Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS will always be special to me because it was the only film that I watched alone with my beloved paternal grandfather, back in Lourenço Marques, Moçambique, in 1970. Of course, one can find flaws with the structure, Cantinflas' excessive flamboyance, and holes in the story's credibility, but that detracts from the immense pleasure, and ultimately the rather solid product that this film turns out to be, with wonderful comic touches and photography, and cameos by major stars of the day generously sprinkled all over the film. A 60th anniversary edition has come out in DVD and BlueRay with excellent extra material, including a voice over commentary that is a joy to listen to, offering detailed information about members of the cast, production difficulties, etc. David Niven's deadpan performance provides a clever counterweight to Cantinflas' overplayed antics. I have now watched this film at least 5 times, and all I can say is that I continue to enjoy it... very much!

Jules Verne is often thought of today as a pioneering author of science- fiction, but his "Around the World in 80 Days" is a novel without any futuristic, sci-fi elements. Rather than attempting to predict the technology of the future, Verne uses the novel to celebrate the technology of his own day, especially the railways and steamships which were starting to make the world a smaller place. Even so, he still thought that his hero was attempting the impossible; it is said that his original title was "Around the World in 100 Days", but he changed it when his publisher pointed out that a tour of the world in 100 days was quite feasible so Fogg would not have found any takers for his bet. The basic plot is quite a simple one. In order to win a bet with fellow- members of his London club Phileas Fogg, a Victorian English gentleman, sets out to travel around the world in eighty days, accompanied by his valet Passepartout. Along the way they have various adventures. Their principal antagonist is a Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Fix, who dogs their footsteps in order to arrest Fogg, whom he believes to have robbed the Bank of England. (In reality, Fogg is the victim of mistaken identity). Fogg's love interest is Princess Aouda, a beautiful Indian lady whom he rescues from the fate of being burned alive on her first husband's funeral pyre. The film contains two odd pieces of casting. In the fifties the Production Code still officially banned depictions of mixed-race romances and marriages, but in practice the censors tended to overlook romances between white men and light-skinned non-white or mixed-race women, provided those women were played by white actresses. (E.g. Jennifer Jones in "Love Is a Many-Splendoured Thing", Joan Rice in "His Majesty O'Keeffe", Ava Gardner in "Bhowani Junction", and others). Hence the seemingly bizarre casting of a young Shirley MacLaine as Aouda, although she is not quite as unconvincing as an Indian as one might have expected. Hollywood's squeamishness about interracial love did not die with the Production Code; when the film was remade in 2004 Aouda was written out of the story altogether and Fogg's love interest became a Frenchwoman. The second strange piece of casting is that of the Mexican comedian Cantinflas as Passepartout, a Frenchman in the novel. (Mind you, this role was even more strangely cast in the 2004 version when Passepartout was played by Jackie Chan). The reason is that the producer Mike Todd was a great admirer of Cantinflas, and the plot of the novel was even rewritten to accommodate him. Comic mock-bullfights were a Cantinflas speciality, and in the film Fogg and Passepartout travel to Spain, a country they do not actually visit in the book, so that such a scene can take place. Real bullfighting is a nasty, bloody business, but in the hands of Cantinflas it becomes a genteel, balletic affair, a sort of tango between man and bull who clearly have a gentleman's agreement not to injure one another. Although little known in English-speaking countries, Cantinflas was a huge star in Mexico and elsewhere in the Spanish-speaking world, where he was given top billing ahead of David Niven. The film could perhaps be described as "Around the World in 80 Clichés", because each country the travellers visit is represented by a sort of easily recognisable visual shorthand- flamenco and bullfights in Spain, fezzes in Egypt, elephants, sacred cows and turbans in India, rickshaws and pigtails in Hong Kong, kimonos and temples in Japan, cowboys and Indians in America. No expense was spared in making the film; the cast and crew actually did travel round the world, shooting the various scenes on location in the countries where they are set, and a large number of established stars, including the likes of John Gielgud, Marlene Dietrich and Frank Sinatra, have cameo roles or appear as extras. The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. This caused some surprise at the time because it beat films as good as "The Ten Commandments" and "Lust for Life". There seemed, however, to be a tradition in the fifties of giving "Best Picture" Oscars to light- hearted films ("An American in Paris", "Gigi") as well as to serious ones ("From Here to Eternity", "On the Waterfront", "Ben-Hur"), and "Around the World in Eighty Days" falls firmly into the former category. It was a big success at the box office, and the Academy judges were obviously impressed by the factors that made it so- its grand scale, its attractive Technicolor photography, Niven's suave, dapper performance as the hero, the antics of Cantinflas and its general sense of fun and adventure. Although it would not have been my personal choice as best film of 1956, I cannot regard it as an unworthy winner. 8/10Some goofs. When Fogg arrives back at his club at 8.45 pm on 21st September it is broad daylight outside, although it would be dark in Britain at this time in late September, and would have been even darker in 1872 when there was no British Summer Time. We see a San Francisco cable car, although these were not introduced until 1873, a year after the date the film is set.

Not bad. Had the potential to be frightfully boring, especially considering its 3-hour running time. The plot is quite conventional, and feels reasonably padded. Also can be a bit mundane if you already know the story (and who doesn't).However, it was fairly entertaining. Made so mostly by the scenery and excellent cinematography. Felt like a travel documentary.The occasional humour also helps.Performances are nothing to write home about. David Niven is overly stuffy as Phileas Fogg. (But that's all he knows how to do). Supporting cast have a host of big names in minor, sometimes very fleeting roles: Noel Coward, Sir John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, John Carradine, Buster Keaton.Certainly didn't deserve a Best Picture Oscar, but not that bad.

From the Jules Verne book, Englishman Phileas Fogg (David Niven) accepts a bet from his fellow Reform Club members to travel around the world in 80 days putting up £20k. Passepartout (Cantinflas) comes looking for a job and becomes his valet for the trip. The Bank of England has been robbed of £55k. Inspector Fix (Robert Newton) believes that Fogg had stolen the money and follows him in pursuit. It's a wild ride across the globe. On the way, they rescue Indian Princess Aouda (Shirley MacLaine) who joins them on their quest.Without a doubt, this is a grand movie with lots of footage from all around the world. It was probably quite an eye opener for its time. With the exception of these exotic footage, the movie is a slow, prodding, unfunny affair. The trip is monotonous. A lot of it is wild, some are insane while others border on racist. I guess people actually believed that ostriches pulled carts in HongKong back in the day. However one must admire the daring it took to make such an impossible film.