This is one movie that certainly bears re-watching, but not too frequently. An Edinburgh professor, James Mason -- with his distinctive voice which I could listen to reciting the telephone directory -- forms an expedition to follow certain clues and travel to the earth's core (which fortunately is not the ball of fire that it undoubtedly actually is). His party consists of his student Pat Boone -- there was an unfortunate trend at about this time to cast popular singers in leading roles (and thinking about it, this trend still continues), Arlene Dahl as the comely widow of his murdered rival who insists upon accompanying him in memory of her husband, arguing that she is the only one who can communicate with Icelandic Hunk, Peter Ronson, and the hunk's duck! Yes, you read that correctly, his pet duck is called Gertrude.
Filled with imaginative design including a selection of prehistoric monsters and graced with a literate script and a magnificent Bernard Herrmann score, this is the kind of family treat which deserves to live on to charm new audiences. It's probably a little leisurely in its exposition and a little self-indulgent in granting Boone the occasional song ("Jules Verne the Musical"?), but still a fun watch with a truly hissable villain. Yes, they still do make them like this -- just not often enough. Certainly the TV remake with Treat Williams in the James Mason role is not really in the same league.
1 comment:
I still watch this one when it crops up on tv.
http://journals.aol.co.uk/acoward15/andy-the-bastard/
Post a Comment