Plot[edit]
Broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow presents an onscreen prologue, featuring footage from A Trip to the Moon (1902) by Georges Méliès, explaining that it is based loosely on the book From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne.[5] Also included is the launching of an unmanned rocket and footage of the earth receding.
Around 1872, an English gentleman Phileas Fogg (David Niven) claims he can circumnavigate the world in eighty days. He makes a £20,000 wager (around to £1.6 million today[6]) with four sceptical fellow members of the Reform Club (each contributing £5,000 to the bet), that he can arrive back within 80 days before exactly 8:45 pm.
Together with his resourceful valet, Passepartout (Cantinflas), Fogg goes hopscotching around the globe generously spending money to encourage others to help him get to his destinations faster so he can accommodate tight steamship schedules. They set out on the journey from Paris by hot air balloon upon learning the mountain train tunnel is blocked. The two pause in Spain, where Passepartout engages in a comic bullfight. Next, he goes to Brindisi. Meanwhile, suspicion grows that Fogg has stolen £55,000 (around £4.4 million today[6]) from the Bank of England so Police Inspector Fix (Robert Newton) is sent out by Scotland Yard to trail him (starting in Suez) and keeps waiting for a warrant to arrive so he can arrest Fogg in the British ports they visit. In India, Fogg and Passepartout rescue young widow Princess Aouda (Shirley MacLaine) from being forced into a funeral pyre with her late husband. The threesome visit Hong Kong, Yokohama, San Francisco, and the Wild West. After sailing across the Atlantic, and only hours short of winning his wager, Fogg is arrested upon arrival at Liverpool, by the diligent yet misguided Inspector Fix.
At the jail, the humiliated Fix informs Fogg that the real culprit was caught in Brighton. Though he is now exonerated of the charges, he has no time to get to London and has thus lost everything — except the love of the winsome Aouda. Salvation is at hand when upon returning to London Passepartout buys a newspaper and sees it is still Saturday. Fogg then realizes that by traveling east towards the rising sun and by crossing the International Date Line they have gained a day. There is still time to reach the Reform Club and win the bet. Fogg unexpectedly arrives at the club just before the clock's chime at 8:45 pm. Aouda and Passepartout then arrive, surprising everyone as no woman has entered the Reform Club before.
Cast[edit]
The film boasts a huge cast, with David Niven and Cantinflas in the lead roles of Fogg and Passepartout. Fogg is the classic Victorian gentleman, well-dressed, well-spoken, and extremely punctual, whereas his servant Passepartout (who has an eye for the ladies) provides much of the comic relief as a "jack of all trades" for the film in contrast to his master's strict formality. Joining them are Shirley MacLaine as Princess Aouda and Robert Newton as the detective Fix, in his last role.
The role of Passepartout was greatly expanded from the novel to accommodate Cantinflas, the most famous Latin-American comedian at the time, and winds up as the focus of the film. While Passepartout describes himself as a Parisian in the novel, this is unclear in the film—he has a French name, but speaks Spanish when he and his master arrive in Spain by balloon. In the Spanish version the name of his character was changed from the French Passepartout to the Spanish "Juan Picaporte". There is also a comic bullfighting sequence especially created for Cantinflas that is not in the novel.[7] Indeed, when the film was released in non-English speaking nations, Cantinflas was billed as the lead.[7] According to the guidebook, this was done because of an obstacle Todd faced in casting Cantinflas, who had never before appeared in an American movie and had turned down countless offers to do so. Todd allowed Cantinflas to appear in the film as a Latin, "so," the actor said himself, "...to my audience in Latin America, I'll still be Cantinflas."
Over 40 famous performers make cameo appearances, including Marlene Dietrich, George Raft, and Frank Sinatra. The film was significant as the first of the so-called Hollywood "make work" films, employing dozens of faded film personalities.[citation needed] John Wayne turned down Todd's offer for the role of the Colonel leading the Cavalry charge,[8] a role filled by ColonelTim McCoy. Promotional material released at the time quoted a Screen Actors Guild representative looking at the shooting call sheet and crying: "Good heavens Todd, you've made extras out of all the stars in Hollywood!"[9] Shirley MacLaine and Glynis Johns are the last surviving members of the entire cast.
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