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Movie buffs will get a chuckle out of the exterior scenes in Atomic Submarine ; several of them are played out in front of the easily recognizable studios of Allied Artists, formerly Monogram and currently the home of LA's PBS channel 28. Seasoned serial director Spencer Gordon Bennett once more makes the most of a threadbare budget in this story of a one-eyed, octopoidal space alien, wreaking havoc upon atomic subs at the North Pole. The monster is determined to take over the world, though it seems ill equipped for that purpose. Heroes Arthur Franz , Dick Foran , and Brett Halsey head underwater to neutralize the alien's submerged flying saucer. The cast is peopled with such reliable veterans as Tom Conway , Bob Steele , Victor Varconi , Selmer Jackson , and Jack Mulhall . We don't know what purpose is served by the presence of 1950s sex-bomb Joi Lansing , except to keep the grownups interested in the juvenile goings-on. — Hal Erickson
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