Here, everything’s a little too stiff.Ī recently knighted Scottish geologist, Sir Oliver Lindenbrook (James Mason), receives a strange rock from an admiring student, Alex McEwan (Pat Boone), which he soon realises contains a “plumb bob” inscribed by famous scientist Arne Saknussemm.
Journey to the center of the earth cast movie#
While I can watch a two-hour movie from the ’50s and ’60s made in much the same style as Journey, that’s usually because the characters and plot keep my interest and the special effects have a personality to replace effectiveness. It backloads too much of the action and visual effects (which modern eyes won’t be thrilled by in the slightest), and screenwriters Charles Bracket and Walter Reisch’s attempt to lend more structure and “roundness” to Verne’s tale is a valiant effort suffering from limp pacing. There’s always a charm to vintage action and adventure movies, but Journey to the Center of the Earth isn’t the best example. Jules Verne’s classic 1864 novel hasn’t dated all that well, now we have a greater understanding of what truly lies at the centre of the Earth, and Henry Levin’s movie adaptation from 1959 is similarly old-fashioned in terms of its style and tone.