ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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TCM aired Around the World in 80 Days on 2/18/2022, and I watched it on a whim. (Actually I watched on a TV, but never mind that . . . )

This is a movie which I criticized on the thread(<— link) for that movie because I thought it was dull and overly long.

But watching it again today, I had a few epiphanies!

Since I knew not to expect an "action adventure", I actually enjoy its relaxed charm and its star-studied cast, not to mention the fine music score by listening it on my Sony headphones — the only way a true gentleman would undertake such an endeavor, I assure you, sir!



I also remembered that the first time I saw this film was a network airing, and I watched it on this modest little 14" TV during my bachelor days in the 1970s!





Watching it today on a 50" HD television is . . . . well, (cough, cough) a very different experience.

The sets and photography certainly keep the viewers eyes pleasantly occupied.

The montage of the balloon flight was filled with gorgeous scenery, both from the ground look up at the distant balloon high overhead, and from the air looking down at some spectacular views from aloft.

Victor Young's famous score is prominently featured during this stunning sequence.

In fact, the montage is quite reminiscent of the montage in Five Weeks in a Balloon (1961), the film version of another Jules Verne adventure.

Later in the Around the World in 80 Days, Phileas Fogg is joined by Sir Francis Cromarty, a British officer played by Cedric Hardwicke — who played Professor Fergusson, the inventor of the remarkable "heated hydron" airship featured in Five Weeks in a Balloon!









Once that thought occurred to me I realized there were several other similarities between the two movies. They both center on a race against time to complete a journey, and they both include the rescue of lovely lady who joins the heroes on their journey.

In Around the World in 80 Days, Fogg rescues an Indian princess (played by Shirley McLane), and in Five Weeks in a Balloon, Professor Ferguson rescues an American teacher (played by Barbara Eden) who is about to be sold into slavery.

Around the World in 80 Days also presents a bullfighting scene which is mesmerizing! I don't know how those guys do it, but it's obvious that bullfighters have more balls than a pool table!

Having said all this, I've obviously changed my negative opinion of that movie. My initial expectations were wrong, and after correcting them, I was able to enjoy the movie very much.

In fact, I think it would make a great double feature with Five Weeks in a Balloon!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)