The lost, first underwater film: 'The Terrors of the Deep' || EXPERIMENTALS: Nautiluses (part 3)

PopSci found the lost and forgotten first underwater film. It's a story too strange and horrifying to be fiction (and, yes, it involves a shark and a horse). Also, it's the first footage of a shark ever recorded.

In 1916, the silent film adaptation of Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" marked the first time the world saw below the ocean's surface in motion pictures... Except, actually, it was the second time. The first movie filmed underwater was made by J.E. Williamson-thanks in large part to his invention, the photosphere. See the lost film footage for the first time in decades, and hear the story of the making of "The Terrors of the Deep."

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Video by Tom McNamara

"Finding Captain Nemo"
Narrated by Kevin Gray
Williamson footage provided by the Collection EYE Filmmuseum, the Netherlands
-"Thirty Leagues Under the Sea" or "The Terrors of the Deep" (1914) by J.E. Williamson
-"Wonders of the Sea" (1922) by J.E. Williamson
"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1916) by Stuart Paton
"Twenty Years Under the Sea" (1936) by J.E. Williamson

Music
APM

Additional media
Prelinger Archive
Media History Digital Library
"Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: A Tour of the Underwater World" (1870) by Jules Verne

Acknowledgements
Erin Chapman
EYE Filmmuseum
Elif Rongen, EYE Filmmuseum
Leenke Ripmeester, EYE Filmmuseum
Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress
Josie Walters-Johnston, Reference Librarian, Moving Image Research Center, Library of Congress
Brian Taves, Ph.D., Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress (retired)

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[whaleshark]

Poor shark :(( 😭😭 why did they did that

[amysewell]

So, a man baits a shark with a dead horse for the sole purpose of killing it and then has the audacity to call the shark the monster 🤷🏻‍♀️??? Ooookkk then.

[IndoonaOceans]

This is really excellent! Thanks for sharing - I like the narration voice too.

[BunnyQueen]

This man was swimming down there to manhandle sharks to death, and we wonder why they avoid and hate us now lol

[dylanmunro]

Hey this is crazy to see that’s my great grandfather

[TheRodrigocabral]

Woah. I wonder how he managed to get back in the boat with that huge steel balls of his.

[whaleshark]

Sharks are not monsters 😭😭 they're important to the ecosystem

[ruileite]

No wonder why aliens don't come and visit us...they are affraid to be contaminated with the stupidity and greed of some human beeings

[lioneldela]

THERE IS A POWERFUL DESTRUCTIVE WEAPON THAT WAS RECENTLY USED ON THE U.S EMBASSY IN CUBA. IT'S HAPPENING NOW IN OUR CITY'S PLEASE TAKE SERIOUSLY

[lopis]

I saw just an idiot killing a shark, I would rather see this movie burning or being forgotten.