Seven Arts - Hammer Films featuring Eric Porter, Hildegard Knef, Suzanna Leigh, Tony Beckley and James Cossins. The film was produced, directed and written by Michael Carreras based on Dennis Wheatley's 1938 novel Uncharted Seas.

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The Lost Continent (1968)

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Plot: The film begins with a ship slowly moving through mist and a pan shot down the vessel reveals an odd collection of people – Spanish conquistadores, priests, pirates, seamen and finally to the captain of ship who is reading the burial rites over a coffin. The coffin is subsequently ditched overboard and the captain asks What happened to us? How did we all get here…? The film then cuts back in time to previous events. On the bridge of the tramp steamer Corita, Captain Lansen (Eric Porter) orders his crew to avoid the repeated requests of a customs launch from the port of Freetown to stop for inspection. The captain orders the ship full steam ahead and to avoid the usual shipping lanes on its way to Caracas. The passengers on board all have various reasons for leaving Freetown – amongst them a Dr Webster (Nigel Stock) and his daughter Unity (Suzanna Leigh) for his indiscretions with patients, an alcoholic conman Harry Tyler (Tony Beckley), and Ms Eva Peters (Hildegard Knef) who has stolen bearer bonds to pay for the ransom on her son in Caracas, but who has a lawyer, Ricaldi (Ben Carruthers), after her to retrieve them. In the ship's hold the crew comes across a large cache of unknown yellow containers. The captain tells the crew to not ask what is inside the containers but that they must be kept dry and handled securely. The captain is also informed of a storm ahead but ploughs on regardless knowing that the passengers do not want to return to the African port.

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The Lost Continent (1968)

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Captain Lansen informs his First Officer Hemmings (Neil McCullum) that they are transporting a dangerous explosive – Phosphor B ('Phosphore Blanc', i.e. white phosphorus) – and he demonstrates in a sink what happens if it comes into contact with water - it explodes violently. When some crew members are ordered to take some slack out of the anchor chain, the anchor windlass breaks and sends the anchor crashing down the side of the ship and holes the ship right where the explosives are stored. When the emergency pumps are started to try and pump out the store room, the generator breaks and all power is lost to the pumps. The crew convince the First Officer that it’s too dangerous on-board and that they need to abandon ship. They overpower Captain Lansen and club the ship's Chinese chef unconscious and take to a lifeboat. The passengers and engine room crew decide to remain onboard as the call to abandon ship hasn’t been made by the captain. Whilst attempting to lower the lifeboat, Lansen opens fire on the mutineers and the lifeboat crashes into the sea. The boat survives and the crew row away. Lansen informs the passengers about the cargo and they help him move it from the flooding storage room. However, the Chief Engineer, Nick (James Cossins) tells Lansen that he cannot fix the generator and the captain decides to abandon ship and gets the remaining crew and passengers into a lifeboat.

–from wikipedia

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The Lost Continent (1968)

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The Lost Continent (1968)

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The Lost Continent (1968)

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The Lost Continent (1968)

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The Lost Continent (1968)

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