Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)

Director:

Henry Levin

Writers:

Jules Verne (novel)
Walter Reisch (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 January 1960 (West Germany)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

A fabulous world below the world

Plot:

An Edinburgh professor and assorted colleagues follow an explorer's trail down an extinct Icelandic volcano to the earth's center.

Plot Keywords:

Volcano | Professor | Icelandic | Expedition | Iceland

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Pat Boone	...	Alexander 'Alec' McKuen
James Mason	...	Sir Oliver S. Lindenbrook
Arlene Dahl	...	Carla Göteborg
Diane Baker	...	Jenny Lindenbrook
Thayer David	...	Count Saknussem
Peter Ronson	...	Hans Belker
Robert Adler	...	Groom
Alan Napier	...	Dean

Also Known As:

Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth
Trip to the Center of the Earth

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Icelandic | French | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) | Dolby SR (re-issue)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Brazil:Livre | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Iceland:Unrated | UK:U | USA:G (1969) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Carlsbad Caverns National Park - 3225 National Parks Highway, Carlsbad, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Cooga Mooga

Trivia:

The screenwriter evidently thought that since English-speaking people can have surnames like London or York, then Swedes can be named Göteborg (the second largest city in Sweden) - which is most unlikely.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When Lindenbrook is in the carriage after being 'kidnapped' the topography appears to be more appropriate to the American desert southwest than to an island located at the Artic Circle.

Quotes:

[in front of a church in Edinburgh after a service]
Dean: Miss Jenny! I saw you turn pale when the Domini spoke of those in peril at the far ends of the earth.
Jenny: Far ends of the earth; at least that would be somewhere.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Home Movies: Curses (#4.7)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Twice as Tall

Fun family fifties fantasy flick

I first saw this on TV as a kid in the early 60's and it became a TV staple being shown on network prime time before it went to the Saturday afternoon or late night route. Even as a kid I found this highly implausible and accepted it as escapist fantasy. It's a fun movie and is truly a classic. Director Henry Levin's most ambitious assignment as a director to go up against popular Disney fantasy films of the time, capture the imagination of Jules Verne and make it palatable enough for an adult audience. The unlikely cast of dramatic veteran James Mason, singer Pat Boone, beautiful Diane Baker, sexy Arlene Dahl and Iceland born jock Peter Ronson come together surprisingly well. Veteran screenwriter Charles Brackett who wrote for the screen such classics as Sunset Boulevard, Ninotchka, The Lost Weekend, Niagra and The Bishops Wife adapts the Jules Verne novel. Nominated for three Academy Awards for Art Direction, Special Effects and Sound. This movie is probably more fun to people like me who grew up with it from the time when it was made but it's still a good movie and I've seen it many times as an adult. It would be nice to see in it's Technicolor big screen splendor. I would give it an 8.0 out of 10.