As I said, Mike Todd believed in all things grandiose. However, Around the World in 80 Days was a success, and Mike gained the respect of Hollywood by delivering on his promises regarding the film. Pack a bag, because we're about to take a journey...
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You may wonder why there's a photo of a different Jules Verne story above. That's because the movie starts by referencing that other Verne work. We open with Edward R. Murrow sitting at a desk talking to us about Verne's works, including From the Earth to the Moon, which was the inspiration for Georges Melies's 1902 film Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip to the Moon). We're then shown clips from that film before returning to Murrow spinning a globe and saying that Earth is where fiction lags behind fact. He continues narrating as we see footage of a missile test-launch in New Mexico, then followed by color images of the earth seen from space. I'll just print Murrow's exact narration from this point: "You are now looking at the receding shape of this planet Earth. This is how the earth looks from a camera in the rocket. Jules Verne wrote a book about going around the world in eighty days. He even predicted it could be done in eighty hours. Today, it can be done in less than half that time. There was a time not so long ago when learned men thought it was flat. Around the World in Eighty Days is the Jules Verne classic, and the world was already shrinking when it was written, and that was in 1872."
This leads us, finally after over 10 minutes, into the actual movie. Already my brain hurts. I did mention Mike Todd believed in all things grandiose, right? OK, just checking.
In 1872 London, a newspaper headline reports that the Bank of England has been robbed. A man named Foster (John Geilgud, the first of many one- or two-minute cameos in the film by various people) goes to an employment agency and quits, complaining to the recruiter that working for a perfectionist like Phileas Fogg (David Niven) is torture. Overhearing their conversation is the unemployed Passepartout (Cantinflas), who offers his services for Fogg and is hired on the spot to replace Foster. Passepartout meets with Fogg and gains his approval. Later, Fogg plays whist at the posh men's-only Reform Club, and discusses the bank robbery with other members. When they debate about how easily a criminal could hide anywhere in the world, Fogg theorizes that it would take only eighty days to travel around the world. One of the club members thinks Fogg's theory is nuts and wagers 5,000 pounds that Fogg could not make the journey himself, with three other members joining in to raise the wager to 20,000 pounds. Fogg immediately accepts the challenge and, after finishing the game, returns home to fill a carpetbag with money and minimal provisions.
Fogg and Passpartout start their journey but run into an immediate problem after arriving via train in Paris. They hear from Monsieur Gasse (Charles Boyer), the manager of the Thomas Cook travel store, that an avalanche has closed the route to Spain and recommends they travel by hot-air balloon. Fogg purchases the balloon, and he and Passepartout sail over the French countryside. At the Reform Club, meanwhile, the members read newspaper accounts about Fogg passing over the Maritime Alps. Due to needing repairs to a broken gas valve, the travelers are compelled to land in Spain. While waiting to meet Achmed Abdullah (Gilbert Roland...one of Abdullah's henchmen was portrayed by Cesar Romero), who owns the fastest boat in the area, the travelers are entertained by flamenco dancers at a restaurant. Passepartout joins the dancing, and Abdullah agrees to loan Fogg his yacht on the condition that the seemingly-fleet Passepartout participate in the bullfights the next day.
Although terrified, Passepartout follows the professional matadors into the ring and bravely confronts a bull, becoming a local hero when he survives the bout. In London, meanwhile, betting on Fogg's journey has grown into a national obsession. Lloyd's of London supervises the wagering and later announces Fogg's arrival at the Suez Canal. It is there that Passepartout has his first encounter with Inspector Fix (Robert Newton) of Scotland Yard, who is following them because he believes that Fogg is responsible for the bank robbery. Fix arranges with the British consulate for an arrest warrant to be issued for Fogg, who will be arrested when he reaches Bombay, India. Fix poses as an agent for a steamship company and befriends Passepartout, hoping to get information about Fogg. He's unsuccessful, but Passpartout does not figure out Fix is an inspector.
Fogg bribes the captain and chief engineer to speed the ship to Bombay ahead of schedule. Upon landing, Fix discovers that a warrant for Fogg's arrest cannot be issued because the local consul has received no directive from London. Undeterred, Fix continues to follow the travelers, pretending to just happen to be taking the same routes as Passpartout, who continues to chat amiably with him as they meet up.
The travelers board a train to reach Allahabad, but the train is forced to stop abruptly the next morning when the tracks end in the middle of a jungle. Fogg is angered as he was told the train would make the full journey, but here they are 50 miles short. Fortunately, an offer comes his way to purchase an elephant, which can travel through the jungle and get to Allahabad the fastest. Fogg accepts. While traveling, the elephant driver (for lack of a better term) tells Fogg that at night a ritual is set to take place where Princess Aouda (Shirley MacLaine), the widow of a rajah, will be burned to death on a funeral pyre with her late husband. Determined to save the British-educated princess, Passepartout infiltrates the ceremony and impersonates the deceased. When the "body" rises, the participants freak out and run off, allowing for Aouda to escape with Fogg and Passepartout. This creates a scandal in England, where it is reported that Fogg and Passepartout were imprisoned for desecrating a temple, but posted bail and set sail on the S.S. Rangoon for Hong Kong the next day.
