"Journey to the Center of the Earth" was produced at the height of studio dominance in the film business. 20th Century Fox would soon be nearly bankrupt from the red ink of "Cleopatra" (later saved by the success of "The Longest Day" and "The Sound of Music"). Consequently, every department contributed tons of production value and I would say the matching of studio sets with actual locations in Carlsbad Caverns was pretty flawless. Like a lot of fantasy adventure films of the 1950s and 1960s (ie. Jason and the Argonauts, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad and The Wonders of Aladdin), "Journey to the Center of the Earth" focuses firmly on the characters and the special effects support the performances. Today, sadly, so much effort and time is spent in designing the special effects that the human characters suffer and become clichés (with the exception recently of Tobey Maguire's wonderful "Spiderman" and the recent "Superman"). Those of us who grew up in the 1950s, think of this film fondly as a perfect Saturday matinée entertainment. I can still remember sucking on my giant cherry lollipop, flipping popcorn boxes against the screen and enjoying that very ominous Bernard Herrmann musical score. For a singer, Pat Boone plays drama and adventure quite well and even looks good with his shirt off. Arlene Dahl is sexy in her tight bodice and Peter Ronson also performs well considering he had zero acting experience. James Mason's Professor Lindenbrook ties it all together nicely - it was probably his most physical role ever. And, of course there was Gertrude, who, unfortunately, probably ended up on someone's plate, rather than be retired to the Motion Picture Home for old ducks. Kai aye professor, indeed.

This is the classic adaptation (1959) by Henry Levin with great cast such as James Mason as Lindenbrook , Pat Boone , Diane Baker and Arlene Dahl as a wealthy widow . An Edinburgh (in fact , many of the people in the crowd scenes were students of Edinburgh University) professor (James Mason who replaced an ailing Clifton Webb) and assorted colleagues as his pupil (Pat Boone) , a woman looking for her husband who disappeared various years earlier during a voyage follow an explorer's trail down an extinct Icelandic volcano to the earth's center . Meanwhile , they are chased by a mysterious scout , the Count Saknussemm (Alexander Scourby started shooting at Carlsbad Caverns , but the producers were unhappy with him and he was replaced with Thayer David) who has usurped a map for his own greedy purposes . As the expedition to the center of the earth starts in a volcano located in Iceland . The professor and his compatriots descend into deep caverns filled with stalactites and stalagmites and encounter a tunnel system leading to the center . Along the way they find prehistoric beasts , a magnetic storm and the lost city of Atlantis .

This superior adaptation is a colorful recounting of the Jules Verne adventure yarn . Lighthearted romp for kids and teenagers based upon the famous book . Dealing with the known story about an anthropologist scientific named Linderbrook , James Mason , and his student , Pat Boone , and a woman , Arlene Dahl , undergo a hazardous voyage to find clues of her husband who disappeared some years earlier . As the peculiar trio along with a Island explorer descend into deep caves and discover a way leading to the planet's center . The highlights of the movie are the numerous risks and dangers they have to deal with , such as endure torrential floods , prehistoric animals , terrifying earthquake , and discover the lost city of Atlantis as happens in the classic novel . Fox gave the green light to this big-budget CinemaScope production partially on the basis of the success of the recent Jules Verne adaptations , Walt Disney's 20.000 leagues under the sea (1954) and Michael Todd's Around the World in Eighty Days ; as with those earlier films , turned out to be big hits . There're rip-roaring action , spirit of adventure , derring-do , sense of wonder , thrills , and results to be quite entertaining . It's a big fun with great special effects , adequate set decoration and impressive art direction . Spotlights of the voyage include a roller-coaster trip , a terrifying odyssey in sailing, with appearance of prehistoric reptiles , and many others events . The "Dimetrodons" in the movie were played by a large type of lizard called a rhinoceros iguana , in real life was a type of Synapsid reptile . Acceptable cinematography full of color by Leo Tover , though there is an excessive use of matte-painting . Thrilling and breathtaking musical score by Bernard Herrmann in his peculiar and Hitchcockian style . The motion picture was well directed by Henry Levin , the heavy cost proved to be a good investment, resulting in a big hit at the box office . It was nominated for four Academy Awards including Art Direction , FX , and set decoration.

Other versions about this known story based upon the Jules Verne's 1864 fantasy are the followings : Spanish version (1976) by Juan Piquer with Kenneth Moore , Jack Taylor , Frank Braña , Ivonne Sentis , Pep Munne , José María Caffarel , Emiliano Redondo . 1988 retelling titled Journey to the center by Rutsy Lemorande with Ian Mitchell-Smith , Paul Carafotes . TV version made its way to cable by George Miller with Treat Williams , Jeremy London , Tushka Bergen , and Bryan Brown and another inferior television picture (2008) by David Jones with Greg Evigan and Dedee Pfeiffer . In addition , Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), (TV) , by T.J. Scott with Ricky Schroder , Peter Fonda , Victoria Pratt , Steven Grayhm . Furthermore , a cartoon movie : Journey to the Center of the Earth (1967) was based on this film version rather than the original novel by Jules Verne and features several characters that were created for the 1959 film . And of course , recent and successful take on filmed in 3D , produced and starred by Brendan Fraser with Anita Briem and Josh Hutcherson being followed by a sequel titled : Mysterious Island , with Josh Hutcherson and Michael Caine . Rating : Above average.

James Mason was a lovely English actor. Pat Boone was, at the time, an American teen heart-throb. So, naturally, 20th Century-Fox cast them both in leading roles as Scottish men! While to many of my fellow Americans Scots and English are pretty much the same, their accents are not and Brits would most likely object to being lumped together like this. But Pat Boone?! He's about as Scottish as Speedy Gonzales!! And, oddly, at times, he approximated a Scottish accent and others he sounded pretty much like an American....and they had him sing several times throughout the film! Surely, the executives at the studio could have done a better job casting the film than this!! Oh, and did I mention that Arlene Dahl was cast as a Scandinavian?! It's sad, because otherwise it's a pretty good film.

The story is based on Jules Verne's novel. I have never read this book, so I have no idea how faithful all this is to his vision. The story begins in Edinburgh. A geology professor discovers a strange artifact with runes near a volcano and he is confused what it all means--perhaps there are channels running under the Earth and it is honeycombed with them. Eventually, he and his colleague (Boone) go to explore a dormant volcano in Iceland and meet up with a pushy lady (Dahl), a blond Icelandic guy and a duck! The five find their way into the earth and follow its path downward--further and further under the Earth's crust. What they don't know is that they are being followed by someone...someone with evil intent. What's next in their adventure? Watch the film and see for yourself. Just be prepared for lots of impossibilities--such as dinosaurs, lightning and an ocean deep, deep within the planet.

The film and plot are terribly dated. But, the film, for 1959, is quite nice--with very nice music, colorful sets, and a fun story...fun but kind of dumb. It's definitely a film that will appeal to those who can let go of their brains and just enjoy the film for what it is--cheesy fun. So, despite bad casting, dumb dinosaurs and a silly story, it manages to entertain. While I would love to see what they could do today with this story (with great new CGI), I am still loathe to see the recent "Journey" films. Brendan Frasier is no replacement for James Mason!