Voyage au centre de la Terre

I suppose the best way to appreciate a widescreen Cinemascope film is to have seen it on a large movie theater screen in the first place. I remember that day well, back in Brewster, NY, late 1959. My best friend David Vail and I were 7 years old apiece and thrilled at the prospect of being allowed to see the movie un-supervised (a very rare privilege) and the cavernous, dark movie theatre only heightened the sense of mysterium tremens. We felt as if we were fellow travellers, accompanying the Lindenbrook expedition on its mission to the center of the earth. Dimly aware that the film had scary elements, we vowed not to eat any of our limited budget sweets until a truly "scary" moment appeared. It took a while but it came. Many years later Spielberg and Lucas would pay homage to that moment in their throwback serial film "Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark" but in the intervening years I have had recurring dreams about being chased by a boulder down a narrow passageway.

"A Journey to the Center of the Earth" is a movie I see over and over again. Chiefly because the story is compelling and true to the quasi whimsical and scientifically speculative writings of Jules Verne. What I find appealing about Verne is that he is free from the cynical and existential bindings that have fettered other illustrious but more contemporary science fiction writers. Verne goes about his business unshackled by theorems, proofs and devastating world wars. The industrial revolution is barely a generation old and science is making great leaps. Anything is possible; a trip to the moon, a long voyage undersea, a journey to the innermost recesses of our planet. While you watch the film it is easy to suspend your belief because you are forced to place yourself in the context of the Great Explorations. The story simply draws you in for the same reason the tale of Sir Ernest Shackleton draws you in or the accounts of the last days of Pompei; or, a superb story like Edgar Allen Poe's "The Gold Bug" draws you in.

Levin's treatment of the tale is excellent. This is one of those rare examples where the film is better than the book. The dour trio of three male expedition members in the book is replaced by a balanced quartet, adding a greater range of human interaction, a little sexual tension (without it condescending or demeaning ot the female character) and a side plot (the nefarious and righteous Count Saknussem). The preamble is longer and the conceit of using a plumb line as the key element (McGuffin if) you will) is a stroke of narrative genius. The movie loses no momentum by investing time in character development and the the reasons for setting up the expedition. James Mason is perfect as the obsessed scientist. Pat Boone does a fairly good job as the "leading man" and male ingenue. Arlene Dahl is sophisticated and her Scandinavian background gives her role credibility. Hans in probably the only movie role he ever played is more than adequate as the practical, strong man. then there's Gertrude, played well by... a duck.

The story is well paced, nuanced and served well by a stunning score by one of the true masters of mood: Bernard Herrmann. At times airy and light the music also comments brilliantly on the action via horn arrangements and sultry, chilling cellos that give a a deep sense of foreboding.

On a deeply personal level I have in a strange way often compared this movie to the restlessness of the human spirit. Not merely the desire to physically travel, explore and report back from unknown regions but in the spiritual sense: to unravel the mystery of the self. As a 7 year old I would ponder the great inponderables, life, death, God, the meaning of existence and somehow this movie, cheesy special effects and all, has given me haunting sign posts that the only true travel is the voyage within. So, in a symbolic way, A Journey to the Center of the Earth is the moviegoer's experience of the vast uncharted regions of our deeper self. I know most readers will dismiss these "adumbrations" of the personal "cave" within but I leave you with a few lines from a song that was popular in 1959...

I know, beyond a doubt my heart will lead me there, soon we'll meet, I know we'll meet beyond the shore we'll kiss just like before and happy we'll be beyond the sea and never again, will I go sailing no more sailing.

A Journey to the Center of the Earth has adventure, whimsy and moments of awe with unexpected twists. The characters are at the mercy of the caprices of the nether regions. At times you feel as if the characters are journeying through unpopulated Dantesque landscapes, other times through the richness of primordial and unspoiled prehistoric settings. The voyagers start off darkly in the early teluric going and then by degrees the subterranean world glistens in a unexpected reversal of all that we are led to believe exists below our feet. The variety of visual delights is breathtaking.

