Around the World in Eighty Days (original) (raw)
Around the World in Eighty Days (Le tour du monde en quatre-vingt jours) is a classic adventure novel by 19th-century French author Jules Verne. In the story, English adventurer Phileas Fogg, and his new butler, Passepartout, attempt to circumnavigate the late Victorian world in 80 days on a bet set by the Reform Club.
Due to the age of the book, it is now out of copyright, and may be downloaded from Project Gutenberg from http://promo.net/cgi-promo/pg/t9.cgi?entry=103 .
In 1889, Nellie Bly undertook to travel around the world in 80 days for her newspaper, the New York World. She managed to do the journey within 72 days.
In 1988, Monty Python alumnus Michael Palin took a similar challenge without using aircraft as a part of a television travelogue also called Around the World in Eighty Days . He too completed within the deadline.
The book was adapted to film in 1956, a Hollywood fun movie with a huge cast. Many famous performers play bit parts, and part of the pleasure in this movie is playing "spot the star"; the lead roles in the movie were played by David Niven and Cantinflas.
The movie earned five Oscars:
- Best Picture - Michael Todd, producer
- Best Cinematography, Color - Lionel Lindon
- Best Film Editing - Gene Ruggiero and Paul Weatherwax
- Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture - Victor Young
- Best Writing, Best Screenplay, Adapted - John Farrow, S.J. Perelman, and James Poe
It was nominated for an additional three Oscars
- Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color - Ken Adam, Ross Dowd, and James W. Sullivan
- Best Costume Design, Color - Miles White
- Best Director - Michael Anderson