Journey To The Center Of The Earth

Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)

Runtime: 129 minutes

Directed by: Henry Levin

Starring: James Mason, Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl, Peter Ronson, Thayer David

From: 20th Century Fox

Featuring Icelandic Dolph Lundgren

This was watched last night on Disney +; it was something I hadn't viewed since I was a little kid, way back in the VHS days. Finally being able to see this in nice quality and Cinemascope was a treat... this has nice visual moments, the effects typically still look fine & this is a fun adventure with exotic worlds and giant monsters-actually lizards in disguise. Note that I've never seen the 2008 movie starring Brendan Fraser or its sequel with The Rock... nor the apparently atrocious picture from the 80's.

Based on a Jules Verne story I've never read, James Mason discovers it is not as difficult as you'd think to find a passage to enter Earth's interior. He is accompanied by Pat Boone, the mom of Lorenzo Lamas (Arlene Dahl) and a guy I'll talk about in a bit who I call Icelandic Dolph Lundgren... who is accompanied by duck Gertrude. Of course there is someone else who wishes to reach the center. As the setting is 1880, of course there is plenty of sexism. Otherwise, this was quite enjoyable and had a blend of comedy, drama, some action, and even a few songs. It's not the most scientific or logical flick, but I presume that echoes the novel. Animal lovers may not love everything in the movie, though...

The guy I compared to Dolph-due to both being tall athletic Scandinavians-was an actual Icelandic athlete (who competed in the 1960 Summer Olympics in the 110 meter hurdles) who acted under the Anglicized name of Peter Ronson. The production managed to find someone of the right nationality for the part as Ronson was in California for college and they discovered him. While this was his only film role and he mainly spoke his native tongue, he was good for what he had to do.

Pat Boone is someone who not everyone is a fan of, whether it be his religious/political views or how he recorded some incredibly white covers of R&B songs in the 50's; me, I hold no hatred towards him. In fact, back when Cypress Gardens was still a thing in Florida, I saw Boone perform live outdoors when I was there around 15 years ago. No one should be stunned that the crowd was geriatric & full of people with gray hair-I did hear him perform one song. It was... Enter Sandman! For those unaware, back in the late 90's he recorded a big band album that covered famous metal songs. At the time some of his fanbase were NOT happy with that decision; after all, he transitioned long ago into recording gospel music. He acknowledged that controversy right before I heard him perform Enter Sandman. That album and the similar album done by Paul Anka a few years later-both are pretty funny to me.