City Beneath the Sea, the 1953 film involved in the John J. Ford gold bar hoax

[WillieBoyd2]

I became interested in the 1953 Universal-International color film "City Beneath the Sea" after I saw the title in an article about the John J. Ford "Franklin Hoard" fake numismatic pioneer coins and gold bars.

 

The film was based on a magazine article about the sunken city of Port Royal, Jamaica. The article was written by Harry E. Rieseberg, a deep-sea diver and treasure hunter, who wrote several books about his diving adventures including I Dive for Treasure. Harry Rieseberg also helped write the -script for the film.

 

I was curious about the film because of my interest in coins in movies. I had to order a DVD of the film from a seller in Europe as the film is not officially available in the US.

 

The film is set in 1953 Jamaica and is about two former US Navy divers, Robert Ryan and Anthony Quinn, who are hired by a shipping executive to locate the wreck of a modern cargo ship which sank during a hurricane and recover the cargo of $1,000,000 in gold bars.

 

The "city beneath the sea" in the film is Port Royal, a Jamaican city and notorious pirate hangout which sank into the ocean during an earthquake in 1692.

 

The two divers make several dives using the diving suits of the early 1950's. When not in the water they encounter lots of excitement including local women, bar fights, a double-crossing ship captain, voodoo rituals, gunmen, bananas, and earthquakes.

 

In my opinion, it is quite a good film from the period, a good story and acting.

 

There is a photograph which was used to advertise the film and was provided by Harry Rieseberg from one of his diving books.

 

From the online numismatic journal The E-Sylum June 23, 2013 article (internet link below):

 

I can also add some additional details about the origins of the false Mexican gold bars. The author suggests that they were inspired by the fake "Father Kino" bars that were sold as souvenirs throughout the Southwest. This is plausible, but there was a more direct inspiration. Harry Rieseberg wrote books about treasure hunting that were fiction masquerading as fact. He also wrote the -script for a 1953 movie (from Universal-International) about treasure hunting, "City Beneath the Sea".

 

While going through Gordon Frost’s library I came across a collection of promotional photographs from movies with numismatic content. One of the photographs was for "City Beneath the Sea," dated 1953, and it shows the Mexican HISP ET ID bars, which are clearly movie props, mere blocks of gold painted wood.

 

Gordon Frost (d. 2011) was a coin enthusiast who had an interest in underwater treasure.

 

"City Beneath the Sea" promotional photograph

 

EVER SEEN SUNKEN TREASURE?

Here is $28,000 worth, in gold, found during the undersea peregrinations of Lieut. Harry E. Rieseberg, famed treasure hunter, whose experiences on the ocean bed near the sunken city of Port Royale [sic] provide the background for his authorship of Universal-International’s Technicolor adventure, "CITY BENEATH THE SEA".

 

The publicity photograph shows old Mexican eight reales coins and gold bars but unfortunately no coins appear in the film.

 

However, there are some gold bars in the film:

 

"City Beneath the Sea" film underwater gold bars

 

The connection between the film and the John J. Ford "Franklin Hoard" fake coins and gold bars is that supposedly the fake gold bars were based on the film prop bars.

 

There is lots of information on these fakes, including internet articles and a book.

 

"How the West was Faked: False Western Gold Bars and other Forgeries" by John M. Kleeberg, published 2009:

http://www.cawa.fr/IMG/pdf/how.pdf

 

The E-Sylum, June 23, 2013, online journal article.

http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n26a07.html

Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society (NBS)

 

New York Times online article dated March 3, 2001:

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/03/arts/gold-bars-glamorous-stories-and-a-battle-over-authenticity.html

 

Book:

John J. Ford and the "Franklin Hoard" by Karl V. Moulton, 2013.

 

Suspicious collector gold coins and pioneer gold bars began appearing in the 1950's. Various numismatic experts either denounced them as fakes or claimed that they were real.

 

The items were traced to coin expert John J. Ford who marketed the items through coin dealers in the 1950's. Most were apparently produced by a Paul Franklin who owned a small factory in New York. The items later became known as the "Franklin Hoard".

 

An unusual reason to watch an old movie.

 

 

[RWB]

You'll find additional information about the Ford Fakes in the biography of Eric P. Newman, Truth Seeker, and in the Newman-Ford correspondence available at the Newman Numismatic Portal (NNP)

[WillieBoyd2]

Do these sources mention the movie?

 

[RWB]

Not the book. Not sure about the letters.

[mark]

Moulton's book also did not mention the movie. But it is definitely a fascinating (and EXPENSIVE!) book!

 

Mark

[WillieBoyd2]

A search of the Newman Numismatic Portal (NNP) has one reference to the film which is from Mr. Kleeberg's article.