F-0127

Title:

Mysterious Island

Category:

S

Produced:

1961

Country:

UK / USA

Released:

Dec 1961 (film, USA); Oct 2002 (DVD)

Director:

Cy Endfield

Writer:

Jules Verne (novel "L'Île mystérieuse"); John Prebble (screenplay); Daniel B. Ullman (screenplay); Crane Wilbur (screenplay)

Actors:

Michael Craig (Capt. Cyrus Harding); Joan Greenwood (Lady Mary Fairchild); Michael Callan (Herbert Brown); Gary Merrill (Gideon Spilitt); Herbert Lom (Captain Nemo); Beth Rogan (Elena Fairchild); Percy Herbert (Sgt. Pencroft); Dan Jackson (Cpl. Neb Nugent)

Description:

During the USA Civil War, Union POWs escape in a balloon and end up stranded on a South Pacific island, inhabited by giant plants and animals. They must use their ingenuity to survive the dangers, and to devise a way to return home. Sequel to '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' . (Stewart M. Clamen)

Jules Verne's classic adventure is perfectly matched with Ray Harryhausen's timeless movie magic in Mysterious Island. Based on Verne's sequel to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, this rousing Civil War-era fantasy begins when a band of Union war prisoners (and one Confederate straggler) escape in a hot-air balloon, which crash-lands on the titular island of mystery. Verne's novel doesn't include any gigantic creatures, but Harryhausen's version--under the capable direction of genre specialist Cy Endfield--features giant oysters, bees, a prehistoric Phororhacos (a giant chickenlike bird!), an undersea cephalopod, a giant crab, and enough danger to keep its resourceful ensemble on constant alert. Captain Nemo (Herbert Lom, ably filling James Mason's shoes) is a third-act hero, pursuing an ill-fated dream to save humanity from hunger and war. The action may be too intense for younger viewers, but Endfield's pacing and Harryhausen's stop-motion mastery make Mysterious Island a wondrous precursor to Harryhausen's follow-up classic, Jason and the Argonauts. (Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com)

Language:

English

Bach's Music:

Toccata & Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565
Captain Nemo (Organ)

Film Company:

Ameran Films Ltd.

Format:

Color (Eastmancolor) film | DVD (Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, NTSC) | DVD (PAL)

VHS/DVD Label:

Sony Pictures [DVD]

TT:

101 min / 100 min (DVD)

Comments:

Watch selections:

Buy movie at:

Amazon.com [DVD] | Amazon.com [DVD]

Source/Links: IMDB
Contributor: Aryeh Oron (November 2007)

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