20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916 film) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916 film) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1916 American silent film directed by Stuart Paton. The film's storyline is based on the novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne. It also incorporates elements from Verne's "The Mysterious Island". This was the first motion picture filmed underwater. Actual underwater cameras were not used, but a system of watertight tubes and mirrors allowed the camera to shoot reflected images of underwater scenes staged in shallow sunlit waters. The film was made by The Universal Film Manufacturing Company (now Universal Pictures), not then
Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky Times" called the series "a dreamy but gritty period drama, superbly acted" and "the kind of television at which the BBC repeatedly excels – rich and fulfilling for its understatement, discreet tales that are well told." "Variety" praised the series, writing it "brims with a sense of yearning that takes the very old quandary of not being able to control who one loves and puts an evergreen spin on it. Moreover, the production itself is as meticulous as the storytelling, from the drab palette used in capturing the Depression-era surroundings to the melancholy score." Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky