There was a thread on this film before but it is closed. Just re-watched this film. It is such a fun ride but sad how the duck doesn't make it. I LOVE the Bernard Herrmann score. Apparently James Mason hated Arlene Dahl. Any other fans?
Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959 film)
by Anonymous | reply 193 | April 12, 2019 12:33 PM |
Oh Em Gee, OP! I love this movie! I have it on my TIVO from February 6th!
My favorite scene is when (shirtless) Pat Boone falls into a gem-laden cave!
by Anonymous | reply 1 | March 16, 2019 10:16 AM |
My favorite scene is when hes hiding his naked body behind the sheep - it had this gayling in a frenzy!!!
by Anonymous | reply 2 | March 16, 2019 10:37 AM |
Oh yes: Pat Boone for the win. I was, what, 9? And found Pat disturbingly attractive....
by Anonymous | reply 3 | March 16, 2019 12:57 PM |
Loved the giant mushroom scenes. Delish'! Arlene Dahl was a fishy smelly whore. Glad James Mason hated her. I did too!
by Anonymous | reply 4 | March 16, 2019 1:03 PM |
I kinda preferred the Scandinavian guy over Pat Boone.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | March 16, 2019 1:06 PM |
There is an old granny gay in Bel Air who has a celluloid copy he shows in his screening room from time to time. Fabulous to see it in full wonderful color on a big screen.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | March 16, 2019 1:06 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 7 | March 16, 2019 1:12 PM |
This has always been a favorite of mine, especially the crystal cave and the duck!
by Anonymous | reply 8 | March 16, 2019 2:23 PM |
I wonder how they handled going to the bathroom under the earth during all that time?
by Anonymous | reply 9 | March 16, 2019 5:34 PM |
What happen to the duck? Eaten?
by Anonymous | reply 10 | March 16, 2019 5:39 PM |
While the others are asleep, a hungry Saknussemm catches and eats Gertrud.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | March 16, 2019 5:42 PM |
Agree, OP, very good film. And yes, Pat Boone is cute in this.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | March 16, 2019 5:46 PM |
I was struck by Lindenbrook 's line to Alec: "You make my mouth water."
by Anonymous | reply 13 | March 16, 2019 11:06 PM |
This film should be a hot mess, and yet it’s wildly entertaining.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | March 17, 2019 12:56 AM |
Is that the one where they used lizards in costumes for the dinosaur effects?
by Anonymous | reply 15 | March 17, 2019 6:52 AM |
OP, was the other thread closed or zapped? I love this movie..
by Anonymous | reply 16 | March 17, 2019 6:55 AM |
That Arleen Dawl was such a limp creature.
But Pat Boone had good buns.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | March 17, 2019 7:00 AM |
It's a lovely cheapie film. There were several Jules Verne inspired films in this time frame and this is one of the more entertaining. I love the idea of the group walking 4000 miles downhill with the gear they were seen to carry.
James Mason couldn't have been paid much for this but he gave it his all. He's great, BUT I'd love to have seen Clifton Webb play the role as was originally planned. Webb's deteriorating health forced the producers to replace him.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | March 17, 2019 7:14 AM |
saw this at a revival drive in -- what a blast! My friend said -- the dinosaurs are lizards in Jurassic drag!
by Anonymous | reply 19 | March 17, 2019 7:22 AM |
Yes, I've always been a fan of this movie since it was first released when I was 11. I saw it on a big screen in an old movie palace and yes, when Pat Boone had to carry the sheep in front of him because he lost his "pantaloons", that gave this boy strange feelings that were confusing yet pleasant. Entertaining movie.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | March 17, 2019 7:22 AM |
It was the first movie I saw a second time. Then a third. Then a fourth. And so on. I just loved it.
If we could have our WWs back, I would WW r9.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | March 17, 2019 7:44 AM |
Yes the rhinoceros iguanas with large, glued-on make-up appliances added to their backs. Of course one has to wonder how the giant Dimetrodons survived, apart from eating each other, given there was little else to eat. I love the shot one of them sneaking a peak at the humans. And the Bernard Herrmann music for them that I think was someone blowing into a goat's head.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | March 17, 2019 9:11 AM |
I haven’t seen this since I was a kid, a blanket on the floor two feet from the tube with a tub of popcorn twixt my sisses and me. What fun!
by Anonymous | reply 23 | March 17, 2019 9:19 AM |
[quote]Is that the one where they used lizards in costumes for the dinosaur effects?
Now THAT'S a concept if ever there were one!
by Anonymous | reply 24 | March 17, 2019 1:07 PM |
Love this movie. And all the other 'fantasticals' from the 50's & 60's, especially the British sci-fi movies.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | March 17, 2019 1:26 PM |
I watched this on The 4:30 Movie on Channel 7 in the late 1970's. I liked this movie then. I too was turned on by the scene with Pat Boone naked covered only by the sheep. I was a gayling of 12.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | March 17, 2019 1:59 PM |
[quote] If we could have our WWs back, I would WW [R9]
What are you talking about? There's still a WW button right next to the FF button.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | March 17, 2019 2:06 PM |
And sadly the formerly hot Pat Boone turned into a loony religious nutcase.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | March 17, 2019 3:15 PM |
r27, did you receive the WW I just sent you?
by Anonymous | reply 30 | March 17, 2019 3:16 PM |
None of you boys were turned on by hot daddy James Mason?
by Anonymous | reply 31 | March 17, 2019 3:20 PM |
Pat & his crazy wife and a band of her loony church nuts showed up at Rock Hudson's house the day before he died to pray for him. They were actually let inside and they surrounded poor Rock on his death bed and chanted their hoodoo voodoo over him. After they finished their blathering Rock lifted his head up and smiled at them (probably in thanks that all that caterwauling was over) and they took that as a sign his body was being rejuvenated. One of his nurses (another loony evangelical) was so sure it had worked she laid out clothes for him to wear the following day. The Boones and their band of freaks left with high hopes for a healing.
The next day Hudson died. When the Boones heard Shirley Boone raced over to Hudson's house with her band of fools. They got there 20 minutes after Hudson had died. Again they all surrounded his bed and Shirley grabbed Rock's legs and prayed for God to purge his body of the disease and then began speaking in tongues.
This is the kind of crazy Pat Boone and his wife are.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | March 17, 2019 3:27 PM |
Why doesn't Diane Baker have a Scottish accent?
by Anonymous | reply 33 | March 17, 2019 9:13 PM |
I wonder if this scene of Pat Boone and the sheep inspired the scene in Sam Shepard's "Curse of the Starving Class" where the son character enters totally naked with the sheep? There, of course, you can usually see all of the guy. Among the actors who played this on stage were Bradley Whitford and Bill Pullman in the 1980s in NYC!
by Anonymous | reply 34 | March 17, 2019 9:20 PM |
I saw a play that was all about a man who never got over the murder of Gertrud.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | March 17, 2019 9:22 PM |
It's a great children's movie, but holds no interest for me as an adult.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | March 17, 2019 9:24 PM |
[quote]None of you boys were turned on by hot daddy James Mason?
Yes, in fact, every time I had mother drop me off downtown to see it, I shrieked "Gotta see that hot daddy, mama."
by Anonymous | reply 38 | March 17, 2019 10:52 PM |
Another fan of this wonderful film that I saw as a kid in its original release. I was so pleased when I rewatched decades later and felt it still held up so beautifully.
I was in love with Diane Baker who I'd seen earlier that year as April in The Best of Everything and disappointed she's in so little of the film. But I was turned on by Pat Boone, no doubt about it.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | March 17, 2019 11:00 PM |
I wish I could understand what Arlene says in this interview after the film's screening.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | March 17, 2019 11:23 PM |
I've always loved those Jules Verne movies from the 50s and 60s, Mysterious Island, Around the World in 80 Days, the other James Mason movie 20,000 Leaks Under the Sea, From the Earth to the Moon.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | March 17, 2019 11:52 PM |
Leaks?
by Anonymous | reply 42 | March 18, 2019 12:00 AM |
Shelly Winters was fabulous in 20,000 Leaks Under the Sea
by Anonymous | reply 43 | March 18, 2019 12:02 AM |
Here's Arlene Dahl's 1959 appearance as the Mystery Guest on What's My Line? advertising the picture!
You'll also see Dorothy Kilgallen make an absolute fool of herself.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | March 18, 2019 12:33 AM |
And Arlene is still with us at age 93.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | March 18, 2019 9:18 AM |
James Mason died in 1984.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | March 18, 2019 12:53 PM |
So she wins?
by Anonymous | reply 47 | March 18, 2019 5:31 PM |
Yes, r47, an Amana Radarange and a dining room set from the Ventura Collection by Keller!
by Anonymous | reply 48 | March 18, 2019 6:19 PM |
I think Pat was wearing this behind the sheep.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | March 18, 2019 6:32 PM |
Yup if you look quickly you can see Pat's BLUE undies in one of the shots with the sheep.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | March 18, 2019 6:48 PM |
Speaking of Pat I am amazed that his falling onto the rock in the sand pit didn't break a few ribs.
by Anonymous | reply 51 | March 18, 2019 6:54 PM |
R41, there was also "Five Weeks in a Balloon". - Cedric Hardwicke, Peter Lorre, Richard Haydn, Red Buttons, Fabian, Barbara Eden, Barbara Luna.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | March 18, 2019 6:58 PM |
Pat's pits were nice as he was hanging on for dear life before falling into the sand.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | March 18, 2019 8:03 PM |
I'm watching it now. Cheesy fun.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | March 18, 2019 8:44 PM |
Arlene Dahl did the occasional musical for MGM.
