Journey to the Center of the Earth starts in Edinburgh in 1860 where geology Professor Oliver Lindenbrook (James Mason) is given an unusual piece of volcanic rock by one of his students Alec McKuen (Pat Boone), the rock doesn't feel right & after close examination a small plumb-bob is found inside with some writing on it by missing famed explorer & scientist Arne Saknussemn that talks about an underground world at the center of the Earth somewhere in Iceland. Professor Lindenbrock decides to set-up an expedition of his own including McKuen & Icelandic servant Hans (Peter Ronson) & lady Carla Göteborg (Arlene Dahl) the wife of a dead fellow scientist & rival. Using the directions given they start their long journey to the center of the Earth but face many dangers along the way like rival expeditions, lava eruptions, tremors, falling rocks & even flesh-eating Dinosaurs...
Directed by Henry Levin this lavish big screen adaptation of the classic 1864 Jules Verne novel is handsomely mounted & as long as you don't expect an accurate adaptation then I think there's plenty of entertainment & fun to be had here. The script takes Verne's basic premise & turns it into an amusing adventure romp complete with a pet Duck along for the ride, the story is a good one although there are lapses in logic like how lady Göteborg can travel hundreds of miles into the Earth wearing a dress & keep her hair & make-up perfect or why none of the men grow beard's or their hair even grow for that matter & what does that Duck eat exactly? They claim they have eaten nothing but salted beef for months yet I didn't know Duck's were carnivorous. Then there's the amount of light down there, I'm sorry but there wouldn't be any even if a few crystals did give off some light & when they finally do reach the center of the Earth it's just a whirlpool in the middle of a sea. But then again I did enjoy this, it has a good sense of humour, it never takes itself too seriously, the character's are good & it's well put together despite a few logic problems. The makers also decided to throw in the Lost City of Atlantis at the end too for some reason.
The film is quite long at over two hours & it does take a while for the action & adventure to kick in as the majority of the first hour is spent above ground with rival expeditions & the like. The film does look very good with it's cavernous sets, glowing water pools, luminescent crystal formations, giant Mushrooms, the Lost City of Atlantis & even giant Dinosaurs that although are just photographically enlarged lizards look pretty good for the time actually. There's a scenes of a huge boulder chasing the expedition down a tunnel which reminded me of Indiana Jones. Although there is comedy here it's never that heavy handed or intrusive & does sit quite well with the adventure story going on.
Apparently made because of the huge success of two other Jules Verne's adaptations of 20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) & Around the World in Eighty days (1956) this was a pretty big budget film & it holds up well even today. James Mason gives a great performance here & he actually replaced Clifton Webb just before filming started while Alexander Scourby apparently started shooting the Count Saknussem role but was fired & replaced by Thayer David.
Journey to the Center of the Earth is a light hearted fantasy adventure that I really liked actually, it may not be an exact word for word adaptation of the novel but who cares? One of several Journey to the Center of the Earth films with the most popular & well-known one being the recent box-office hit Journey to the center of the Earth (2008) in 3D & starring Brendan Fraser.
Directed by Henry Levin this lavish big screen adaptation of the classic 1864 Jules Verne novel is handsomely mounted & as long as you don't expect an accurate adaptation then I think there's plenty of entertainment & fun to be had here. The script takes Verne's basic premise & turns it into an amusing adventure romp complete with a pet Duck along for the ride, the story is a good one although there are lapses in logic like how lady Göteborg can travel hundreds of miles into the Earth wearing a dress & keep her hair & make-up perfect or why none of the men grow beard's or their hair even grow for that matter & what does that Duck eat exactly? They claim they have eaten nothing but salted beef for months yet I didn't know Duck's were carnivorous. Then there's the amount of light down there, I'm sorry but there wouldn't be any even if a few crystals did give off some light & when they finally do reach the center of the Earth it's just a whirlpool in the middle of a sea. But then again I did enjoy this, it has a good sense of humour, it never takes itself too seriously, the character's are good & it's well put together despite a few logic problems. The makers also decided to throw in the Lost City of Atlantis at the end too for some reason.
The film is quite long at over two hours & it does take a while for the action & adventure to kick in as the majority of the first hour is spent above ground with rival expeditions & the like. The film does look very good with it's cavernous sets, glowing water pools, luminescent crystal formations, giant Mushrooms, the Lost City of Atlantis & even giant Dinosaurs that although are just photographically enlarged lizards look pretty good for the time actually. There's a scenes of a huge boulder chasing the expedition down a tunnel which reminded me of Indiana Jones. Although there is comedy here it's never that heavy handed or intrusive & does sit quite well with the adventure story going on.
Apparently made because of the huge success of two other Jules Verne's adaptations of 20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) & Around the World in Eighty days (1956) this was a pretty big budget film & it holds up well even today. James Mason gives a great performance here & he actually replaced Clifton Webb just before filming started while Alexander Scourby apparently started shooting the Count Saknussem role but was fired & replaced by Thayer David.
Journey to the Center of the Earth is a light hearted fantasy adventure that I really liked actually, it may not be an exact word for word adaptation of the novel but who cares? One of several Journey to the Center of the Earth films with the most popular & well-known one being the recent box-office hit Journey to the center of the Earth (2008) in 3D & starring Brendan Fraser.