| The Mysterious Island | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Benjamin Christensen Lucien Hubbard Maurice Tourneur |
| Produced by | J. Ernest Williamson |
| Written by | Jules Verne (novel) Lucien Hubbard Carl Pierson |
| Starring | Lionel Barrymore Jacqueline Gadsden (as Jane Daly) Lloyd Hughes Montagu Love Harry Gribbon |
| Music by | Martin Broones Art Lange |
| Cinematography | Percy Hilburn James Basevi Irving G. Ries J. Ernest Williamson |
| Editing by | Carl Pierson |
| Distributed by | Metro Goldwyn Mayer |
| Release date(s) | October 5, 1929 |
| Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Mysterious Island (1929) is an MGM film directed by Lucien Hubbard, a film adaptation of Jules Verne's novel L'Île mystérieuse (The Mysterious Island), published in 1874. The film was released as an all-Technicolor, feature film with talking sequences, sound effects, and synchronized music.
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According to an article in the original Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, production was actually started in 1926. There were various problems, including weather and the advent of talkies, which slowed/halted production several times before the film was finally completed and released three years later. The article included stills showing the original 1926 undersea denizens and the redesigned version which actually appeared in the film. Footage shot by Maurice Tourneur and Benjamin Christensen in 1927 was incorporated into the final 1929 version.
The film is loosely based on the back-story given for Captain Nemo in the novel The Mysterious Island, and might more properly be thought of as a prequel to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea but for the fact that the man who would be Nemo dies in this film's finale. It is the story of Count Dakkar (Captain Nemo's real name is revealed to be Prince Dakkar in The Mysterious Island), how he built his submarine, how he was betrayed, and how he became an outcast seeking revenge.
No complete Technicolor prints survive. Only one reel with a color sequence survives, which is part of the UCLA Film and Television Archive. The complete film exists in a black-and-white copy apparently made in the 1950s for television showings, though it remained uncut and intact as released in 1929.