Here she is in Three Little Words singing the delightful "I Love You So Much" with a gaggle of MGM chorus boys who can't take their eyes off her.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | March 18, 2019 8:48 PM |
Arlene Dahl was wonderfully bitchy as the pushy wife in WOMAN'S WORLD..... Everyone thought she was getting away with it, but Clifton Webb had her number.
by Anonymous | reply 56 | March 18, 2019 10:06 PM |
Another bitch role for Arlene is Wicked as They Come, made in England. A working-class gold digger ruins her life as she uses men to get what she wants. A poor but beautiful woman sets her sights on rising to the top, and lets nothing stand in her way - including murder.
by Anonymous | reply 57 | March 18, 2019 11:10 PM |
R56 wow that dress is painted on her.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | March 18, 2019 11:11 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 59 | March 18, 2019 11:14 PM |
I remember as a kid watching this movie and in the big scene where the group comes upon the cave with all the chunks of glittering jewels, and of all the different colored jewels, ruby, sapphire, blue diamond, emerald, etc., they chose.....the amber one.....and I thought "oh, what bad taste!" And they plucked it out and the big flood gushed out.
They deserved it.
by Anonymous | reply 61 | March 19, 2019 1:06 AM |
I found an interview with Arlene about the film. She says: We went on location for three months to “the center of the earth”, to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. I had a part not only with James Mason and Pat Boone, but also with a duck named Gertrude who had two understudies. The duck got tired so we had to rush in another duck. That was a very tough shoot, because I had just given birth to Lorenzo. He was about six months old. I left him with a nurse, who had originally been our cook. I hated to be away from them for such a long time but I kept in touch, of course with telephone and so forth. That film wasn’t an easy shoot. It was dirty, and difficult also to tread down every day to “the center of the earth”. And then up the mountain — it seemed like a mountain anyway, coming up from “the center of the earth”. And I almost lost my life — I was hit by one of these big water “sloppers”. That was when we came back. We did a scene at the 20th Century-Fox studio. They had rigged up 25 gallons or 50 gallons of water. They were supposed to hit my back with the water and instead they mistimed and hit me in the face and I got a bit washed. It was quite a scene! My grandchildren all loved that film.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | March 19, 2019 8:38 AM |
R58 I know....it's a great dress, but I still can't figure out the neckline and where those straps go.....under her arms? What good does that do?
by Anonymous | reply 63 | March 19, 2019 3:43 PM |
Re the Woman's World dress on Arlene at r56: Though it's difficult to see because the dress seems so effortlessly constructed, there is a completely boned and shaped understructure, giving it support so that the halter straps perform no function other than decoration.
It's essentially a strapless dress not unlike Rita Hayworth's Gilda gown.
by Anonymous | reply 64 | March 19, 2019 4:04 PM |
"Woman's World" is one of my favorites.
One of those big glossy Cinemascope all star cast movies done by 20th Century Fox in the 1950s.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | March 19, 2019 4:08 PM |
Thanks, Edie!
Folks can say what they like, but Arlene was stunningly beautiful and a pretty good actress when she got the chance.
And she believes in astrology!
by Anonymous | reply 66 | March 19, 2019 5:41 PM |
I used to get her and Rhonda Fleming mixed up; they were both quite beautiful and, I believe, similar types. I think they're both still alive.
by Anonymous | reply 67 | March 19, 2019 7:17 PM |
I saw it first run when I was 8 or so. It was the best movie I had ever seen. I watch it at least once a year. Great score, mostly good special effects (hate lizards with horns etc. glued on). The matte paintings are wonderful. Whee!!! By the way, I believe it is listed as one of the worst movies on some worst movies lists. I disagree.
by Anonymous | reply 68 | March 19, 2019 7:27 PM |
Arlene and Rhonda co-starred as sisters in the disappointing Slightly Scarlet , both hot for a faded John Payne.
by Anonymous | reply 69 | March 19, 2019 8:23 PM |
Arlene is mistaken for Rhonda Fleming in the WML clip at r44 above when the panel narrows it down to a redhead.
