Mysterious Island (1961 film)
Mysterious Island | |
---|---|
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 |
Running time | 101 minutes |
Countries | United States United Kingdom |
Language | English |
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 and tiny animals.[1]
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
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
Cast
- Michael Craig as Captain Cyrus Harding
- Joan Greenwood as Lady Mary Fairchild
- Michael Callan as Herbert Brown
- Gary Merrill as Gideon Spilitt
- Herbert Lom as Captain Nemo
- Beth Rogan as Elena Fairchild
- Percy Herbert as Sergeant Pencroft
- Dan Jackson as Corporal Neb Nugent
- Christian Nouveau as Michael Prince
Production
Development
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Belair_Drive-in_Ad_-_20_December_1961%2C_Fontana%2C_CA.jpg/160px-Belair_Drive-in_Ad_-_20_December_1961%2C_Fontana%2C_CA.jpg)
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
Screenplay
The novel on which the film is based is a sequel to two other novels by Jules Verne,
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
Filming
Filming started 21 June 1960.
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,
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]
- Picture Format: 1.66:1 (1080p 24fps) [AVC MPEG-4]
- Soundtrack(s): English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0
- Subtitles: English
- Extras:
- Isolated Score (presented in 2.0 Stereo)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:31)
- TV Trailer Spot #1 (1:03)
- Case type: Keep Case
- Note: Limited as in only 3,000 copies were made (none are numbered)
DVD
R1 America - Columbia/Tri-star Home Entertainment[15]
- Picture Format: 1.78:1 (Anamorphic) [NTSC]
- Soundtrack(s): English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
- Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish
- Extras:
- "The Making Of Mysterious Island" featurette
- "The Harryhausen Chronicles" featurette
- "This Is Dynamation" featurette
- Photo Gallery
- Theatrical Trailer
- Bonus trailers for The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger
- Case type: Keep Case
- Notes: Also available in The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen: Legendary Science Fiction Series 5-disc box set, with Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, 20 Million Miles to Earth, It Came from Beneath the Sea, and H.G. Wells' First Men in the Moon.
Columbia Tri-Star Video[16]
- Picture Format: 1.33:1
- Soundtrack: English
- UPC: 043396767461
- ISBN 0-8001-3804-X
- Extras:
- Ray Harryhausen on the making of the film
- Posters, lobby cards
Pioneer Special Edition[17]
- Picture Format: 1.33:1
- Soundtrack: English
- UPC: 13023 26225
- Extras:
- Premiere digital stereo soundtrack restoration
- CAV presentation
- Film score isolated on second audio channel
- Trailer for The 7th Voyage of Sinbad
- The Making of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (This is Dynamation! vintage featurette)
See also
- List of stop-motion films
References
- ^ "Mysterious Island (1961) - Articles - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
- ^ MYSTERIOUS ISLAND Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 29, Iss. 336, (Jan 1, 1962): 82.
- ^ a b "BERNARD HERRMANN – Fathers of Film Music, Part 7". 1 December 2014.
- ^ "Mysterious Island (2005) - Russell Mulcahy - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie.
- ^ Portrayals Spark Comedy Thriller: Edward Everett Horton Returns in Amusing 'Not in the Book' Scott, John L. Los Angeles Times 6 May 1959: A13.
- ^ ' GULLIVER' TRAVELS IN DYNAMATION By LON JONESMADRID. New York Times 13 Sep 1959: X9.
- ^ FILMLAND EVENTS: British Actor Wins Southern Role Los Angeles Times 7 July 1960: C9.
- ^ Private Property! Now Made Public: Arty Quickie Tells Seduction Story in Distasteful Detail Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 16 June 1960: C9.
- ^ Craig, Michael (2005). The Smallest Giant: An Actor's Life. Allen and Unwin. p. 95.
- ^ "Mysterious Island (1962)". Archived from the original on June 2, 2017.
- ^ "Movie Reviews". The New York Times. 12 August 2021.
- ^ "Television". The New York Times. 3 February 1978.
- ^ "Mysterious Island". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
- ^ "Mysterious Island AKA Jules Verne's Mysterious Island (Blu-ray) (1961)". DVDcompare.net. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "Mysterious Island AKA Jules Verne's Mysterious Island (DVD) (1961)". DVDcompare.net. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "Mysterious Island [76746]". LaserDisc Database. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
- ^ "Mysterious Island [PSE92-26]". LaserDisc Database. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
External links
- Mysterious Island at IMDb
- Mysterious Island at AllMovie
- Mysterious Island at the TCM Movie Database
- Mysterious Island at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films