Proctor Finlay Currie, Ronald Squires, Basil Sydney, A. Just to name a few in the more important roles: John Carradine as the pompous Col. There’s rarely been a picture that can boast of so many star names in bit parts. Fix, the detective who trails Fogg whom he suspects of having robbed the Bank of London, is broad comic all the way through, and Miss MacLaine ia appealing as the princess. A master mimic, Cantinflas makes a big contribution to the success of the film. He has a Chaplinesque quality that endears him immediately, and his antics provide many laughs along with amused chuckles. Matching him in a standout performance, is Mexican star Cantinflas (Mario Moreno) as Passepartout. Niven, as Fogg, is the perfect stereotype of the unruffled English gentleman and quite intentionally, a caricature of 19th Century British propriety. Eastman color, processed by Technicolor, helps compound the rich effects of landscape and costumes. Images are extraordinarily sharp and depth of focus, aided by Lindon’s lensing, is striking in many scenes. Todd-AO syustem here, for the first time, has been properly used and fills the screen with wondrous effects. There is never scenery just for scenery’s sake, and never story without the rich backgrounds. It’s a neat trick, and it comes off socko.
Script and director (Michael Anderson), have balanced the story cleverly, weaving in the mass of top names without ever losing track of the main line. This picture was made with showmanship in mind and the customers are guaranteed to eat it up. The Todd “touch” is rich in evidence throughout. “80 Days,” lensed by Lionel Lindon with Kevin McCrory doing the foreign locales, is a bouncy, riotous, action-packed picture that still stakes time out for hearty laughs and the magnificent scenery. Little time has been wasted and the story races on as Fogg and company proceed from London to Paris, thence via balloon to Spain and the bullfights from there to Marseilles and India, where Fogg and Passepartout rescue beautiful Miss MacLaine from death on a funeral pyre to Hong Kong, Japan, San Francisco, across the country by train to New York (notwithstanding an Indian attack) and thence back to England where Fogg thinks he has lost his bet, but discovers in the last minute that, by traveling East, he has gained a day and is the winner yet.Ĭredit Todd with going all-out in giving the customers their money’s worth. But this time there’ll be few complaints. This is another long picture - two hours and 55 minutes plus intermission.
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