Then Dorothy mistakes her for Maureen O'Hara and all hell breaks loose when Dorothy tries to apologize and backtrack by telling Arlene she will surely get an Oscar for Journey to the Center of the Earth (!). Arlene looks like she wants to kill her.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | March 19, 2019 9:14 PM |
LOL - a great example of the apology being worse than the original insult.....
by Anonymous | reply 71 | March 19, 2019 9:15 PM |
[quote] I used to get her and Rhonda Fleming mixed up
Dahl said in an interview that they are friends and that she and Rhonda would sometimes sign autographs as each other as a joke.
by Anonymous | reply 72 | March 19, 2019 10:24 PM |
Some of the set are great. The chamber of crystals appears to have crinkled aluminum foil pasted in stripes around the cavern. Looks pretty lousy.
by Anonymous | reply 73 | March 19, 2019 10:43 PM |
Well it was Irwin Allen - the only cheaper producer was Sam Katzman.
by Anonymous | reply 74 | March 19, 2019 11:04 PM |
It would appear to be a blistering drama, r69.......
by Anonymous | reply 75 | March 19, 2019 11:54 PM |
The most blistering is Ted de Corsia who slaps some people around.
by Anonymous | reply 76 | March 20, 2019 8:39 AM |
Irwin didn't produce Journey, R74. You're probably thinking of Allen's production of The Lost World. He glued stuff on lizards too:
by Anonymous | reply 77 | March 20, 2019 9:12 AM |
I love this movie a lot and I love those 50s and 60s Jewels Verne films. I watched this films years later on TV and I just adored them and I still do. My brother and sister are 13 and 14 years older than me and they got to see these films when the movies first came out in the movie theaters when they were just little kids.
I like Arlene Dahl a lot in film and I always will. Also I think she was just stunning! However, when someone posted that interview of Arlene trashing Lana Turner's daughter claiming Cheryl Crane lied about being molested by Lex Barker, that pissed me off. Arlene said that it was impossible for her ex-husband Lex Barker because his penis was so big, that he would have split 12-15 year old Cheryl Crane in half, uh? really? Good Grief. The interviewer should have asked her, were you there? I posted part one of the interview.
I once read that Arlene Dahl give Red Skeleton a BJ in his dressing room. There was an explosion near the film set Arlene and Red was acting on ,and it rocked Red's dressing room. Red said, WOW! that is a good girl! you do an incredible job!!
by Anonymous | reply 78 | March 20, 2019 9:47 AM |
thanks R77 you are correct......it was a Fox film so I just assumed......
by Anonymous | reply 79 | March 20, 2019 3:39 PM |
Arlene was married to Fernando Lamas who had dated Lana Turner and would later marry Esther Williams. Lana was also married to Lex Barker, after Arlene, so there appears to be a pattern here.
by Anonymous | reply 80 | March 20, 2019 6:56 PM |
If you like Jules Verne type adventures, here is an excellent steampunk animation called The Mysterious GeographicExplorations of Jasper Morello, about 26 minutes.
by Anonymous | reply 81 | March 20, 2019 8:54 PM |
In a similar vein to my post above, there was a Czech animation/live action film from 1958, which is a lot of fun, if you can find it.
by Anonymous | reply 82 | March 20, 2019 8:57 PM |
While I am not a forensic expert, and Arlene's argument seems illogical, I am not convinced that Cheryl Crane's accusation against Lex Barker was true.
by Anonymous | reply 83 | March 20, 2019 9:04 PM |
"Five Weeks in a Balloon" was one of Irwin Allen's.
No cheesy monsters, though.
BTW, it's on Youtube.
I saw it as a kid at the movies.
by Anonymous | reply 84 | March 20, 2019 9:09 PM |
...and Barbara Eden and the always annoying Red Buttons.....I like Balloon, too.
by Anonymous | reply 85 | March 20, 2019 9:15 PM |
Journey was produced by Charles Brackett who had also produced Sunset Boulevard. He wrote both screenplays too,
by Anonymous | reply 86 | March 21, 2019 10:21 AM |
It's funny that this thread has veered predominantly into posts about Arlene Dahl and not the nut case that Pat Boone became (after his very fetching beginnings and adorable performance in this film).
by Anonymous | reply 87 | March 21, 2019 9:31 PM |
She should have gotten the Oscar for this picture.
by Anonymous | reply 90 | March 21, 2019 11:00 PM |
Arlene said of James Mason that while he was extremely crusty on the outside inside he was as soft as a marshmallow.
by Anonymous | reply 91 | March 22, 2019 4:55 AM |
But still talking! Did you ever seem me on tv with Virginia Graham? Four constantly moving lips, though I guess we must have alternated and taken turns at some point.
by Anonymous | reply 93 | March 22, 2019 7:20 PM |
Was James Mason a tortured homosexual? Or did he make peace with it and live happily with a bit on the side?
by Anonymous | reply 94 | March 22, 2019 11:10 PM |
Is the Center Of The Earth anywhere near the Island At The Top Of The World?
by Anonymous | reply 95 | March 22, 2019 11:14 PM |
I can't tell you how comforting this is--knowing that other little gay boys adored the early 60s Jules Verne movies. I was not alone!--this is DL at its best.
by Anonymous | reply 96 | March 22, 2019 11:26 PM |
Mysterious Island was a favorite - with Michael Callan - although that croaking British bitch was a bore.
by Anonymous | reply 97 | March 23, 2019 2:39 AM |
Back in the mid-'60s one of the local channels aired 'Horror Movies' at 11:00 pm. (I know, right?)
