Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)

Director:

Henry Levin

Writers:

Jules Verne (novel)
Walter Reisch (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 January 1960 (West Germany)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

A fabulous world below the world

Plot:

An Edinburgh professor and assorted colleagues follow an explorer's trail down an extinct Icelandic volcano to the earth's center.

Plot Keywords:

Volcano | Professor | Icelandic | Expedition | Iceland

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Pat Boone	...	Alexander 'Alec' McKuen
James Mason	...	Sir Oliver S. Lindenbrook
Arlene Dahl	...	Carla Göteborg
Diane Baker	...	Jenny Lindenbrook
Thayer David	...	Count Saknussem
Peter Ronson	...	Hans Belker
Robert Adler	...	Groom
Alan Napier	...	Dean

Also Known As:

Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth
Trip to the Center of the Earth

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Icelandic | French | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) | Dolby SR (re-issue)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Brazil:Livre | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Iceland:Unrated | UK:U | USA:G (1969) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Carlsbad Caverns National Park - 3225 National Parks Highway, Carlsbad, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Cooga Mooga

Trivia:

The professor's name in the original novel (French language) was Otto Lidenbrock. In the movie it was changed to Oliver Lindenbrook. A more drastic change had already been made with the first (anonymous) English translation of the novel when the Professor's surname became Hartwig.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Goteborg gets in the carriage and leaves the volcano, tracks from the wheels are visible. The tracks end, as if the carriage had backed into its position.

Quotes:

Carla Göteborg: Sir Oliver, you are not going to listen to a murderer?
Sir Oliver Lindenbrook: Never interrupt a murderer, madam.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (1983) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Faithful Heart

Science fiction epic, quite ambitious for its day, and terrifically entertaining.

Based fairly faithfully on a classic sci-fi novel by Jules Verne, Journey To The Center Of The Earth is an inventive, splendidly-realised, smartly acted film. It must have been quite an ambitious undertaking in 1959 to try to make a film set predominantly in a mysterious, unexplored underground realm populated by fantastic creatures and filled with a host of weird 'n' wonderful sights. However, the makers have done a great job in tackling this enormously challenging source material.

A Scottish scientist, Prof Oliver Lindenbrook (James Mason) discovers that a fellow scientist recently tried to find a route to the centre of the earth. Determined to venture down the same route, Lindenbrook puts together an ambitious expedition consisting of his nephew Alec (Pat Boone), widow Carla Goetaborg (Arlene Dahl), silent but loyal guide Hans (Peter Ronson), and a duck named Gertrude. The foolhardy team begin their descent among the craggy crevices of an Icelandic glacier, and as they make their way into the bowels of the earth they make many a wondrous discovery, from mammoth-sized mushrooms to fearsome prehistoric monsters.

The film is well-paced and thoroughly entertaining. On the whole, the performances are good (Boone is a little too clean-cut, as usual, but he does all right) and the special effects are excellent for their time. Bernard Herrmann provides a crashing music score, and the set design is absolutely tremendous. This is a classic sci-fi film, and any serious fan of sci-fi movies would be a fool to miss it.