29th Academy Awards · 1957
Around the World in 80 Days
Directed by Michael Anderson
“It's a wonderful world, if you'll only take the time to go around it!”
The story
Based on the famous book by Jules Verne the movie follows Phileas Fogg on his journey around the world. Which has to be completed within 80 days, a very short period for those days.
What critics & audiences say
Tomatometer72%Fresh#92 of 98 winnersFamous lines
An Englishman never jokes about a wager, sir.
Princess Aouda: Mr. Fogg, why must you be so... so British?
Phileas Fogg: Madame, I am what I am.
Sir Francis Gromarty: One thousand pounds for an elephant? It's outrageous! You've been diddled.
Phileas Fogg: Undoubtedly. But it's not often one needs an elephant in a hurry.
Phileas Fogg: …No woman has ever set foot in the club.
Princess Aouda: Why not?
Phileas Fogg: Because... that could spell the end of the British Empire.
Monsieur Gasse: Monsieur! You are now addressing the second most celebrated balloonist in Europe.
Phileas Fogg: And who is the first?
Monsieur Gasse: He is not available. He was, uh, buried last Tuesday.
…Speed is good only when wisdom leads the way.
Princess Aouda: Have there been any women in his life?
Passepartout: I assume he had a mother, but I am not certain.
Phileas Fogg: But the London newspapers announced the opening of this railway throughout.
Railway Official: That must have been The Daily Telegraph. Never would have read that in The Times.
Saloon Hostess: Never be in a hurry. You'll miss the best parts in life.
Phileas Fogg: Madam, you don't understand. I'm looking for my man.
Saloon Hostess: So am I.
Bombay Police Inspector: Good heavens! Four o'clock it's teatime!
Mr. Fix: Yes I know, but this is a crisis.
Bombay Police Inspector: Crisis or no, nothing should interfere with tea!
Quotes via Wikiquote
Fun facts
- According to Time magazine, the cast including extras totaled 68,894 people, alongside 7,959 animals including 512 rhesus monkeys, 2,448 American bison and a sacred cow that eats flowers on cue.Wikipedia · Production
- For the bullfight scene, Mike Todd used all 6,500 residents of the Spanish town of Chinchón, then decided there still weren't enough spectators and brought in 3,500 more from nearby towns.Wikipedia · Production
- The film's famous hydrogen balloon flight isn't in Jules Verne's novel at all; it was created expressly to show off scenery on the giant curved Todd-AO screen.Wikipedia · Production
- Mike Todd was a Broadway showman who had never produced a film before, and he sold his interest in the Todd-AO widescreen format to help finance this one.Wikipedia · Production
- When Mike Todd asked David Niven to play Phileas Fogg, Niven replied 'I'd do it for nothing!' and later admitted he was grateful Todd didn't hold him to it.Wikipedia · Production
- Todd finished filming deep in debt, and according to David Niven the footage was kept under the supervision of Todd's creditors and returned to a secure vault each night, as if in escrow.Wikipedia · Production
- The wardrobe department spent $410,000 on 74,685 costumes and 36,092 trinkets, allegedly the most costumes ever required for a Hollywood production.Wikipedia · Production
- The film premiered at New York's Rivoli Theater and ran there for 102 weeks, playing 1,564 performances to more than 2.1 million patrons.Wikipedia · Release
- For the first anniversary, Mike Todd threw an 18,000-guest party at Madison Square Garden that Time called a 'spectacular flop'; Todd shrugged it off by saying, 'You can't say it was a little bust.'Wikipedia · Anniversary celebration
- It won Best Picture without a single acting nomination, and was the last film to win Best Picture without winning Best Director until In the Heat of the Night.Wikipedia · Accolades