I loved this movie, along with "Attack of the Mole People," "Attack of the Mushroom People," "Attack of the Puppet People"
by Anonymous | reply 98 | March 23, 2019 2:53 AM |
"I'm blushing already"
by Anonymous | reply 101 | March 23, 2019 3:19 AM |
James Mason was gay?! Whaaa? This is new to me. Where did you read this from a Darwin Porter book? Just asking?
by Anonymous | reply 102 | March 23, 2019 10:35 AM |
That incredible Adonis, John Tristram was gay?
by Anonymous | reply 103 | March 23, 2019 11:21 AM |
No wonder he didn't want women in the expedition ! Then he couldn't be alone with young, devoted McEwan and Beefcake Hans !
by Anonymous | reply 104 | March 23, 2019 11:25 AM |
Chapter 9 of this book called "Male Beauty" is devoted to John Tristram. Quite an accomplished guy. The chapter starts on page 275.
by Anonymous | reply 105 | March 23, 2019 1:17 PM |
He got a doctorate and was a professor? In/of what?
by Anonymous | reply 106 | March 23, 2019 1:34 PM |
French language, which he taught at UCLA until his death. Unfortunately, the Google books preview is a bit wonky, when I found it I was able to read the whole chapter, now I can only see a few pages.
by Anonymous | reply 107 | March 23, 2019 2:04 PM |
Very cool. Good for him.
by Anonymous | reply 108 | March 23, 2019 2:05 PM |
Fond memories of this film which remains very "watchable" and in no small part to Bernard Herrmann's score - so many films owe their "atmosphere" to his talents, notably Psycho, Cape Fear, Vertigo, and the Ghost and Mrs Muir.
I never heard that Mason was gay. I did, however, pass him a couple of times in his later life taking walks in St. James Park (I was much younger then) - quietly distinguished looking, always formally dressed, and leaning slightly on a cane by then. My favourite of his film roles was the IRA man on the run in Odd Man Out (it's a wonderful film), the tyrannical guardian of the piano prodigy in The Seventh Veil, the wacky rich widower in Georgy Girl, and I thought his Brutus in Julius Caesar wonderful.
by Anonymous | reply 109 | March 23, 2019 3:06 PM |
I always assumed James Mason was homo. I'm surprised that people think otherwise.
by Anonymous | reply 110 | March 23, 2019 3:09 PM |
He's just British, R110. They all seem that way.
by Anonymous | reply 111 | March 23, 2019 3:11 PM |
R102 - Darwin's book on Brando claims this, but then Brando and Mason are said to have despised each other on Julius Caesar. Darwin also says Joe Mankiewicz was having an affair with both Mason and his wife, but I have not otherwise heard Mankiewicz having gay relationships.
by Anonymous | reply 112 | March 23, 2019 3:12 PM |
R112 - Most of this got by me, thanks for the gossip. I never heard that Mankiewicz was gay, either.
From what I know of the film, which I think is very workmanlike, with a good many cuts some of which I agreed with, and some not, Brando got a good deal of help from the one well-known homo on the film, Gielgud, especially on the big speech. Gielgud recorded it for Brando to help him with it.
Alhtough I thought Brando did very well for a first outing with the Bard, it is the scenes between Brutus and Cassius that stand out in memory: two experienced hands giving their best at something they knew and loved.
by Anonymous | reply 113 | March 23, 2019 3:28 PM |
Alex is an idiot. What young scientist immediately chows down on mushrooms encountered in a cave in the centre of the Earth?
by Anonymous | reply 114 | March 23, 2019 10:11 PM |
R114 - A very hungry one, and it's "Alec".
by Anonymous | reply 115 | March 24, 2019 12:44 AM |
They still had dried beef! And Hans' copious loads.
by Anonymous | reply 116 | March 24, 2019 12:58 AM |
But he said he was fed up with dry beef !
As for Hans' loads, well there is the language barriere. So he never understood what he was offering. Carla did, but didn't bother translating.
by Anonymous | reply 117 | March 24, 2019 1:05 AM |
Brando wanted the part in Julius Caesar badly and sent a tape recording of himself doing Antony's "Friends, Romans, countrymen..." speech to Joe M.
