Oscar project- Around the World in 80 days
Apr. 7th, 2006 08:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blue_lotus13As you can probably guess, I'm nearing the end of the Oscar project.
Films I still have to watch- Cimarron, Ordinary People, The Godfather 2, The Deerhunter, A Broadway Melody, Driving Miss Daisy, Cavalcade, Ben-Hur.
Ones I am re-watching because it's been over 10 years since I saw them and I want to see how my opinion has changed- The Last Emperor, Casablanca, Gone with the Wind and Shakespeare in Love (8 years). Maybe I should re-watch "The English Patient" too, because I thought it was really boring the first time I saw it.
Cavalcade is currently unavailable as it's not in DVD form yet and I don't know where to get it on VHS because the Vancouver Public Library doesn't have it.
Around the World in 80 days won the Best picture award in 1956. It's a comedy and a fun, action filled picture. The only thing about this one, is that you must suspend all judgements about poor ethnic representation. For example, First Nations people attack the train and whoop about and an Indian princess is played by none other than Shirley MacLaine !
If you can get past all that, this is a really enjoyable film. The basic premise is that a bunch of stuffy old Englishman bet their friend that he cannot travel around the world in 80 days. He takes them up on the bet, and travels the world by various forms of transportation including boat, balloon, train and elephant. There's a lot of intrigue and fun. This movie also coined the idea of the cameo, since there are tons of cameos from stars in various roles. I couldn't spot them all, but I did manage to spot Marlene Dietrich and Frank Sinatra. I missed Red Skelton, Buster Keaton, Noel Coward, Peter Lorre and Edward R. Murrow.
This film was a huge undertaking and clocks in at 183 minutes. It features tons of extras, over 30,000 costumes (some of which are pretty awesome) and a huge variety of sets. Sets and filming were done in England, Hollywood, Hong Kong and Japan.
If you like big, light old Hollywood pictures, this one is a good one to go with.
Films I still have to watch- Cimarron, Ordinary People, The Godfather 2, The Deerhunter, A Broadway Melody, Driving Miss Daisy, Cavalcade, Ben-Hur.
Ones I am re-watching because it's been over 10 years since I saw them and I want to see how my opinion has changed- The Last Emperor, Casablanca, Gone with the Wind and Shakespeare in Love (8 years). Maybe I should re-watch "The English Patient" too, because I thought it was really boring the first time I saw it.
Cavalcade is currently unavailable as it's not in DVD form yet and I don't know where to get it on VHS because the Vancouver Public Library doesn't have it.
Around the World in 80 days won the Best picture award in 1956. It's a comedy and a fun, action filled picture. The only thing about this one, is that you must suspend all judgements about poor ethnic representation. For example, First Nations people attack the train and whoop about and an Indian princess is played by none other than Shirley MacLaine !
If you can get past all that, this is a really enjoyable film. The basic premise is that a bunch of stuffy old Englishman bet their friend that he cannot travel around the world in 80 days. He takes them up on the bet, and travels the world by various forms of transportation including boat, balloon, train and elephant. There's a lot of intrigue and fun. This movie also coined the idea of the cameo, since there are tons of cameos from stars in various roles. I couldn't spot them all, but I did manage to spot Marlene Dietrich and Frank Sinatra. I missed Red Skelton, Buster Keaton, Noel Coward, Peter Lorre and Edward R. Murrow.
This film was a huge undertaking and clocks in at 183 minutes. It features tons of extras, over 30,000 costumes (some of which are pretty awesome) and a huge variety of sets. Sets and filming were done in England, Hollywood, Hong Kong and Japan.
If you like big, light old Hollywood pictures, this one is a good one to go with.
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no subject
Date: 2006-04-07 03:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-07 04:07 pm (UTC)around the world in 80 days is a lot of fun. the remake, regrettably, is not.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-07 04:33 pm (UTC)Some "World" Cameos Identified
Date: 2006-04-07 09:09 pm (UTC)Edward R. Murrow speaks at the very beginning of the film, talking about the way the world has shrunk since Jules Verne's day.
Red Skelton appears in the San Francisco bar sequence -- along with Frank Sinatra, the pianist; Marlene Dietrich, who is "looking for my man", and George Raft, who plays her jealous boyfriend. Red Skelton is the guy at the free lunch counter, helping Passepartout load up on the goodies.
Peter Lorre plays the Japanese steward, en route to Yokohama, who tells Passepartout that he was out cold when the police brought him aboard and that "Oh, is bad! You no like Yokohama. You no have money. Yokohama no like you!"
Buster Keaton and Noel Coward I'm not sure about. I would have to check a reference book. Noel Coward might be in the sequence towards the beginning where Passepartout goes to get a job as a "gentlemen's gentlemen". Sir John Gieldgud plays Fogg's previous valet, complaining about Fogg's treatment. Noel Coward might be the gentlemen he's complaining to.
I'm a long-time fan of Peter Lorre's (since I was in my teens in 1973), and I've even been lucky enough to see this movie in a theater, as retrospectives. It's a fun movie! Glad you enjoyed it.
Cheryl