|
Actors: David Niven, Cantinflas, Robert Newton, Shirley MacLaine
|
|
| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) |
|---|
Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)
Directed by Michael Anderson, 1956
Staring David Niven, Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine and Robert Newton
This is the original 1956 movie version of Jules Verne's classic book of the same name, which remains a classic favorite on TV, video and DVD. Filmed at 100 locations around the world with cameo appearances by 40 Hollywood stars and a compelling musical score by Victor Young.
David Niven stars ad Phileas Fogg, a somewhat mysterious figure who, in the course of a discussion with fellow members of his club about the news of the opening of the Suez Canal and rail route across India, argues that it is now possible to travel around the world in eighty days. The others argue that this is impossible but, with his cool intellect Fogg has calculated the time it would take to make the trip using the new routes and modern technology. To prove his point, Fogg bets twenty thousand pounds that he can complete a trip around the world in eighty days. Accompanied by his valet, Passepartout (Cantinflas), and shadowed by a detective (Newton) who suspects that Fogg was involved in the recent robbery of the Bank of England, Fogg leaves immediately.
A meticulous man, Fogg has calculated everything down to the minute but, the world being unpredictable, Fogg is continually forced to change plans and strategies which has the effect of turning the project into a grand adventure rather than the carefully scripted plan he began with.
--Chuck Nugent, Resident Scholar
|
One day in 1872, dry and proper Victorian gentleman Phileas Fogg (Niven) extols the new railroad and steamship technology, which he thinks would enable one to travel around the globe in 80 days or fewer. His colleagues of the Reform Club bet he cannot do it, and Fogg wagers his entire fortune on the matter. He takes his brand-new valet Passepartout (Canfinflas), who expected a very different first day of work, on the road with him -- racing to Paris, missing the train to Marseilles, taking a balloon which drifts to Spain instead, where Passepartout has to fight a bull, and so on. But there's a twist: the Bank of England has been robbed! Could this be Fogg's way of making off with the loot? The detective assigned to the case, Mr. Fix (Newton) has a strong suspicion and tracks the adventurers across the planet. In India, they rescue Princess Aouda (a rather miscast MacLaine, with cosmetically darkened skin), who was about to be burned on her deceased husband's funeral pyre. Filmed on location in the Persian Gulf, Saudia Arabia, Japan, Pakistan, Iraq, Bangkok, and Afghanistan as well as aboard the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in Durango, Colorado, this delightful 175-minute epic employed the most animals ever up to that time (8,552), as well as provided the origin of the word "cameo" to mean a brief appearance of a star in a minor role: How many other films could possibly have Buster Keaton, Frank Sinatra, Cesar Romero, Marlene Dietrich, John Gielgud, Red Buttons, Joe E. Brown, Glynis Johns, Peter Lorre, Ronald Colman, Beatrice Lillie, and dozens of others? It won five Oscars, including Best Picture.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
|
17 FREE Sci-Fi Ebooks!
FREE "How to be happy" Ebook!
| Analysis of Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) |
|---|
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
books by breaking them down into many different literary
elements, all of which are searchable (click here). |
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Comedy, primarily
Yes
Time/era of movie:
- 19th century
Road trip
Yes
Kind of comedy
- vacation or seeing foreign culture
How much humor v. drama
- More drama than serious humor
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- simply wealthy
- gambler
Age:
- 40's-50's
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
Hair color?
- blonde
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- sensitive
- caring
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
How much in movie?
- 90%-100%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Hispanic/Latinic
- French
Main Adversary
Identity:
- natural phenomena
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 60%
- 90%-100%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- West
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
- France
- Spain
Asia/Pacific/Middle East
Yes
Asian country:
- Arabia
- The 'stans
- Southeast Asia
- India
- China
Misc setting
- resort/hotel
- moving train
- fort/military installation
- sports arena
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- very happy
Is this movie based on a
- book
|
| Most similar reviews by Gordonator ranking |
|---|
| Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
starring Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan, Cecile de France, Ewen Bremmer, Jim Broadbent, Ian NcNeice, Kathy Bates, John Cleese, Mark Addy, Rob Schneider, Karen Joy M
|
| Eurotrip
starring Scott Mechlowicz, Jacob Pitts, Michelle Trachtenberg
|
| RV
starring Robin Williams, Cheryl Hines, Joanna 'JoJo' Levesque, Josh Hutcherson, Jeff Daniels
|
| The Out-Of-Towners
starring Steve Martin, Goldie Hawn, John Cleese
|
| Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles
starring Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski
|
|
Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Chuck Nugent
SCHOLARS:
|
|
Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
|