Joe called in producer John Houseman and asked: "Why is June Allyson sending me this tape?"
by Anonymous | reply 118 | March 24, 2019 1:06 AM |
Pat Boone was paid more than James Mason for the film because in order to get Pat to do it he was promised a sizeable percentage of the gross.
by Anonymous | reply 119 | March 24, 2019 1:43 AM |
Well Pat also had more hit records and fan base fro that than James Mason did.
by Anonymous | reply 120 | March 24, 2019 2:13 AM |
Hard to imagine now, perhaps, but Pat Boone was almost as big a rock 'n' roll star as Elvis Presley in the mid-1950s, though his star was waning a bit by the time this film was made.
by Anonymous | reply 121 | March 24, 2019 2:23 AM |
R92 I'm figuring that you are not relying on any Darwin "Mendacity" Porter info. But I read something about John Tristram living with Jim and Pam in CA and wondered about that...Any more info?
by Anonymous | reply 122 | March 24, 2019 2:42 AM |
love james mason
by Anonymous | reply 123 | March 24, 2019 3:20 AM |
He was the best.
by Anonymous | reply 124 | March 24, 2019 3:22 AM |
I am surprised just how good looking Pat Boone is in this, and also how he's much the two young men are shirtless. Meanwhile patrician Thayer David's fat ass looks terribly squished and panty-lined in his way too tight trousers.
by Anonymous | reply 125 | March 24, 2019 3:25 AM |
*how much the
by Anonymous | reply 126 | March 24, 2019 3:26 AM |
[quote]Mysterious Island was a favorite - with Michael Callan - although that croaking British bitch was a bore.
Thanks for the Michael Callan reminder
by Anonymous | reply 127 | March 24, 2019 3:30 AM |
Pat Boone had beautiful skin. So creamy!
by Anonymous | reply 128 | March 24, 2019 3:35 AM |
R127 I'll take the grown-up Michael (Craig), thank you very much!
by Anonymous | reply 129 | March 24, 2019 3:39 AM |
More Arlene on James Mason. She said he always seemed to be an unhappy man who found consolation in his work when it went well, though he was very private about that too. He was furious when the company came back to the Fox studios to shoot interiors and they had to stop work the day Krushchev visited. Mason didn't want to be polite to him just because he was a world leader because the actor had a deep mistrust of most politicians.
by Anonymous | reply 130 | March 24, 2019 8:31 AM |
Loves my Jimbo!
by Anonymous | reply 131 | March 24, 2019 8:42 AM |
Digression, but if you want to see a steamy shirtless Pat Boone, watch "State Fair" and his scenes with Ann-Margret.
by Anonymous | reply 132 | March 24, 2019 12:57 PM |
Why didn't Pat Boone happen?
by Anonymous | reply 133 | March 24, 2019 1:00 PM |
Boone was under contract to Fox, how would he get a percentage? I'm not saying he didn't, I just don't understand how it would happen when I he was a Fox employee to begin with.
by Anonymous | reply 136 | March 24, 2019 2:58 PM |
Was that really Boone's penis and balls in that box? He looks thick.
by Anonymous | reply 137 | March 24, 2019 3:09 PM |
The exposed penis looks too high up on his body to be believable anatomically. I'm guessing this was really just one of those raunchy toys one could buy from a joke store like a plastic pile of shit.
You know, "Penis in a Box."
by Anonymous | reply 138 | March 24, 2019 6:05 PM |
No it's real....he's holding it UP with the box.
by Anonymous | reply 139 | March 24, 2019 7:05 PM |
R89 she has multiple orgasms in that scene.
by Anonymous | reply 140 | March 24, 2019 7:15 PM |
I like the Pat was "all in" for that shot. ALL the junk in the hole.
by Anonymous | reply 141 | March 24, 2019 7:16 PM |
Pat told Fox he only wanted to do musicals which is why he initially turned down the film but they wanted him so badly they agreed to give him a percentage of the box office, and he is glad they did, because he has received royalties ever since.
by Anonymous | reply 142 | March 24, 2019 8:00 PM |
Good for him! He's good in this.
by Anonymous | reply 143 | March 24, 2019 8:01 PM |
Ah......thanks R142, interesting.
by Anonymous | reply 144 | March 24, 2019 8:03 PM |
"I asked Boone how he happened to be cast in the film.He explained, “I did not want to be in the film. It was science fiction and I wanted to do romantic comedies, with music. The producer promised to add a song for me to sing (My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose) and even offered a percentage of the movie’s profits, but that was not my deciding factor — my manager and agent said they would ‘strangle’ me if I didn’t take the role! And I’m glad I did. It was the best part and some of the best singing I did in my whole career.”
by Anonymous | reply 145 | March 24, 2019 8:05 PM |
“The Fabulous World of Jules Verne” (U.S.title) was created by Czech animator Karel Zeman, who made a number of similarly designed, period adventure films.
Other films based on books by Jules Verne include:
“Master of the World” (1961): A creditable performance by Vincent Price as a Captain Nemo of the skies, with a fabulous airship and decent effects. Co-starring hunk Charles Bronson as a rescuing hero.
“Valley of the Dragons” (1961): b&w adventure based on Verne’s “Off on a Comet.” Essentially a B-movie, with effects shots lifted from the 1940 “One Million B.C.”
“In Search of the Castaways” (1962): Disney’s Ven e movie, with a few good effects, but also singing from Maurice Chevalier (!), and a teenage Haley Mills.
