Journey to the Center of the Earth (film)
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| Journey to the Center of the Earth | |
|---|---|
 1959 movie poster |
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| Directed by | Henry Levin |
| Produced by | Charles Brackett |
| Written by | screenplay by Charles Brackett & Walter Reisch from the novel by |
| Starring | Pat Boone James Mason Arlene Dahl Diane Baker Peter Ronson Thayer David Gertrude the Duck |
| Music by | Bernard Herrmann |
| Cinematography | Leo Tover |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | December 16, 1959 |
| Running time | 132 min |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Journey to the Center of the Earth is a 1959 adventure film adapted by Charles Brackett from the novel by Jules Verne. It stars Pat Boone, James Mason, Arlene Dahl, Peter Ronson, Diane Baker, Thayer David, Alan Napier, and Gertrude the Duck. It was directed by Henry Levin.
This film is also known as Trip to the Center of the Earth.
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[edit] Overview
An Edinburgh professor is intriqued by a strange rock given to him by one of his pupils. Uncovering its secret leads him and a few other hardy individuals to a dangerous journey that may have no return.
The film is notable for its special effects. It was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Effects, Special Effects and Best Sound. It won a second place Golden Laurel award for Top Action Drama in 1960.
[edit] Plot
Professor Oliver Lindenbrook (Mason), a newly knighted geologist from the University of Edinburgh, is given a piece of volcanic rock by his admiring student, Alec McEwen (Boone). Deciding that the rock is unusually heavy, Lindenbrook (mostly thanks to the carelessness of his lab assistant, Mr. Paisley) discovers a plumb bob inside bearing a cryptic inscription. Lindenbrook and Alec conclude that it was left by an explorer by the name of Saknussem, who had, almost 300 years earlier, actually found a passage to the center of the Earth. After translating the message on the plumb bob, Lindenbrook immediately sets off (with Alec as his assistant) to follow the example of the Icelandic pioneer.
The first obstacle of the journey is revealed to be Professor Goetaborg of Stockholm, who upon receiving a correspondence from Lindenbrook regarding the nature of the plumb's message opts to beat the Scottish scientist to his goal of reaching the earth's center.
Lindenbrook and McEwen chase him to Iceland. Once they are in Iceland, Goetaborg, with the help of his goon, manages to kidnap both of them and trap them in an underground cellar, from where they are freed by a young athletic Icelander, Hans Belker ( Ronson), and his duck Gertrude. They immediately proceed to the inn where Goetaborg is staying and sneak in his room (number 29), where they find him dead. Lindenbrook, like the astuteness of a forensic scientist, combs the goatee of Goetaborg and retrieves some potassium cyanide crystals. They conclude that he has been killed by some rival scientist.
Finding him dead before his expedition even began, Lindenbrook and Alec are suddenly supplied with all the materials they need for their project. Goetaborg's recent widow, Karla (Dahl), who at first vowed to destroy all her husband's supplies rather than lend it to them, agrees to lend them his valuable supplies (including the much sought after Ruhmkorff lamps) if they included her in their adventurous trip. Lindenbrook, seeing that he has no choice, grudgingly agrees to take her along, and so four explorers (and a duck) are soon journeying to the heart of the Earth itself. Thus along with Lindenbrook and Alec, the group included Hans Belker, Gertrude, and Mrs. Goetaborg.
Strange terrain, a deranged rival scientist named Count Arne Saknussem (David), breathtaking scenery and dinosaurs embellish the rest of their journey. Count Arne Saknussem is the descendent of Saknussem, the famed scientist who tried to travel to the center of the earth 300 years ago and left many guiding marks along the path for the posterity. Count Saknussem, his descendent, thinks that the center of the earth is his terrain and only he has a right to visit there, as it was his forefather who went there. He trails the famed group secretly with a servant, and once tries to kill Alec too. The group catches him, and in a weird "under the earth" court hearing, sentences him to death. However no one has the gall to kill him, and grudgingly they have to take him along.
They encounter an subterranean ocean too, and make a raft (made from the stems of giant mushrooms) to cross it. Somewhere in the middle of the ocean, they touch base (the center of the earth), when their raft begins circling in a mid-ocean tornado. The professor decides that it is the center of the earth, because the magnetic forces from north and south meeting there are responsible for that raging tornado. They cross the ocean somehow, and completely exhausted throw themselves down the shore on the other side of the ocean.
Does the dangerous journey claim a life? Well, yes. Gertrude, the duck, dies. But ironically it is not the difficult terrain that kills it, but Saknussem, who can't control his hunger and eats it. Nature delivers its justice immediately when soon after in a mild earthquake, Saknussem is buried under a shower of heavy stones. Right behind the collapse, the group comes upon the sunken city of Atlantis. It is now faced with one ominous question: How will they return to the surface?
Not far from the ruins of Atlantis they see the remains of the scientist who went centuries before them — with the skeleton of his hand pointing toward a passage to the surface. They decide that they would have to create an artificial explosion to get out to the surface. They use the gunpowder in one of the sacks of their ancestor (who went there 300 years before) to create the explosion. The explosion awakens a giant lizard who tries to eat them, but is soon consumed by the lava that torrents down after the explosion. The same lava - quite miraculously - lifts them up out of the depths of the earth in a large sacrificial altar bowl. They are thrown out to the sea, emerging to the surface via a volcanic shaft. They are retrieved from the sea by seafaring people.
When the group returns to Edinburgh, the four travelers are greeted as national heroes. Alec has married Lindenbrook's niece Jenny (Baker), Hans announces his return to Iceland, and the result of previous tensions between Lindenbrook and Karla result in two headstrong people in love. The film ends with Lindenbrook and Karla (quite ironically, the widow of his most hated competitor) kissing each other and the crowd cheering them and singing in chorus in joy.
[edit] Cast
| Actor/Actress | Role |
| James Mason | Sir Oliver Lindenbrook |
| Pat Boone | Alec McEwen |
| Arlene Dahl | Carla Goetaborg |
| Peter Ronson | Hans Belker |
| Thayer David | Count Saknussem |
| Robert (Bob) Adler | Groom |
| Alan Napier | Dean |
| Diane Baker | Jenny |
| Ivan Triesault | Professor Goetaborg |
| Alex Finlayson | Professor Boyle |
| Gertrude the Duck | Gertrude |
