Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)
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An English gentleman wagers that he can circumnavigate the globe in exactly eighty days.
The story
In 1872, an English gentleman named Phileas Fogg claims he can circumnavigate the world in eighty days. Met with skepticism, he makes a £20,000 wager with four fellow members of the Reform Club that he can complete the journey and return to the club by exactly 8:45 pm eighty days from that evening. Accompanied by his resourceful French valet, Passepartout, Fogg travels across the globe, spending money to secure faster transportation and accommodate tight steamship schedules. The journey takes them through various international locations, including Paris, Spain, Italy, India, and the Wild West, as they race against the clock to fulfill the bet.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1872, Phileas Fogg wagers £20,000 with members of the Reform Club that he can circumnavigate the globe in eighty days. Traveling with his valet Passepartout, Fogg faces numerous obstacles, including a blocked tunnel in the Alps, leading them to fly over the mountains in a gas-filled balloon. During their travels, they encounter a flamenco sequence in Spain, a bullfight, and rescue a widow named Aouda from a funeral pyre in India. Meanwhile, Police Inspector Fix trails Fogg, suspecting him of stealing £55,000 from the Bank of England. After traveling through Hong Kong, Yokohama, San Francisco, and the Wild West, Fogg manages to reach New York and then Venezuela, where he eventually buys a ship to reach Liverpool. Upon arrival, Fogg is arrested by Fix, who later discovers the real thief has been caught. Fogg is released but realizes he has run out of time to reach London. However, by traveling east and crossing the International Date Line, he discovers he has gained a day. He rushes to the Reform Club and arrives just before the 8:45 pm chime, winning the bet. Passepartout and Aouda arrive behind him, shocking the club as no woman had ever entered before.
- First release year
- 1956
- Runtime (minutes)
- 182
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Michael Anderson
- Writers
- James Poe · screenplay; John Farrow · screenplay; S.J. Perelman · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- David Niven · Phileas Fogg; Cantinflas · Passepartout; Shirley MacLaine · Princess Aouda; Robert Newton · Inspector Fix
- Genres
- adventure; comedy; epic
- Themes
- Travel; Adventure; Time; Persistence
- Tone and mood
- Epic; Light-hearted; Adventurous
- Premise and plot tags
- Period Piece; Road Movie; Bet; Circumnavigation
- Source material / true-story basis
- The classic 1873 novel of the same name by Jules Verne
- Reception
- The film received mixed to positive reviews, described as a sprawling, extravagant travelogue. It was a commercial success, topping the Variety monthly box office chart for seven months in 1957 and grossing $33 million by the time of the producer's death.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 72% · review count: 43
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Picture · Win
- Production trivia
- The wardrobe department spent $410,000 to provide 74,685 costumes and 36,092 trinkets, allegedly the most costumes ever required for a Hollywood production.; The film featured 7,959 animals, including four ostriches, six skunks, 15 elephants, 17 fighting bulls, 512 rhesus monkeys, 800 horses, 950 burros, 2,448 American bison, 3,800 Rocky Mountain sheep and a sacred cow that eats flowers on cue.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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