And we can’t forget the films based on H.G.Wells books, like hunky Rod Taylor in “The Time Machine” (1960), ir Gene Barry in “The War of the Worlds” (1953), and the kind of stodgy , but with decent Ray Harryhausen effects, “The First Men in the Moon” (1964).
I saw all of these in theaters in my youth, and mostly loved them. They were all great fun.
by Anonymous | reply 146 | March 24, 2019 8:46 PM |
r146, you left out the biggest Jules Verne film of all time, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, a huge hit in its time and the winner of the Oscar for Best Picture over some formidable competition, including GIANT, THE 10 COMMANDMENTS and THE KING AND I.
OK, I agree, it doesn't hold up very well.
by Anonymous | reply 147 | March 25, 2019 1:13 AM |
In spite of Pat's reluctance to make the film, it's by far the best film he ever made.
by Anonymous | reply 148 | March 25, 2019 1:14 AM |
Does anyone remember Pat in THE MAIN ATTRACTION?
I saw that one in my youth, around 1962/63, and he played a seedy circus performer (or was it a roustabout?) opposite Nancy Kwan. And he's so seedy, he even smoked cigarettes!
by Anonymous | reply 149 | March 25, 2019 1:16 AM |
"Journey..." is one of my favorite movies.
Isn't it nice that we don't have to wait for movies to be shown on television as we did in the 70s and 80s?
This movie was a regular on the "Family Classics" movie feature show on WGN Channel 9 in Chicago.
by Anonymous | reply 150 | March 25, 2019 2:07 AM |
The Alive Magazine interview had this anecdote but I think the link is stinky. "In the climatic scene in which James Mason, Arlene Dahl, Peter Ronson and I were on a raft, caught in a giant whirlpool. It was a tricky thing to shoot — the raft was on a revolving platform that tilted when it went around. It had to look like we were being tossed violently. Hundreds of gallons of water were being dumped on us to simulate a stormy sea. The noise was deafening, but not enough to drown out Dahl, who started screaming as she held on for dear life. She screamed at the director, Henry Levin, ‘Get me off this thing. Get me down. I’m going to pass out!’
She kept yelling. Mason had little patience for it. He thought Dahl had already overplayed the role of a dainty creature when we had to wear very heavy parkas, feigning winter amid very hot July weather, for another scene (Dahl complained then of heat prostration). Mason was not amused as this time he yelled back at her, ‘Shut up woman! We’re going to have to do this ten times if you don’t keep quiet.’ We were going to have to dub dialogue anyway, and they got the shot.”
Boone said that Dahl was hauled away to the infirmary on a stretcher. Boone added, “I got along tremendously with James Mason. I was in awe of him as an actor, and he was very helpful to me and very friendly. I liked the way he hummed a lot before a scene would be shot. He never hummed any tune I could recognize, but I think he was making sure that famous voice of his was warmed up and ready. He was thoroughly professional.”
by Anonymous | reply 151 | March 25, 2019 3:12 AM |
How much time had elapsed between Arlene giving birth to Lorenzo and her starting this picture?
by Anonymous | reply 152 | March 25, 2019 3:35 AM |
Lorenzo born January 20, 1958. Journey began production June, 1959.
by Anonymous | reply 153 | March 25, 2019 5:01 AM |
So was Pat Boone the father?
by Anonymous | reply 154 | March 25, 2019 7:39 AM |
James Mason was extremely handsome. His speaking voice as fantastic as well.
by Anonymous | reply 155 | March 25, 2019 9:53 AM |
Do DL Queens think James Mason was HOT in the pants for Pat Boone?
by Anonymous | reply 156 | March 25, 2019 11:15 AM |
Because of this thread I paid $2.99 to watch Journey To The Center Of The Earth on Amazon with my father who so far is not too impressed with the movie. He says it's just a movie.
by Anonymous | reply 157 | March 25, 2019 11:16 AM |
No. But Pat could barely keep his mitts off Jim.
by Anonymous | reply 158 | March 25, 2019 11:17 AM |
What's he expecting, R157? The Rapture?
by Anonymous | reply 159 | March 25, 2019 11:19 AM |
Pat Boone batted/bats for the gay team?
by Anonymous | reply 160 | March 25, 2019 11:26 AM |
Arlene Dahl was only about 30 in this movie. She looks about 15 years older.
by Anonymous | reply 161 | March 25, 2019 11:27 AM |
Arlene Dahl reminds me of Ava Gardner.
by Anonymous | reply 162 | March 25, 2019 11:28 AM |
Wasn't it good of Professor Goteborg to admit to his theft of Lindenbrook's discovery in his diary?
by Anonymous | reply 163 | March 25, 2019 12:09 PM |
In spite of a rather silly-sounding Hollywoodish surname, Dahl is Arlene's real name. She comes from hearty Norwegian stock and grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was well-suited to play Carla in Journey to the Center of the Earth.
by Anonymous | reply 164 | March 25, 2019 5:01 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 165 | March 25, 2019 5:44 PM |
I think it was in the mentioned The Main Attraction that there was an actor in the movie who was on the Blacklist.
