Victorian-era Englishman Phileas Fogg (David Niven) proclaims before his fellow members of a London gentleman’s club that he can circumnavigate the globe in a mere 80 days, further boasting that he will bet the princely sum of 20,000 pounds on the success of his endeavor. With his stalwart manservant Passepartout (Cantinflas) alongside, he goes forth on his adventure, pursued by a dogged Police Inspector (Robert Newton) who suspects Fogg of chicanery.
This mammoth and mad pictorial rendering of the famous old novel of Jules Verne, which was publicly unveiled last evening at the Rivoli, is a sprawling conglomeration of refined English comedy, giant-screen travel panoramics and slam-bang Keystone burlesque. It makes like a wild adventure picture and, with some forty famous actors in “bit” roles, it also takes on the characteristic of a running recognition game. It is noisy with sound effects and music. It is overwhelmingly large in the process known as Todd-AO. It runs for two hours fifty-five minutes (not counting an intermission). And it is, undeniably, quite a show. Is the whole thing too exhausting? It’s a question of how much you can take. We not only took it but found it most amusing. – NYT
Starring David Niven, Cantinflas, Robert Newton.