Siren of Atlantis (1949)

Written by CinemaSerf on July 9, 2022

French Foreign Legionnaires "André" (Jean-Pierre Aumont) and his friend "Jean" (Dennis O'Keefe) have been missing in the Northern Sahara desert for quite a while before the former man is discovered, disorientated, dehydrated and rambling on that he has killed his pal and that he has spent quite a bit of the time he was missing in the not so underwater kingdom of Atlantis. Turns out this kingdom is ruled by the ruthless queen "Antinea" (Maria Montez) and this exhausted soldier now regales us with tales of his perilous escapades. It's a perfectly watchable little desert adventure propped up by stalwart Henry Daniell and some charming contributions from her leopard "Nissa" - who frequently acts her rather thickly-accented mistress off the screen. The sets - indeed the whole production is on the basic side, but there is still just about enough action, and nastiness from Montez to sustain it. Don't aim too high, and it will kill 1¼ hours for you easily enough.