| Journey to the Center of the Earth | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Henry Levin |
| Produced by | Charles Brackett |
| Written by | Charles Brackett & Walter Reisch |
| Based on | Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne |
| Starring | Pat Boone James Mason Arlene Dahl Diane Baker Peter Ronson Thayer David |
| Music by | Bernard Herrmann |
| Cinematography | Leo Tover, ASC |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | December 16, 1959 |
| Running time | 132 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3.44 million[1] |
| Box office | $5 million[2] |
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 and Alan Napier. It was directed by Henry Levin.
This film is also known as Trip to the Center of the Earth.
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An Edinburgh professor is intrigued by a strange rock given to him by one of his students. Uncovering its secret leads him and a few other hardy individuals to a dangerous journey that may have no return.
The film was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Lyle R. Wheeler, Franz Bachelin, Herman A. Blumenthal, Walter M. Scott, Joseph Kish), Best Effects, Special Effects and Best Sound (Carlton W. Faulkner).[3][4] It won a second place Golden Laurel award for Top Action Drama in 1960.
Professor Oliver Lindenbrook (James Mason), a newly knighted geologist from the University of Edinburgh, is given a piece of volcanic rock by his admiring student, Alec McEwan (Pat Boone). Deciding that the rock is unusually heavy and, therefore, must contain Icelandic peridotite, Lindenbrook, mostly thanks to the carelessness of his lab assistant, Mr. Paisley (Ben Wright), discovers a plumb bob inside bearing a cryptic inscription. Lindenbrook and Alec discover that it was left by a scientist by the name of Arne 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 Göteborg of Stockholm (Ivan Triesault), 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 McEwan chase him to Iceland. Once they are in Iceland, Göteborg, with the help of his assistant, manages to kidnap both of them and trap them in an underground cellar, from where they are freed by a young athletic Icelander, Hans Bjelke (Ronson), and his pet duck Gertrude. They immediately proceed to the inn where Göteborg is staying and sneak in his room, where they find him dead. Lindenbrook, with the astuteness of a forensic scientist, combs the goatee of Göteborg 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 McEwan are suddenly supplied with all the materials they need for their project. Göteborg's widow, Carla (Arlene Dahl), who at first vowed to destroy all her husband's supplies rather than lend these to them believing that they are only capitalizing on the work of her deceased husband, agrees, after learning the truth through her husband's diary, 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 the four explorers, and the pet duck, are soon journeying into the Earth.
Strange terrain, a deranged rival scientist named Count Saknussem (Thayer David), breathtaking scenery and giant reptiles embellish the rest of their journey. Count Saknussem is the descendent of Arne 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 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. During his independent travels, as he became separated from the rest of his group, Alec almost trips over Saknussem's dead servant. When Alec refuses to become his new servant, Saknussem shoots Alec in the arm. Lindenbrook is able to locate Saknussem from the reverberations of the sound of the gun's echo, 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 eventually encounter a subterranean ocean, which they name the Saknussem Ocean, and make a raft from the stems of giant mushrooms to cross it. Somewhere in the middle of the ocean, they pass through the center of the earth and their raft begins circling in a mid-ocean whirlpool. The professor deduces that must be the center of the earth, because the magnetic forces from north and south meeting there are strong enough to snatch away even gold in the form of wedding rings and tooth fillings. They somehow manage to cross the ocean, and, completely exhausted, reach the shore on the other side.
Despite the dangers of their journey, no one has died, but that soon changes. Gertrude, the duck, loses her life to Saknussem, who can't control his hunger and eats her. Soon after a mild earthquake occurs; Saknussem is buried under a shower of heavy stones, but right behind the collapse the rest of the group comes upon the sunken city of Atlantis. They are 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 hand of his skeleton 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 the long deceased Saknussem to create the explosion, which however awakens a giant lizard which tries to eat them, but is soon consumed by the lava that torrents down after the explosion. The same lava 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. Three - Lindenbrook, Carla and Hans - are retrieved from the sea by seafarers, while Alec is thrown out of the altar bowl as it flies through the air and ends up naked in a tree in a nunnery orchard.
When the group returns to Edinburgh, the four travelers are hailed as national heroes. Alec has married Lindenbrook's niece Jenny (Diane Baker), Hans announces his return to Iceland, and the result of previous tensions between Lindenbrook and Carla has developed into love. Lindenbrook, however, declines the accolades showered upon him, stating that he has no proof of his experiences, but he encourages the next generations of students to follow in his footsteps in exploring the center of the Earth. The film ends with Lindenbrook and Carla kissing each other, and the crowd cheering them and joyously singing in chorus.
| Actor/Actress | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| James Mason | Sir Oliver Lindenbrook | |
| Pat Boone | Alec McEwan | |
| Arlene Dahl | Carla Göteborg | |
| Peter Ronson | Hans Bjelke | |
| Thayer David | Count Saknussem | |
| Bob Adler | Groom | As Robert (Bob) Adler |
| Alan Napier | Dean | |
| Diane Baker | Jenny | |
| Ivan Triesault | Professor Göteborg | |
| Alex Finlayson | Professor Boyle |
The characters of Gertrude the duck, Professor and Carla Goteborg, and Count Saknussem are not present in Verne's novel. Also, Alec (Axel in the novel) is Lindenbrook's (Liedenbrock) nephew, and they live in Hamburg (Germany), not Edinburgh.
The whole part of Atlantis is also only in the movie. In the book there are sea-creatures and elephants with a giant man, not lizards as in the movie.
Some underground scenes were filmed at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Life magazine editor and science writer Lincoln Barnett was a technical adviser on the film.
The giant Dimetrodons and giant chameleon in the film were actually iguanas with glued on sails and a painted gila monster
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