<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $1,580,000 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $7 million (US / Canada) </Td> </Tr> <P> Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a 1961 American science fiction disaster film from 20th Century Fox, produced and directed by Irwin Allen, that stars Walter Pidgeon as Admiral Harriman Nelson, and Robert Sterling as Captain Lee Crane . The supporting cast includes Peter Lorre, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Eden, Michael Ansara, and Frankie Avalon . The story was written by Irwin Allen and Charles Bennett . The opening title credits theme song was sung by Frankie Avalon . </P> <P> The new, state of the art nuclear submarine Seaview is on diving trials in the Arctic Ocean . The Seaview is designed and built by scientist and engineering genius Admiral Harriman Nelson (USN - Ret) (Walter Pidgeon). Captain Lee Crane (Robert Sterling) is the Seaview's Commanding Officer . One of the on - board observers is Dr. Susan Hiller (Joan Fontaine), studying crew - related stress . The mission includes being out of radio contact for 96 hours while under the Arctic ice cap, but the ice begins to crack and melt, with boulder - size pieces crashing into the ocean around the submarine . Surfacing, they discover fire burning in the sky . After the rescue of scientist Miguel Alvarez (Michael Ansara) and his dog at Ice Floe Delta, the sub receives radio contact from Mission Director Inspector Bergan at the Bureau of Marine Exploration . He advises that a meteor shower pierced the Van Allen radiation belt causing it to catch fire, resulting in a world - threatening increase in heat all across the Earth . Nelson's on - board friend and scientist, retired Commodore Lucius Emery (Peter Lorre) concurs that it is possible . Bergan informs Nelson that the President wants him at a UN Emergency Scientific Meeting as soon as possible . </P>

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