Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)
Directed by Michael Anderson

Film Review

Around the World in Eighty Days has the distinction of being the only film produced by the legendary Broadway producer Michael Todd, and Todd's famous flair for showmanship shows in the lavish end result.  One of the most ambitious and visually spectacular American films of the 1950s, this first (and arguably best) complete adaptation of Jules Verne's ever-popular 1873 novel virtually bankrupted its producer but it proved to be a huge commercial and critical success.  (Todd died in a plane crash within two years of completing the film.)  The film was nominated for eight Oscars (in a highly competitive year) and took five awards, including the awards for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Music.

The six million dollar budget appears to have been well spent - the film used 112 locations in 13 countries and had a cast that included around 40 stars and almost 70,000 extras.  This extravagance would have a lasting impact on mainstream American cinema, as filmmakers felt themselves bound to make increasingly showy films in order to compete with the ever-growing threat of television. The film's main theme became a popular song (Around the World - music by Victor Young, lyrics by Harold Adamson), successfully released as a single by Bing Crosby in 1957.

The British film director Michael Anderson seems like an odd choice to direct the film, given that his best known films prior to this were the war film The Dam Busters (1955) and Orwell adaptation Nineteen Eighty Four (1956).  By contrast, the casting of David Niven as the archetypal English gentleman Phileas Fogg was a no brainer, and the actor later claimed that this was his favourite role.  The great Latin American comic actor Cantinflas was given the role of Fogg's faithful but hapless valet Passepartout, a role that he seems to relish, playing the likeable character as a kind of homage to Chaplin's Little Tramp.

A comically dour Robert Newton makes a suitably nasty villain as the over-zealous detective Mr Fix - this was to be his final role as the actor died shortly before the film's release.  Shirley MacLaine is a far less successful choice for the part of Princess Aouda; the actress fails to make the character remotely interesting or convincing.   The massive supporting cast offers a remarkable ensemble of acting talent, with around forty big names actors (including Noel Coward, Charles Boyer, Fernandel, Peter Lorre, Frank Sinatra and Marlene Dietrich) making little more than fleeting cameos.

In its complete version, Around the World in Eighty Days runs to 183 minutes.  This includes a ten minute introduction in which journalist Edward R. Murrow pays homage to Jules Vernes's work, partly by presenting Georges Méliès' 1902 short film Le Voyage dans la lune.  The film concludes with an amusing seven minute animated credits sequence by Saul Bass.  After its first release, the film was progressively cut, so that by the time it reached the television screens it was commonly shown in a 143 minute version.  In 2004, Warner Brothers released a complete restored version of the film on DVD, including the rambling but informative introduction.

Whilst Around the World in Eighty Days is visually impressive, it is something of a sluggish mammoth of a film and has a tendency to get bogged down when the plot badly needs a kick to keep the audience interested.  S.J. Perelman's witty dialogue provides some compensation for the poor pacing and tedious digressions (which include a ridiculously over-long bullfight sequence), but whilst the film's first and final thirty minutes are almost flawless, the bit in-between is pretty indigestible.  The most enjoyable aspect of the film is the game of putting a name to each of the numerous star actors who momentarily enter the frame.  You get no points for spotting John Mills and Noel Coward, but you should award yourself a bonus if you can catch a glimpse of Martine Carol, Ronald Colman and Hermione Gingold.

Film Synopsis

In the 1870s, Phileas Fogg, a wealthy English gentleman, wagers £20,000 he can travel around the world in just eighty days.  His fellow members of his London club are incredulous and readily accept the bet.  With his trusty manservant Passepartout, Fogg sets out for Paris, to face his first set back: an avalanche has resulted in the cancellation of rail services to Marseille.  Fogg has no choice but to continue his journey by hot air balloon.  He overshoots his destination and ends up in Spain, where Passepartout must participate in a bullfight so that his master can obtain a yacht to travel on to Suez.  Here, a British detective, Mr Fix, appears, convinced that Fogg is the man who recently robbed a London bank.  Fogg manages to evade Fix's attempts to bring him to justice and he reaches India, where he rescues the Princess Aouda from being put to death as part of a local ritual.  Fogg cannot abandon the princess, so he must take her with him.  After further mishaps in the Far East, Fogg and his two companions finally reach the west coast of the United States, where further adventures await them...