Around the World in 80 Days - The Oscar Project Part XXIX

After “The Greatest Show on Earth” I was nervous about going into watching “Around the World in 80 Days” as I was expecting something similar. A bunch of boring entertainment held together by a thin story. Released in 1956, the film was a giant risk at the time. It was expensive and cast nearly every big actor in Hollywood at the time in various cameo roles. The film is based on the Jules Verne novel but included added scenes so that the Latin comedian Cantinflas would have a larger role. At the time he was the largest Latin star in the world and the movie was made to appeal to a global audience instead of just the American domestic audience.

The plot from the film is fairly simple. A wager is made at the England Reform Club that Phileas Fobb cannot go around the world in 80 days. Set in 1872 this is a very difficult task as most of the fast infrastructure in place today was not available. Fobb must travel with his man servant Passepartout via hot air balloon, boat and train. Throughout the course of the journey the pair encounters a large number of obstacles, several of which allow for a showcase of different cultures in the world. Unlike “The Greatest Show on Earth”, “Around the World in 80 Days” has a plot that kept my attention because I was constantly rooting for Fogg to win the wager and up until the end it seems that he may not succeed. Also the cultural displays in this film are far more enjoyable to watch since they don’t have the same “fake” feeling that existed in “The Greatest Show on Earth.”

From a production standpoint all of the actors put in a solid performance. Nothing really special about the performances but that isn’t what this movie was really about. In a film like this though the actors job is to put in a solid performance so that nothing distracts from the experience of the movie. Director Michael Anderson helps create that experience with great shots of far off lands and by using real objects and not models, and when he had to use models he used large scale ones, not small. The movie felt real like the crew actually travelled around the world in 80 days, which even though at the time the film was released would have been relatively easy, the film flows in such a way that it really feels like they are doing the impossible.

A film like this wouldn’t be made today unfortunately. The budget for something like this would be to large and unfortunately most of the population wouldn’t be interested in it. This type of movie is relegated to the documentary crowd now. I enjoyed it though and I give it 4 out of 5 stars.