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Around The World In 80 Days

Around The World In 80 Days (1956)

⭐ 6.8 | G | 182 minutes
DVD (2 discs + 1 features ) Digital ✓
Genre: Family & Animation
Aspect Ratio: Wide
Sound: DD 5.1
Academy Awards: 5 Wins , 8 Nominations

Synopsis

The world can feel enormous, until someone bets he can circle it in record time. Michael Anderson's "Around the World in 80 Days," produced by showman Mike Todd and adapted from Jules Verne's novel by James Poe, John Farrow and S.J. Perelman, is a lavish, globe-trotting spectacle that opens with a prologue by newsman Edward R. Murrow. In 1872, David Niven stars as Phileas Fogg, a precise, unflappable English gentleman whose life runs strictly by the clock, who wagers £20,000 with his fellow members of London's Reform Club that he can travel around the globe in just 80 days. With his resourceful, easily distracted valet, Passepartout (Mexican comedy star Cantinflas), he sets off at once, crossing the Alps by hot-air balloon, stopping in Spain for a lively flamenco show and a bullfight and sailing on to India. When the railroad line runs out, they ride on elephant back and rescue a lovely Indian princess (Shirley MacLaine) from a forced ceremony meant to take her life, and she joins them on their travels. Meanwhile, a dogged Scotland Yard detective (Robert Newton), convinced Fogg is a bank robber on the run, trails them from Hong Kong to Japan and across the American West, where their train is attacked. When their ship runs short of fuel crossing the Atlantic, Fogg has it stripped down and burned to keep it moving. Filmed in widescreen in dozens of real locations, it's packed with cameos from dozens of stars, including Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Buster Keaton, Noël Coward, Peter Lorre and Charles Boyer, and it ends with a clever twist that changes everything. Saul Bass designed the playful animated end credits. It won five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Victor Young's sweeping score.

Cast

David Niven
Cantinflas
Robert Newton
Shirley MacLaine

Director

Michael Anderson

Awards & Nominations

  • Oscar Nominee: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color
  • Oscar Nominee: Best Costume Design, Color
  • Oscar Nominee: Best Director
  • Oscar Winner: Best Cinematography, Color
  • Oscar Winner: Best Film Editing
  • Oscar Winner: Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
  • Oscar Winner: Best Picture
  • Oscar Winner: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay

Keywords

Academy Award Winners Adventure Comedy Drama Family Fantasy

Technical Specifications

Audio Languages

English, French

Subtitle Languages

English, French, Spanish

Special Features

  • Audio commentary
  • DVD-ROM content
  • Featurettes/Behind-The-Scenes/Documentaries
  • Gag Reel/Bloopers/Outtakes
  • Photo gallery
  • Trailers/TV spots
  • Commentary by BBC Radio's Brian Sibley
  • Documentary "Around the World with Mike Todd"
  • Excerpts from "Playhouse 90's Around the World in 90 Minutes" commemorating the film's one-year anniversary
  • Newsreel footage from the 1957 Oscars, and the premieres in Los Angeles and Spain
  • Short "A Trip to the Moon" (1902)
  • DVD-ROM: Michael Todd's "Around the World in 80 Days" Almanac
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