On the boat, Aouda plays whist with Fogg, and reveals that her never-consummated marriage was arranged; she had never even met her husband while he was alive. The next day, Fix learns from a steward that Fogg plans to take a steamship from Hong Kong to Yokohama, Japan, and plots to arrest Fogg in Hong Kong. Upon arrival, Fogg attempts to locate a relative of Aouda's, but he learns the relative no longer resides there. Aouda then accepts Fogg's invitation to continue the journey with him.
Fix meets up once again with Passepartout when he is buying steamship tickets and, after admitting his intention to arrest Fogg, drugs Passepartout's drink. Passpartout at first refuses to drink since he's now mad with Fix, but he ultimately downs it just before he's about to leave. Bad idea. Fix's hired flunkies carry the unconscious Passepartout onto a small boat, hoping this will keep Fogg from leaving the city since he can't find his traveling partner. This will allow time for the arrest warrant to arrive.
Passepartout awakens the next day aboard the steamship, having been taken there by police who found the tickets in his pocket. He learns of all this from a steward (Peter Lorre). Unfortunately, his wallet is missing, and Fogg is not onboard the vessel. Fogg has actually found alternate transportation to Yokohama, and will arrive there at a later time with Aouda, who at this point is not-at-all subtle that she's hot for Fogg.
Passepartout gets to Japan first, hoping Fogg will find him. To keep busy and make a few bucks, he joins a circus acrobatic act. Fogg and Aouda get there and decide the circus could be fun to check out, so they buy tickets and go inside to see Passpartout amongst the bottom group of a human pyramid. Passpartout sees Fogg and immediately bolts the stage, causing the pyramid to tumble down. Passpartout tells Fogg of Fix's intentions, and they decide to leave immediately and head for North America. British newspapers later report that Fogg has indeed arrived in the United States.
The travelers wind up in San Francisco, and smack-dab into a political campaign and parade. Passepartout, who throughout the film has already been often-distracted by the opposite sex, is coaxed into a saloon when he spots some dancers inside. Fogg soon comes in to find Passepartout, but is interrupted in his hunt by the saloon owner (Marlene Dietrich!), who attempts to seduce him despite her bouncer (George Raft) throwing knives their way. The travelers decide to leave the saloon after the third or fourth knife. Fix is outside, planning to join them on their transcontinental train ride. Fogg, feeling the saloon might only be a sign of what awaits them in the States, sends Passepartout to purchase guns. An obnoxious southern-born election-happy chap named Colonel Proctor (John Carradine) harasses Fogg and Aouda, and Fogg hits him on the head with his umbrella. Proctor throws a fist which strikes Fox. Passepartout returns equipped with an arsenal, and the travelers hop aboard a train to get the hell outta Dodge. Erm...I mean, San Francisco. (Tidbit: the piano player in the saloon is portrayed by Frank Sinatra, who if you're familiar enough with him you'll recognize several minutes before he actually turns and shows his face.)
The train ride is great fun as everyone enjoys the Wild West scenery, including witnessing a Native American peace-pipe ritual. They are told these Indians are peaceful, and in fact those Indians stop the train and ask the travelers to join them in the ritual, which they gladly do. The journey continues with further interruptions such as a herd of stampeding buffalo and a very unstable bridge. For more fun, Proctor is on the train, and he again insults Fogg during a game of whist. They challenge each other to a duel. However, just as they both turn to fight, an arrow nearly takes Proctor's nose off. The train is being attacked by Sioux Indians, who kill the engineer (thanks for coming, Buster Keaton!). Passpartout hands out the guns he'd purchased and everyone in the train now is firing rifles like a hundred Chuck Connors-es. Passepartout climbs up to the roof to fight off some Indians up top but soon jumps off to divert the rest of the tribe from the train. He eventually is captured and set to be burned at the stake.
Later at Fort Kearney, Fogg rallies everyone to find and rescue Passepartout. Unfortunately, upon returning to the train station they learn that the train has left, with the next one not until tomorrow. Refusing to wait that long, Fogg brainstorms. He's distracted by the sound of an old large cloth banner whipping in the wind. Idea! He attaches the banner to a wooden railroad cart, which then sails our trio along the tracks like a ship. They catch up to the train, which is no longer moving as it's broken down, so they continue along on their cart, waving to Fix as they pass.
In England, the Reform Club members learn that Fogg and his friends have arrived in New York City, soon to depart. Fogg is behind schedule but the members assume that he is on his way back to England nonetheless. The club members are told by Lloyd's and Scotland Yard bigwigs that Fogg is the confirmed bank robber and will be arrested as soon as he sets foot on British soil. The members are stunned at this confirmation. They also learn that Fogg has missed the boat to London and has boarded a ship bound for Venezuela instead, which has no British extradition treaty.
