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, Alan Napier, and Gertrude the Duck. It was directed by Henry Levin.
This film is also known as Trip to the Center of the Earth.
Overview
An Edinburgh professor is intrigued by a strange rock given to him by one of his pupils. Uncovering its secret leads him and a few other hardy individuals to a dangerous journey that may have no return.
The film is notable for its special effects. It 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.[1] It won a second place Golden Laurel award for Top Action Drama in 1960.
Plot
Professor Oliver Lindenbrook (Mason), a newly knighted geologist from the University of Edinburgh, is given a piece of volcanic rock by his admiring student, Alec McEwen (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, discovers a plumb bob inside bearing a cryptic inscription. Lindenbrook and Alec conclude that it was left by an explorer 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, 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 McEwen chase him to Iceland. Once they are in Iceland, Göteborg, with the help of his goon, manages to kidnap both of them and trap them in an underground cellar, from where they are freed by a young athletic Icelander, Hans Belker (Ronson), and his 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 Alec are suddenly supplied with all the materials they need for their project. Göteborg's recent widow, Carla (Dahl), who at first vowed to destroy all her husband's supplies rather than lend these to them, agrees 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 so four explorers (and a duck) are soon journeying to the heart of the Earth itself. Thus along with Lindenbrook and Alec, the group included Hans Belker, Gertrude, and Mrs. Göteborg.
Strange terrain, a deranged rival scientist named Count Arne Saknussem (David), breathtaking scenery and giant reptiles embellish the rest of their journey. Count Arne Saknussem is the descendent of 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, his descendent, 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 guns' 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, 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. That, however, soon changes. Gertrude, the duck, loses her life. But ironically it is not the difficult terrain that kills her, but Saknussem, who can't control his hunger and eats her. Nature delivers its justice immediately when soon after a mild earthquake occurs, and Saknussem is buried under a shower of heavy stones. Right behind the collapse, the group comes upon the sunken city of Atlantis. It is 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 their ancestor to create the explosion. The explosion awakens a giant lizard who 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 are retrieved from the sea by seafarers while the fourth, 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 greeted as national heroes. Alec has married Lindenbrook's niece Jenny (Baker), Hans announces his return to Iceland, and the result of previous tensions between Lindenbrook and Carla is two headstrong people in love. The film ends with Lindenbrook and Carla kissing each other and the crowd cheering them and joyously singing in chorus.
Cast
Production
Some underground scenes were filmed at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
See also
References
External links
