Journey to the Center of the Earth Movie Review

Slowly paced adventure may seem a little clunky today but it's a nicely done piece of big-budget studio work. James Mason and Arlene Dahl are fine in the leads and Pat Boone doesn't embarrass himself either. The limitations of the effects are overcome, at least in part, by a strong sense of wonder and a grand plot, based on the Jules Verne novel, that includes dinosaurs, disasters, treachery, and the lost city of Atlantis. Bernard Herrmann's superb guttural music is marred only by Boone's singing.

1959 132m/C James Mason, Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl, Diane Baker, Thayer David, Alan Napier, Peter Ronson; D: Henry Levin; W: Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch; C: Leo Tover; M: Bernard Herrmann. Nominations: Academy Awards ‘59: Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (Color), Best Sound. VHS, Beta, LV FXV, FCT, FUS