Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)

Adaptation of Jules Verne's novel about a Victorian Englishman who bets that with the new steamships and railways he can do what the title says.

Director:

Michael Anderson

Writers:

James Poe (screenplay), John Farrow (screenplay),

Stars:

Cantinflas, Finlay Currie, Robert Morley

Won 5 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cantinflas	...	Passepartout
Finlay Currie	...	Andrew Stuart
Robert Morley	...	Ralph - Bank of England Governor
Ronald Squire	...	Reform Club Member
Basil Sydney	...	Reform Club Member
Noel Coward	...	Roland Hesketh-Baggott - London Employment Agency Manager
John Gielgud	...	Foster - Fogg's Ex-Valet (as Sir John Gielgud)
Trevor Howard	...	Denis Fallentin -Reform Club Member
Harcourt Williams	...	Hinshaw - Reform Club Aged Steward
David Niven	...	Phileas Fogg
Martine Carol	...	Girl in Paris Railroad Station
Fernandel	...	French Coachman
Charles Boyer	...	Monsieur Gasse -Thomas Cook Paris Clerk
Evelyn Keyes	...	Tart - Paris
José Greco	...	Flamenco Dancer (as Jose Greco and Troupe)

Storyline

Phileas Fogg accepts a challenge from his fellow members at the Reform Club and sets of prove that you can travel around the world in a mind-boggling 80 days. He sets off by train to Paris with his new valet Passepartout but then is forced to continue the trip by balloon arriving next in Spain where Passepartout has an interesting encounter in the bullfighting ring. They finally make their way across the Mediterranean and through the Suez canal, arriving in Bombay two days ahead of schedule. They board the train for Calcutta where they find there is a 50 mile gap midway. The break in their journey proved eventful as they rescue an Indian princess, Aouda, who is about to be forced to commit suttee - throwing herself on her dead husband's funeral pyre. They make to Calcutta and on to Siam and the Honk Kong. Throughout the voyage, they are followed by a detective, Mr. Fix, who is convinced that Fogg is the thief responsible for the recent £55,000 theft at the bank of England. In Honk ...

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Plot Keywords:

bet | travel | train | england | journey | 

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Taglines:

...and the whole world loves it!

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish French

Release Date:

1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Michael Todd's Around the World in 80 Days

Filming Locations:

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Honshu, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$42,000,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Michael Todd Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

175 min 167 min (35 mm) 183 min (with overture and exit music) 135 min (video) 182 min (TCM print)

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Mag-optical) (35 mm prints) (1956) Mono (optical) (35 mm prints) (re-release prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System) 4-Track Stereo (Perspecta Sound encoding) (35 mm magnetic prints) (1956)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Only nine Todd AO cameras were in existence at the time of shooting, and all of them were employed in the making of this film.

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Goofs

When we first see the SS Rangoon (approaching Bangkok), it has a white hull. But as the evening progresses, while Phileas Fogg is impressing Aouda with tales of his prowess at Whist, the hull inexplicably appears black in brief closeup scenes. A long shot of the Rangoon as it enters Hong Kong harbor reveals that the ship has, indeed, a black hull.

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Quotes

Saloon Bouncer: Listen, you. Get out and stay out. If I ever catch you in here again, I'll cut you up in a thousand pieces.

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits. The film begins with 'Edward R. Murrow (I)' narrating a prologue showing the history of flight. Then, the actual story begins with no opening credits whatsoever.

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Connections

Referenced in Rat Race (2001)

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Soundtracks

"The Little Brown Jug"
(1869) (uncredited)
Music by Joseph Winner
Played on piano in a San Francisco saloon by Frank Sinatra but probably dubbed

User Reviews

Cantinflas Saves This Trip Around The World

This is a bit dated by now, but still not a bad film to watch. It seems like more of a travelogue than anything else, at this point. Frankly, at three hours and being a mid-50s film, I thought it might be too slow in too many spots but that was not the case. Only the bullfighting scene went on too long. The rest kept my interest.

David Niven gets top billing but the real star of the show is "Cantinflas," a Spanish actor who, to my knowledge, only made it big in this movie.....at least in this country. He is very likable and entertaining. The only thing is he is not always easy to understand. I used English subtitles a few times when he spoke.

Niven played his normal stiff-neck Brit role. Thank goodness we don't see those, "I say, old bean" characters from GB anymore. However, I have always appreciated the British vocabulary, so much more refined than here in North America. Shirley MacLaine was so young I didn't recognize her. Of course, she made it difficult to spot her playing a brown-skinned Indian princess.

In all, decent entertainment but one that might bore a lot of people today, which is probably why they did a re-make. I haven't seen the re-make, but I'll bet it isn't as good as this movie.