Fogg, still determined to return before the 80 days have expired and now having about 3 days left to go, bribes the S.S. Henrietta captain (Jack Oakie) to turn the steamship toward Great Britain. When they run out of coal, Fogg purchases the ship outright and then dismantles it to burn every available bit as fuel, including clothes. They arrive in Liverpool with 8 hours and 42 minutes left before the deadline. Plenty of time to reach the Reform Club in London!
Not so fast. Fix meets them upon disembarking and arrests Fogg. However, just several hours later Fix comes to Fogg's cell and admits they were all wrong. The real thief has been captured and confessed. Unfortunately, the clock strikes 8:45PM, meaning time has run out. Fogg, despondent at having lost the wager after coming so close to succeeding, returns to his London mansion and secludes himself. Aouda goes to him and tells him she still is in love with him, and proposes marriage. Fogg feels better now and sends Passpartout on an errand. While doing so, Passpartout sees a newspaper and notices the date on it, and freaks out. He runs back to Fogg and says it's whatever day of the week it is, not the one after it. (Sorry, forgot what day, didn't write it down either. It's one of seven though!)
Fogg at first dismisses as inconceivable the possibility that he made a mistake about the time, but then realizes that they had passed the International Date Line, giving them an extra day to actually make the trip. With just 10 minutes and 50 seconds to spare, Fogg and Passepartout hurry to the club. A few obstacles get in their way, but Fogg strolls into the club exactly on time to meet his deadline and win the wager. The club members are shocked, thrilled, and then quickly distracted when Aouda enters the room, as no woman has ever been allowed on the premises. When she inquires about the rule banning women, Fogg explains that breaking the rule could spell the end of the British empire. Moments later, a waiter drops his tray, a painting falls, and a club member says this is the end.
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I named as many cameos as I could above, but there was just no way to name all of them. With that said, I didn't even catch them all anyway, as some I'm not too familiar with and others I just plain missed altogether. In addition to the likes of Cesar Romero and Frank Sinatra and Buster Keaton as previously mentioned, others that popped up included Andy Devine, Tim McCoy, Evelyn Keyes, Glynis Johns, Hermione Gingold, Joe E. Brown, John Mills, Noel Coward, Red Skelton, Reginald Denny, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Trevor Howard. And that STILL isn't even half the list!
Regarding the main four cast members, Robert Newton is best known to most of us as Long John Silver in the Disney classic Treasure Island. Cantinflas probably isn't known to most of us for anything beyond this, but in actuality he was and is arguably the greatest Mexican comic actor of all time, with the likes of Charlie Chaplin even calling him at one time the best comedian alive. His passing in 1993 was commemorated with a 3-day ceremony attended by countless world dignitaries to celebrate his life and mourn his death. David Niven, often considered a true British gentleman, was ideally cast here. In his 1972 autobiography, Niven stated he was so impressed with Mike Todd and the plans for this film that when he was offered the role of Fogg, Niven enthusiastically accepted, even saying he would take on the role for free. He added that he was thankful Todd didn't hold him to his word on that one. Niven was right for his part, but Shirley MacLaine damn sure wasn't, and even she says so, even still to this day. As if to prove that point, MacLaine's voice is never heard in the film. It was redubbed by another actress (unnamed and unknown, probably lost to the annals of time as to who).
Critics liked the film, but almost all of them agreed on at least some level, it was really overdone. I can't argue that fact. Some parts, such as 95% of the story in Spain, really just felt like filler to pump up the Mike Todd/grandiose factor. The Academy also liked the film, giving it a total of 8 nominations with 5 wins. The Best Picture win came at the expense of Friendly Persuasion, Giant, The King and I and The Ten Commandments. (Yes, 1956 looks to have been the Year of the Bloated Movie.) Other wins were Best Cinematography--Color, Best Film Editing, Best Score--Drama/Comedy and Best Adapted Screenplay. Director Michael Anderson was among the nominees who did not win. No acting nominations were received, and neither was one for theme song "Around the World", despite becoming very popular as a hit by Bing Crosby (who did not, for the record, sing the version heard in the film).
There are plenty of people who make lists of "Best" and "Worst" in regards to the films that have won Best Picture. This one is almost always on the list of "Worst". I don't agree. Around the World in 80 Days is not a bad film at all. It's just reallllllllllllllllllllllllly and unnecessarily long. But that was Mike Todd's vision. Hell, he could have made a real disaster that the Academy would never have dreamt of even considering for nominations, but obviously he didn't do that. He made a good film here. I think this is the kind of film today that would appeal to young kids who would be willing to give it a shot. Remember back in the day, elementary school, there'd be like 3 or 4 school days left so the teachers generally would just show something on the VCR to kill an hour or so? This is the kind of film that would have fit in that scenario, and it probably would have kept us all interested. Then again, the 2004 Disney remake (which, I have to admit, also wasn't bad) may be of more interest to today's younger audience. Be that as it may, give this Oscar-winning film a shot. It's actually more than entertaining enough, and compared to the other movies up for Best Picture that year, it's certainly better and/or more fun than the rest of the nominated lot.
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