Rich Victorian bachelor, Phileas Fogg (David Niven) lives a life of an almost autistic routine - he has a preferred temperature for his toast, his breakfast must be at 8:24am on the dot and he is an onerous tyrant to any manservant who fails to comply with this. One day, at his gentleman’s club, Fogg commences a wager with the members that he can circumnavigate the world in 80 days. Accompanied by his new manservant, Passepartout (Cantinflas), he sets off on the ultimate race that will take him from the bullfights of Spain, to the depths of the Indian jungle where he rescues Princess Aouda (Shirley MacLaine, who is as Indian as I am), and beyond. However, a British policeman, Fix (Robert Newton) is in hot pursuit, convinced that Fogg has robbed the bank of England…
This is one of the biggest and most extravagant films to win Best Picture. 140 Hollywood sets, 68,000 extras, 74,000 costumes, and 8,500 animals comprise the production of this gargantuan project. And with a three hour running time and a vast range of ethnicities and locations, it’s a far-cry from last week’s 90-minute, domestic-based winner, Marty.
It’s also a far-cry from most Oscar winners, because, to put it bluntly, there’s no real point to it. Most Best Pictures have a strong social, political or emotional debate in them. Even the most recent equivalent in terms of scale, The Greatest Show on Earth, displayed insight into the dangers and trials of circus life. But Around the World is a whimsical, colourful tale of adventure, with most characters written for comic or at least farcical effect. And after several weeks of hefty dramas, this is pretty refreshing. I enjoyed being able to laugh and chat through the film. I didn’t feel a need to concentrate fully because the script and special effects were doing most of the work for me. If you’re hungover, ill, or just feeling plain lazy on a Sunday afternoon, this film is ideal entertainment.
David Niven is the driving force. The character of Fogg is potentially oppressive and cruel (in real life, he’d be ostracised for being a bit of a twat), but Niven injects some openly ridiculous Britishness and Hollywood-style heroism to ensure that we are not meant to take him seriously. And Cantinflas’ displays of circus acts and stunts provide a great deal to “ooh” and “aah” at. While the pace of the film may be slow by today’s standards, I was far from bored for the full 3 hours.
The film is let down by a limp and perfunctory central romance. Shirley MacLaine looks bored and would later state that she was horrendously miscast (she’s meant to be an Indian princess, so she has a point). The treatment of animals (particularly a matador scene) and the many racial stereotypes are sometimes uncomfortable to watch. Admittedly, most of the humour doesn’t derive from race, but rather Victorian Britain’s narrow-mindedness. Fogg speaks to a Chinese man in simple, tourist English, only to receive a very eloquent reply, and there are, albeit briefly, a group of Native Americans who don’t want to shoot at all the white men (right before a scene in which another group of Native Americans….shoot at all the white men). Some more insight into the cultures that Fogg encounters could have expanded this film beyond a two-dimensional adventure tale written for the Western World.
I loved Around the World’s sense of fun, and looked forward to each country that our heroes would encounter. It made me a laugh and it’s a welcome diversion from the usual heavy-handedness that the Oscars favours. But the film could have involved us emotionally with Fogg’s race against time, or provided more insight into relationships between the British Empire and the nations it dominated. Considering that this film beat The King and I and The Ten Commandments to the Best Picture title, it could have presented more than just whimsical.
Highlight
The various celebrity cameos are fun to watch out for. Endless members of the Hollywood Hall of Fame get brief, unexpected scenes, such as Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, John Gielgud, Buster Keaton and Glynis Johns to name a few.
Lowlight
The matador scene displays the brutality of such a sport, rather than glamorises the Spanish. Maybe I’m being overly-sensitive, but I’ve seen the real thing and it’s not pretty.
Mark
7/10
The 1950s has provided us with a plethora of cracking films, each individually shining in their own way. Right at the beginning we had All About Eve giving us a camp, headstrong angle on women ageing and the theatre industry. Last week we had Marty making some still-painfully accurate reflections on dating and love, and this week we have Around The World In Eighty Days, which I think we can safely describe as the first ‘epic’ film of the ‘50s. It’s a colourful, vibrant piece which as Paul says isn’t here to do anything other than tell the story and provide some spectacles. It manages this with aplomb, and watching this the hazy day after a late night out was the perfect atmosphere.
I pretty much agree with Paul on this one, the light-hearted and jovial tone was pleasant, and I quite enjoyed the break from what is becoming a string of realist, fairly gritty films. However I did find myself wondering quite what - apart from the spectacle - led this to a win. Spectacle seems a thin reason to merit accreditation.
I wasn’t fully engaged, but it doesn’t feel like a film that insists on your absolute attention. In fact, when you do scrutinise it, certain elements feel a little shoddy. A scene with Glynis Johns is shoehorned in, clearly just to feature her. Marlene Dietrich’s cameo comes off as utterly weird, with an unexplained husband/lover/pimp(??) defending her honour whenever a man looks at her. And the plot speed varies hugely. They whistle through moments where Phileas is imprisoned or Passepartout is hoisted above a burning fire, and then spend a good fifteen minutes on the (most uncomfortable) scene with the bullfighters.
It’s not filled with any particularly great performances, although the Latin actor Cantinflas plays Passepartout with aplomb and great humour. Interestingly he had refused to do many Hollywood films, and only took this role on with the proviso he could appear as obviously Latin. In non-English speaking countries he was frequently billed as the top actor, and was obviously recognised as a comic star there.
Ultimately, it’s a fun piece of fluff, and while it has none of the staying power of other films we’ve seen so far, it’s a pleasant way to pass a few hours on a Sunday afternoon. It’s a shame Shirley Maclaine ends up trying to play an Indian princess, but the film thankfully steers away from much caricature (or indeed full-on racism). It’s not quite the dud of the ‘50s, but it feels like the younger sibling - not quite as fully developed or meaningful as the other films we’ve seen so far.
Highlight
I think this has to be Cantinflas’ performance, with comic timing that still rings true today and a great sense of fun with his physical stunts.
Lowlight
Like Paul I found the obvious animal cruelty difficult to watch. The bulls in the matador-ring, the elephants being ridden in the jungle, and the ostriches pulling carts with difficulty. The only animal that seemed vaguely happy was the cat in the opening scene!
Mark
4.5/10
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