Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)

Director:

Michael Anderson

Writers:

James Poe (screenplay) &
John Farrow (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1958 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Romance | Western

Tagline:

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

Plot:

Adaptation of Jules Verne's novel about a Victorian Englishman who bets that with the new steamships and railways he can do what the title says.

Plot Keywords:

Bet | England | Travel | Train | Spain

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Cantinflas	...	Passepartout
Finlay Currie	...	Andrew Stuart
Robert Morley	...	Gauthier Ralph
Ronald Squire	...	Reform Club Member
Basil Sydney	...	Reform Club Member
Noel Coward	...	Hesketh-Baggott
John Gielgud	...	Foster (as Sir John Gielgud)
Trevor Howard	...	Denis Fallentin
Harcourt Williams	...	Hinshaw
David Niven	...	Phileas Fogg
Martine Carol	...	Tourist
Fernandel	...	French Coachman
Charles Boyer	...	Monsieur Gasse
Evelyn Keyes	...	The Flirt
Jose Greco and Troupe	...	Flamenco Dancers

Also Known As:

Around the World in 80 Days (USA) (alternative spelling)
Michael Todd's Around the World in 80 Days (USA) (complete title)
In 80 Tagen um die Welt (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Le tour du monde en 80 jours (Belgium: French title) (France) [fr]
80 günde devrialem (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
80 nap alatt a föld körül (Hungary) [hu]
A Volta ao Mundo em Oitenta Dias (Portugal) (original subtitled version) [pt]
Cesta kolem sveta za 80 dní (Czechoslovakia) [cs]
De reis om de wereld in 80 dagen (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Il giro del mondo in ottanta giorni (Italy) [it]
Jorden rundt i 80 dage (Denmark) [da]
Jorden runt på åttio dagar (Sweden) [sv]
Jorden runt på 80 dagar (Sweden) [sv]
La vuelta al mundo en 80 días (Argentina) [es]
La vuelta al mundo en ochenta días (Spain) [es]
Maailman ympäri 80 päivässä (Finland) [fi]
O gyros tou kosmou se 80 imeres (Greece) [el]
W 80 dni dookola swiata (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

167 min (35 mm version) | 183 min (with overture and exit music) | UK:135 min (25 fps) (video version) | USA:175 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

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)

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Norway:A | West Germany:6 (f) | New Zealand:G | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:S | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:Approved | USA:G (1983)

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Michael Todd Company

Trivia:

Tied with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) for the longest title of an Oscar winner for Best Motion Picture until 2004 when The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) won. The shortest is Gigi (1958).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: At the beginning of the film we are told that it is 1872 and shortly afterwards we see the Welsh Guards on parade (you can tell by the layout of their buttons - two rows of five). The Welsh Guards are the most junior of the Guards Regiments and weren't formed until 26 February 1915.

Quotes:

Stationmaster: I'll be darned if I understand you city folks. Always rushing, rushing, rushing. Always thinking about the future. No wonder you have stomach trouble.

Movie Connections:

Features Le voyage dans la lune (1902)

Soundtrack:

The Little Brown Jug

Some Sequences Are Enjoyable & Satisfying, But An Uneven Movie Overall

With a project this ambitious, it probably should not be much of a surprise if some of it works very well while other portions are less effective. It's the kind of grand-scale movie that is so often highly acclaimed in its own day, regardless of what weaknesses it might have. It does have some very satisfying and entertaining sequences, yet overall the quality is uneven.

There's no question that much of Jules Verne's story readily lends itself to the screen, and a somewhat less indulgent production might have made for a pretty good movie. A number of the sequences just go on a little too long, neither advancing the story nor providing much in the way of entertainment or thematic content. The story in itself is an interesting one, and the film works best when it stays on track.

It's fun, of course, just to watch and try to catch all the cameo appearances. A few of them seem to have been forced into the script just to boost the total, but others work well. It's also enjoyable to see the footage from Méliès's "Trip to the Moon", although after that the prologue ends up dragging on a little too long.

There's more than enough here to make it worth seeing, and it is usually enjoyable - it's just that it's too long and sometimes a little too much, and a less lavish approach would probably have made it better.