Subteen Special

Master of the World (American International). In the summer of 1848 an Appalachian summit known as The Great Eyrie was rocked by violent explosions and a moment later a tremendous voice cried out, as if from the heart of the mountain, and prophesied the destruction of the world. The U.S. was electrified by the news and fascinated by the mystery it portended: Had the Lord God again, as in the olden time, spoken to his people?

A party of balloonists promptly undertook to fly over The Great Eyrie and see what they could see. They never made it. As the balloon approached the summit, a peculiar projectile came whooshing up and--splat! The gasbag fell into a crater. When the passengers came to their senses, they found themselves aboard the sort of crazy airship schoolboys have been sketching ever since Jules Verne produced those tomes of fantascience (Master of the World, Robur the Conqueror] that inspired this properly naive and lively little subteen special.

The Albatross is the name of the flying machine, and its master is Robur (Vincent Price), a mysterious neo-Nemo who calls himself "a citizen of the world" and grandly declares "war against war." In short order he destroys the British fleet and breaks up a battle in North Africa, but in the end, of course, Robur suffers the fate that Hollywood perennially reserves for those whose means are evil though their ends be good, and the world goes happily back to war. The paper-airplane crowd may find the ethics of the film a bit confusing, but they are bound to get a bang out of The Albatross, which is indeed a gorgeous gadget. Made entirely of impregnated paper, it checks out at 200 m.p.h. and looks like a cross between a blimp, a helicopter, a giant bat and a 19th century resort hotel. It even has a side porch.

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