Trivia
Fox gave the green light to this big-budget CinemaScope production partially due to the success of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and Around the World in 80 Days (1956). As with those earlier films, the heavy cost proved to be a good investment, resulting in a big hit at the box office.
James Mason reportedly had very little patience with Arlene Dahl's "movie star" preening. Their relationship off-screen was very much like their relationship on- screen.
Pat Boone didn't want to make this film, but his agent talked him into it. Years later, he said he's glad he did it because of the regular residual checks, and it's the movie he'll probably be best remembered for.
(at around 1h 35 mins) Count Saknussemm says: "I don't sleep. I hate those little slices of death." This is a variation of an Edgar Allan Poe quote: "Sleep, those little slices of death; Oh how I loathe them".
James Mason replaced an ailing Clifton Webb in the part of Professor Lindenbrook before filming began. Alexander Scourby started shooting at Carlsbad Caverns in the Count Saknussemm role, but the producers were unhappy with him and he was replaced with Thayer David.
The dimetrodons in the movie were played by rhinoceros iguanas. They grow to about 3-6 feet (1-2 meters) and are kept as pets in many places. In real life, dimetrodons were Synapsid reptiles. They lived in western North America and grew to about 12 feet (4 meters) in size.
Arlene Dahl got along so famously with Gertrude II that they became inseparable.
In the original (French) novel, the professor's name was Otto Lidenbrock, a German, and his lab assistant is a student named Axel. In the first (anonymous) English translation, the professor's surname became Hartwig, and Axel became an English student named Henry Lawson. In the movie, the professor is Oliver Lindenbrook, a Scotsman, and his assistant is Alec. This was due to historical hindsight; 19th-century Scots had become known as great field geologists, while Germans preferred lab-bound geology.
The framed picture of a ship on the wall of Carla's equipment room is the Sovereign of the Seas, a large British warship built in 1637.
A miniature model of the lost Atlantis was used for the earthquake scene. The lava was probably oatmeal, similar to the lava in The Time Machine (1960).
Filmation's Saturday morning cartoon Journey to the Center of the Earth (1967) was based on this film version rather than the original novel by Jules Verne and features several characters that were created for the 1959 film.
Gertrude was supposed to be an Eider duck from Canada, but the USDA wanted Ralph Helfer to get a permit before importing them. He decided to make his own Eider duck.
In some European versions of the film, the "Prof of Geology's Song" was re-dubbed into the "Gaudeamus Igitur" song.
Two additional songs, "The Faithful Heart" and "Twice as Tall", by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen, and sung by Pat Boone were cut from the final print. However, they are both listed in the opening credits.
In the opening scene pipers are marching out of a castle. Two statues are up on the wall. William Wallace is on the right, Robert the Bruce is on the left.
