Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

A Victorian Englishman bets that with the new steamships and railways he can circumnavigate the globe in eighty days.

Directors:

Michael Anderson, John Farrow (uncredited)

Writers:

James Poe (screenplay), John Farrow (screenplay)

Stars:

David Niven, Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine

Won 5 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Niven	...	Phileas Fogg
Cantinflas	...	Passepartout
Shirley MacLaine	...	Princess Aouda
Robert Newton	...	Inspector Fix
Charles Boyer	...	Monsieur Gasse - Thomas Cook Paris Clerk
Joe E. Brown	...	Fort Kearney Station Master
Martine Carol	...	Girl in Paris Railroad Station
John Carradine	...	Col. Stamp Proctor - San Francisco Politico
Charles Coburn	...	Steamship Company Hong Kong Clerk
Ronald Colman	...	Great Indian Peninsular Railway Official
Melville Cooper	...	Mr. Talley - Steward R.M.S 'Mongolia'
Noël Coward	...	Roland Hesketh-Baggott - London Employment Agency Manager (as Noel Coward)
Finlay Currie	...	Andrew Stuart
Reginald Denny	...	Bombay Police Inspector
Andy Devine	...	First Mate of the 'S. S. Henrietta'

Storyline

When this movie is made in 1956, one can circumnavigate the globe in a little less than two days. When Jules Verne wrote the story "Around the World in Eighty Days" in 1872, he predicted that one day man could accomplish the task in eighty hours, but which most considered folly to do in eighty days in current times... that is except for people like Englishman Phileas Fogg, a regimented man who believed all it would take is exacting work, the skills he possesses. He just has to make sure a train's schedule meets the required sailing schedule which meets the required coach schedule and so on. As such, he takes up what ends up being the highly publicized £20,000 wager from his fellow members at the London Reform Club to do so, losing the bet which would ruin him financially. Along for the ride is Fogg's new, loyal and devoted valet, the recently arrived Latin immigrant, Passepartout, who possesses unusual skills which could be major assets, but whose all consuming thoughts on the ...

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Plot Keywords:

victorian era | based on novel | on the road | native american | india | 

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Taglines:

See everything in the World worth seeing! Do everything in the World worth doing!

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish French

Release Date:

17 October 1956 (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 USA:

$42,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Michael Todd Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

167 min (35 mm) 183 min (with entr'acte 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 (Eastman Color) Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When this movie was initially released, only S.J. Perelman got screenplay credit. That changed after James Poe and John Farrow sued.

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Goofs

The scenes set in Yokohama, Japan, were shot in Kamakura, west of Yokohama, and Kyoto, far southwest of Yokohama. The film makes Kamakura's Great Buddha look like it's walking distance from Kyoto's Heian Shrine, but they are in separate regions of Japan.

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Quotes

Railway Official: There's still fifty miles of track to be laid between here and Allabahad.
Phileas Fogg: But the London newspapers announced the opening of this railway throughout.
Railway Official: That must have been The Daily Telegraph. Never would have read that in The Times.

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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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Alternate Versions

Some older TV prints of "Around The World in 80 Days" eliminate the prologue. The film was also often subject to indiscriminate cutting in the past for commercial TV broadcasts due to its length. Now that the full-length widescreen "roadshow" version has been restored for DVD, this version will hopefully be made available for future TV broadcasts.

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Connections

Version of Puss in Boots (1934)

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Soundtracks

Have Courage to Say No
(uncredited)
Traditional Temperance Hymn
Sung by Beatrice Lillie, David Niven and Others

User Reviews

Go and see it - in a cinema

I really enjoyed this film, and was shocked to see all the negative comments about it on IMDB. Yes it's long, yes it's a fantasy rather than true-to-life, yes it's spectacular rather than deep drama. But what the hell, it's also (like the book) a hilarious send-up of Englishness as seen by a Frenchman. The millions of cameo roles (actually I'm HOPELESS at recognising faces, so identified none of them) camp it all up splendidly. This film is one of those, like the Ealing comedies or the Carry-On films, that define the British Myth.

OK, so it won't work on TV, unless you have a widescreen TV and can shut yourself away from all distractions for several hours. But I just dare anyone to be bored by the film in a cinema. They don't make them like that any more, because these days films are "made for TV" . . .