He went to Boone and said: "You might not want me in the picture because I'm on the blacklist and it could cause trouble for you."
The guy said Boone told him: "I don't care about that stuff - forget it. Who cares. You're in the movie."
Pat Boone gets a lot of crap because of his wacky religious beliefs and political stances.....but he was an all right guy in most ways.
by Anonymous | reply 166 | March 25, 2019 7:00 PM |
Ah....as reported in Tender Comrades- the actor was Jeff Corey. Boone was in his acting class (!) - and the movie was The Yellow Canary - starring Boone and Barbara Eden.
by Anonymous | reply 167 | March 25, 2019 7:35 PM |
Pat was an enormous star in the 1950s and was considered the safe antidote to Elvis' X-rated pelvis, as difficult as it might seem to even consider them in the same sentence. He had a very popular Sunday night variety hour, made some mediocre and forgettable but very profitable films and had many hit records that were enjoyed by teenagers as well as their parents.
But his clean-cut and happily married good looks were a bore by the early 1960s and considered even worse by the sexual revolution of the later 1960s (that awful toupee!). Attempts at edgier material like The Main Attraction were ignored or reviled. His only alternative seemed to be to make an all-out appeal to conservative Christians and his repertoire became more religious and self-reverent.
I guess he did well enough financially. He's still alive and singing somewhere, which is more than many of his generation can say.
by Anonymous | reply 168 | March 25, 2019 8:41 PM |
Don't forget that Pat also popularized white buck shoes which were an enormous fad for kids and college boys in the mid to late 1950s. You don't see celebrities having that kind of clout over men's fashion trends much any more.
by Anonymous | reply 169 | March 25, 2019 8:43 PM |
It helps to have songs to publicize them, r169!
by Anonymous | reply 170 | March 25, 2019 9:00 PM |
I always liked this song.
From the movie "April Love" also starring Shirley Jones.
by Anonymous | reply 171 | March 25, 2019 9:15 PM |
This is a nice clip where Pat Boone talks about the first time he met Elvis Presley.
by Anonymous | reply 173 | March 25, 2019 9:33 PM |
I've always loved Pat's Love Letters in the Sand. Was that featured in one of his films?
by Anonymous | reply 174 | March 25, 2019 10:42 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 175 | March 25, 2019 11:08 PM |
That was a fun interview R173
by Anonymous | reply 176 | March 25, 2019 11:38 PM |
Yes, nice interview at r73. Thanks for posting. And Pat still looks sexy, especially for an 80-something.
by Anonymous | reply 177 | March 25, 2019 11:57 PM |
Pat Boone hosted his Chevy-sponsored NY-based variety show from 1957 to 1960 while he was a student at Columbia University. At the time he was the youngest person (at age 23) to host a network variety show until Donny and Marie appeared.
by Anonymous | reply 178 | March 26, 2019 12:03 AM |
In 2015 Arlene was said to be working on a autobiography but it doesn't appear to have been released yet.
by Anonymous | reply 179 | March 26, 2019 6:23 AM |
Her Transcendent Spirit is still working on it.
by Anonymous | reply 180 | March 26, 2019 9:35 AM |
Even Lorenzo wrote one, out in 2014.
by Anonymous | reply 181 | March 26, 2019 10:47 PM |
I look forward to it R179; she'll discuss all the huge cock she's encountered.
by Anonymous | reply 182 | March 26, 2019 11:36 PM |
There'll be HUGE chapters on Lex Barker and Fernando Lamas!
by Anonymous | reply 183 | March 26, 2019 11:39 PM |
R182, yes, "Journeys to the Center of Arlene"
by Anonymous | reply 184 | March 26, 2019 11:42 PM |
That title is perfection, R184!
by Anonymous | reply 185 | March 26, 2019 11:57 PM |
Oh Arlene was interviewed in 2007 and she was writing her autobiography back then too.
by Anonymous | reply 186 | March 27, 2019 7:29 AM |
I wish she would write her autobiography ,but I doubt it because she is 93 years old and still there is no book.
by Anonymous | reply 187 | March 27, 2019 11:32 PM |
Maybe there is, just waiting for her to kick off.
by Anonymous | reply 188 | March 27, 2019 11:45 PM |
r190 see r165
by Anonymous | reply 191 | March 28, 2019 2:01 PM |
Oops, sorry for the duplication. Here's Arlene in a 1974 What's My Line?
by Anonymous | reply 192 | March 28, 2019 9:47 PM |
The music for the climax for the lizards is not a goat's head but the medieval serpent.
by Anonymous | reply 193 | April 12, 2019 12:33 PM |