Jules Verne Movies
- 1941
This is a remake of the 1929 silent film based on the story of the continuing adventures of Captain Nemo by Jules Verne. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alexei Krasnopolsky, Pavel Kiyansky, (more)
- 1937
Based on a story by Jules Verne and featuring battle footage from a French film version of the tale, this epic action-adventure follows a courageous courier of the Czar Alexander II as he struggles to deliver vital information to Russian troops fighting a losing battle against the invading Tartar hoards in Siberia. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anton Walbrook, Elizabeth Allan, (more)
- 1936
Visionary French novelist Jules Verne is practically a folk hero in Russia, so it stands to reason that many of the Verne movie adaptations have emanated from the USSR. Captain Grant's Children concerns the efforts by two fearless youngsters (O. Bazarova and Y. Segal) to find their long-lost sea-captain father. With a cryptic note as their only clue, the kids and a pack of adult colleagues travel halfway around the world and back again, encountering a variety of bizarre adventures that Indiana Jones might envy. Unfortunately, the film's execution isn't quite up to the concept, with a painfully phony volcano and a tinker-toy shipwreck heading the list of ineffectual special effects. Capt. Grant's Children was more elaborately remade (albeit with less fidelity to the original) by Walt Disney as In Search of the Castaways (1963). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yuri Yurev, Olga Bazanova, (more)
- 1931
A couple of silent screen "names," Edmund Burns and Molly O'Day flounder badly in this penny-ante shipboard melodrama from Poverty Row producer Larry Darmour. Second-billed Burns plays Richard Charters, a young man imprisoned for a murder he didn't commit. Escaping, Richard dons a beard and while hiding out in a dockside dive overhears a plot to steal a sunken treasure after it had been salvaged by Captain McCall (James Donnelly). After a chance meeting with the captain's flirtatious daughter, Ann (star-billed O'Day), and her pet monkey, Richard stows away on McCall's ship. His presence, however, is revealed when he comes to the rescue of Ann, who is being mauled by Johnson (Walter Long), the villainous first mate. Although cornered by the crooks, Richard manages not only to save the day for Captain McCall and Ann but also catch the villain, Killer Lundgren (William F. Moran), who sent him to prison in the first place. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Molly O'Day, Edmund Burns, (more)
- 1929
Jules Verne's fantastic 19th century novel Mysterious Island provided the title and little else for this spectacular filmization. Lionel Barrymore plays an altruistic scientist who has built an underground city, hoping to use the modernistic devices he has installed to bring about world peace. But evil Slavic nobleman Montagu Love, whom Barrymore regards as a friend, has other plans. He kidnaps Barrymore's daughter and forces the kindly scientist to gear up his inventions to make war. With the help of hero Lloyd Hughes, and with the unexpected assistance of a race of duck-like underwater humanoids, Barrymore destroys his subterranean domain and foils the villain's plans--at the cost of his own life. Though essentially a silent film, Mysterious Island includes several well-integrated sound sequences; its highlight was a Technicolor submarine ride, which unfortunately exists only in black and white today. The 1961 version of Mysterious Island has absolutely nothing to do with the 1929 version beyond its claim (again) to be based on the Verne original. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lionel Barrymore, Jane Daly, (more)
- 1926
Not long before his emigration to Hollywood, director Victor Tourjansky polished off this French filmization of Jules Verne's Michael Strogoff. The screenplay follows the Verne original to the letter, with diplomatic courier Strogoff (Ivan Mosjoukine) going through hell and back to deliver a vital document to the Czar. Betrayed by the duplicitous Ogareff (Acho Chakatouny), Strogoff is captured by The Grand Khan (Defae), who prepares to shove hot pokers in the hero's eyes while Strogoff's mother looks on helplessly. Despite these and other perils, Strogoff completes his mission and wins the hand of the beautiful Nadia (Nathalie Kovanko). Released in the U.S. by Universal,Michael Strogoff was memorably remade as a multi-lingual production in 1935, with Anton Walbrook in the leading role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ivan Mosjoukine, Jeanne Brindau, (more)
The 1916 silent version of Jules Vernes' 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was "sold" on the basis of its advanced underwater photography, the handiwork of the legendary Williamson Brothers. The film's storyline combines elements from both 20,000 Leagues and another Verne novel, Mysterious Island. Towards the end of the film the power-mad Captain Nemo, whose futuristic submarine is the film's centerpiece, explains why he has come to hate mankind--which segues into an elaborate flashback sequence set in India, which seems to have been concocted by Rudyard Kipling. The cost of this film was so astronomical that it could not possibly post a profit, putting the kibosh on any subsequent Verne adaptations for the next 12 years. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is available today in a tinted print, which has been somewhat truncated due to film-stock deterioration. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Stranded on a deserted island after their boat is destroyed in a raging storm, a group of young boys band together against a nefarious group of shipwrecked criminals in this rousing adaptation of author Jules Verne's timeless tale of adventure. When these boys were thrust upon the sandy shores of this lonely ocean paradise, they thought that the worst was behind them. They couldn't have been further from the truth, because when yet another treacherous storm finds a ruthless gang of thieves washed up on the very same shore, the stage is set for am epic battle for supremacy from which only the most cunning and inventive of combatants will escape with their lives. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