This is my favourite film of all time. I have seen it 40-50 times and always find a detail or two at each screening that is imaginative and inspiring. See it if you can in wide screen. You will appreciate it more.

I first saw this on TV as a kid in the early 60's and it became a TV staple being shown on network prime time before it went to the Saturday afternoon or late night route. Even as a kid I found this highly implausible and accepted it as escapist fantasy. It's a fun movie and is truly a classic. Director Henry Levin's most ambitious assignment as a director to go up against popular Disney fantasy films of the time, capture the imagination of Jules Verne and make it palatable enough for an adult audience. The unlikely cast of dramatic veteran James Mason, singer Pat Boone, beautiful Diane Baker, sexy Arlene Dahl and Iceland born jock Peter Ronson come together surprisingly well. Veteran screenwriter Charles Brackett who wrote for the screen such classics as Sunset Boulevard, Ninotchka, The Lost Weekend, Niagra and The Bishops Wife adapts the Jules Verne novel. Nominated for three Academy Awards for Art Direction, Special Effects and Sound. This movie is probably more fun to people like me who grew up with it from the time when it was made but it's still a good movie and I've seen it many times as an adult. It would be nice to see in it's Technicolor big screen splendor. I would give it an 8.0 out of 10.

I can attest to the feelings expressed by the last couple commentators about 1959's "Journey To The Center Of The Earth." This is a wonderful family film from the bygone Eisenhower-era of the 1950s. Even though I've been watching it on TV since I was a kid in the sixties, I'd only seen pan&scan versions, and it wasn't until I got it letterboxed on laserdisc that I finally saw what a big-screen entertainment this movie was meant to be. It has wonderful scope and a score by Bernard Herrmann that takes you right down into the bowels of the earth. Listen to it and you'll notice what I mean, as the movie progresses the music keeps going into a lower and lower register. Five organs were used, including one meant for a Cathedral. (The complete original recordings of the score are available on CD from Varese Sarabande.) This movie also has the great James Mason in it, so you know it's got to be good. Sure it's long in the telling and takes a while to get you down that extinct volcano in Iceland, but it's fun all the way with great special effects work by L.B. Abbott and matte paintings by Emil Kosa Jr. The only way to watch this movie is in wide-screen and it's long past due that 20th Century Fox puts this out on DVD in a letterboxed anamorphic transfer. Let's hope that they do it soon.

While this film suffers from some annoying "cuteness" and has lizards parading as dinosaurs, it is nonetheless the best film version of the novel because Verne's themes of exploration and discovery remain. Bernard Herrmann's score is indeed fantastic and this film has a wonderful pace. The cast here is also very talented and the film is so well made one can forgive it its minor flaws.

"Journey to the Center of the Earth" was produced at the height of studio dominance in the film business. 20th Century Fox would soon be nearly bankrupt from the red ink of "Cleopatra" (later saved by the success of "The Longest Day" and "The Sound of Music"). Consequently, every department contributed tons of production value and I would say the matching of studio sets with actual locations in Carlsbad Caverns was pretty flawless. Like a lot of fantasy adventure films of the 1950s and 1960s (ie. Jason and the Argonauts, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad and The Wonders of Aladdin), "Journey to the Center of the Earth" focuses firmly on the characters and the special effects support the performances. Today, sadly, so much effort and time is spent in designing the special effects that the human characters suffer and become clichés (with the exception recently of Tobey Maguire's wonderful "Spiderman" and the recent "Superman"). Those of us who grew up in the 1950s, think of this film fondly as a perfect Saturday matinée entertainment. I can still remember sucking on my giant cherry lollipop, flipping popcorn boxes against the screen and enjoying that very ominous Bernard Herrmann musical score. For a singer, Pat Boone plays drama and adventure quite well and even looks good with his shirt off. Arlene Dahl is sexy in her tight bodice and Peter Ronson also performs well considering he had zero acting experience. James Mason's Professor Lindenbrook ties it all together nicely - it was probably his most physical role ever. And, of course there was Gertrude, who, unfortunately, probably ended up on someone's plate, rather than be retired to the Motion Picture Home for old ducks. Kai aye professor, indeed.