Mysterious Island (1961 film)

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Mysterious Island
Mysterious Island (1961 film) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Cy Endfield
Screenplay by John Prebble
Daniel B. Ullman
Crane Wilbur
Based on L'Île mystérieuse
1874 novel
by Jules Verne
Produced by Charles H. Schneer
Starring Michael Craig
Joan Greenwood
Herbert Lom
Michael Callan
Gary Merrill
Dan Jackson
Cinematography Wilkie Cooper
Edited by Frederick Wilson
Music by Bernard Herrmann
Production
company
Ameran Films
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • December 20, 1961 (1961-12-20)(U.S.)
Running time
101 minutes
CountriesUnited States
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office~$5,000,000

Mysterious Island (UK: Jules Verne's Mysterious Island) is a 1961 science fiction adventure film about prisoners in the American Civil War who escape in a balloon and then find themselves stranded on a remote island populated by giant animals. [1]

Contents

Loosely based upon the 1874 novel The Mysterious Island (L'Île mystérieuse) by Jules Verne (which was the sequel to two other novels by Verne, 1867's In Search of the Castaways and 1870's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas ), the film was produced by Charles H. Schneer and directed by Cy Endfield. [2]

Shot in Catalonia, Spain, and at Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, England, the film serves as a showcase for Ray Harryhausen's stop motion animation effects. Like several of Harryhausen's classic productions, the musical score was composed by Bernard Herrmann. [3] Another version of the story was produced in 2005. [4]

Plot

During the American Civil War, Union soldiers Cyrus Harding, Herbert Brown, and Neb Nugent, along with war correspondent Gideon Spillet, escape Libby Military Prison in Richmond, Virginia. They abscond with a gas balloon and a Rebel guard, Pencroft, who can pilot it. The balloon carries them west over the Pacific Ocean, where a storm forces them to crash land on an unknown island of tropical jungles, harsh plains, and active volcanoes. While exploring it, the men are attacked by a giant crab. They push it into a boiling geyser and have crab for dinner. Afterwards, they find two unconscious English ladies, Lady Mary Fairchild and her niece Elena, shipwrecked by the same storm. Eventually, the castaways make home in a cave formerly inhabited by another castaway. Later, a chest washes ashore. It contains rifles, nautical charts, and a copy of Robinson Crusoe . Markings on the rifles indicate it came from the submarine Nautilus .

Spillet tells Lady Fairchild of the Nautilus, its creator Captain Nemo, and its supposed destruction off Mexico eight years earlier. Using one of the charts, the castaways plot their location and begin constructing a boat. One day, Mary, Elena, and Spillet encounter a giant flightless bird. As it tries to eat Elena, Herbert arrives and knifes the creature. Later, as they consume the bird, they discover it was actually killed by a bullet none of them had fired. Weeks later, Herbert and Elena come across a hive of giant bees. They escape into a large flooded cave, where they spot the Nautilus. They enter the vessel to investigate before swimming out of the cave. Meantime, the others spy an approaching pirate ship, and a fight ensues. The castaways prevail only after an explosion mysteriously sinks the ship with all hands aboard.

The castaways finally meet Captain Nemo, who has been watching the castaways, secretly assisting them by sending the chest, shooting the giant bird, and sinking the pirate ship. He invites them to dinner aboard the Nautilus. There, they find the giant creatures are results of Nemo's genetic experiments to enlarge the world's food resources, eliminating hunger. Further, he has selected the castaways to make his achievements known to the world. One of them is an air-filled raising system which can refloat the pirate ship, the only readily seaworthy vessel on the island. Nemo teaches them to breathe underwater using his "shell" air tanks, and they raise the ship despite interference from a giant Ammonite. But as the castaways set sail, the island's central volcano erupts, killing Nemo and destroying the Nautilus. The rest begin the journey home, vowing to continue Nemo's dream of achieving lasting peace throughout the world.

Cast

Production

Development

Drive-in advertisement from 1961 for Mysterious Island and co-feature, Valley of the Dragons. Belair Drive-in Ad - 20 December 1961, Fontana, CA.jpg
Drive-in advertisement from 1961 for Mysterious Island and co-feature, Valley of the Dragons .

In May 1959, Columbia announced it had signed a deal with Charles Schneer to distribute nine of his films over three years. The films would include Battle of the Coral Sea, Gulliver's Travels, The Werner Von Braun Story, Mystery Island, Gentleman of China, and Air Force Academy. [5]

Mysterious Island would be the sixth collaboration between Schneer and Ray Harryhausen, beginning with It Came From Beneath the Sea , and the third in color, following The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and The 3 Worlds of Gulliver . Like Sinbad and Gulliver, it would be shot in Spain. [6]

Screenplay

The novel on which the film is based is a sequel to two other novels by Jules Verne, In Search of the Castaways (1867) and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870). The first book featured the island, the pirates and a character Tom Ayrton who was marooned on a nearby island. The second book featured Captain Nemo and the Nautilus presumed lost in the maelstrom at the end of that novel.

In The Mysterious Island (1874) after the escapees' balloon landed on the island, among many adventures, they encountered Ayrton alive, fought the pirates and discovered that Captain Nemo was their benefactor and the island the base for the Nautilus.

Casting

The film was mostly cast with British actors. Michael Craig was under contract to Rank. Michael Callan was under contract to Columbia at the time. Percy Herbert was originally rejected for his role due to his British accent, but got the part after practising a southern accent by watching Suddenly Last Summer several times. [7]

Filming

Giant crab used in the film Giant Crab (1961).jpg
Giant crab used in the film

Filming started 21 June 1960. [8] The beach scenes in Mysterious Island were shot on location at Sa Conca Bay, Castell-Platja d'Aro in Catalonia, Spain. The escape from the Confederate prison - using an observation balloon - was filmed in Church Square, Shepperton, England.

Interiors were completed at Shepperton Studios.

The stop motion animation effects were created by Ray Harryhausen. All the model creatures except the giant bird (which was re-purposed for use as the Ornithomimus in The Valley of Gwangi in 1969) still exist.[ citation needed ]

Michael Craig called Endfield "a dismal arsehole of an ex-pat American" and Schneer "a real Hollywood suit... the epitome of 'the son in law also rises". [9]

Soundtrack

The film's music was composed by Bernard Herrmann who had already scored two previous Harryhausen and Schneer productions ( The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and The 3 Worlds of Gulliver ). [3] The score was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. [10]

Critical reception

In their review, The New York Times noted "the impressive white-haired person of Herbert Lom," "Cy Endfield's spirited direction," and that Joan Greenwood "gurgles and croaks in a pleasantly distracting style"; [11] and in 1978, their TV critic called the film a "Dandy fantasy-adventure, done with skill and imagination, keyed by fine Bernard Herrmann score. A pip of this kind." Time Magazine said, "It should thrill the geewillikers out of anyone!" [12] The film's rentals brought in $5 million worldwide.

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an 81% "Fresh" score with an average rating of 6.4/10, based on 16 reviews. [13]

Home media

Blu-ray

ALL America - Twilight Time - The Limited Edition Series [14]

DVD

R1 America - Columbia/Tri-star Home Entertainment [15]

LaserDisc

Columbia Tri-Star Video [16]

Pioneer Special Edition [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Nautilus</i> (fictional submarine) Fictional submarine in Jules Verne novels

Nautilus is the fictional submarine belonging to Captain Nemo featured in Jules Verne's novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870) and The Mysterious Island (1875).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Captain Nemo</span> Character created by Jules Verne

Captain Nemo is a character created by the French novelist Jules Verne (1828–1905). Nemo appears in two of Verne's science-fiction books, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870) and The Mysterious Island (1875). He also makes a brief appearance in a play written by Verne with the collaboration of Adolphe d'Ennery, Journey Through the Impossible (1882).

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Harryhausen</span> American-British animator (1920–2013)

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<i>The Mysterious Island</i> 1875 novel by Jules Verne

The Mysterious Island is a novel by Jules Verne, serialised from August 1874 to September 1875 and then published in book form in November 1875. The first edition, published by Hetzel, contains illustrations by Jules Férat. The novel is a crossover sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870) and In Search of the Castaways (1867–68), though its themes are vastly different from those books. An early draft of the novel, rejected by Verne's publisher and wholly reconceived before publication, was titled Shipwrecked Family: Marooned with Uncle Robinson, indicating the influence of the novels Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson. Verne developed a similar theme in his novel, Godfrey Morgan.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Ayrton</span> Fictional character created by Jules Verne

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<i>Journey 2: The Mysterious Island</i> 2012 American film

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is a 2012 American science fantasy action-adventure film directed by Brad Peyton and produced by Beau Flynn, Tripp Vinson and Charlotte Huggins. A sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), the film is based on Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island (1875). It stars Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Josh Hutcherson, Vanessa Hudgens, Luis Guzmán, and Kristin Davis. The storyline was written by Richard Outten, Brian Gunn and Mark Gunn, and the screenplay by Brian and Mark Gunn. It tells the story of a volcanologist who answers a distress call from his long-lost grandfather and mounts a rescue to a mysterious island with help from his militaristic stepfather and the crew of a helicopter tour.

References

  1. ↑ "Mysterious Island (1961) - Articles - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
  2. ↑ MYSTERIOUS ISLAND Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 29, Iss. 336, (Jan 1, 1962): 82.
  3. 1 2 "BERNARD HERRMANN – Fathers of Film Music, Part 7". 1 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "Mysterious Island (2005) - Russell Mulcahy - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  5. ↑ Portrayals Spark Comedy Thriller: Edward Everett Horton Returns in Amusing 'Not in the Book' Scott, John L. Los Angeles Times 6 May 1959: A13.
  6. ↑ ' GULLIVER' TRAVELS IN DYNAMATION By LON JONESMADRID. New York Times 13 Sep 1959: X9.
  7. ↑ FILMLAND EVENTS: British Actor Wins Southern Role Los Angeles Times 7 July 1960: C9.
  8. ↑ Private Property! Now Made Public: Arty Quickie Tells Seduction Story in Distasteful Detail Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 16 June 1960: C9.
  9. ↑ Craig, Michael (2005). The Smallest Giant: An Actor's Life. Allen and Unwin. p. 95.
  10. ↑ "Mysterious Island (1962)". Archived from the original on June 2, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Movie Reviews". The New York Times. 12 August 2021.
  12. ↑ "Television". The New York Times. 3 February 1978.
  13. ↑ "Mysterious Island". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Mysterious Island AKA Jules Verne's Mysterious Island (Blu-ray) (1961)". DVDcompare.net. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  15. ↑ "Mysterious Island AKA Jules Verne's Mysterious Island (DVD) (1961)". DVDcompare.net. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  16. ↑ "Mysterious Island [76746]". LaserDisc Database. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  17. ↑ "Mysterious Island [PSE92-26]". LaserDisc Database. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
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