Journal of Film Preservation N° 56 - FIAF

80 Days : Descubrimientos de una
colección única
La vuelta al mundo en 80 días, estrenada
en 1956, fué el punto culminante de la vida
del showman Michael Todd. Este,
desapareció a los 50 años de edad en un
accidente aéreo ocurrido en 1958, en el
preciso momento en que el film pulverizaba
los records de taquilla y se llevaba los
mayores premios a través del mundo. La
viuda de Todd, la señora Elisabeth Taylor,
25 años más tarde, legó todo el material que
había heredado de su difunto esposo a la
Library of Congress. Se trata de un acto
feliz, ya que la LC - que por otra parte
detiene una de las más importantes
colecciones de adaptaciones de la obra de
Jules Verne al cine y a la televisión - estaba
bien preparada para recibir y preservar este
material. El Fondo Taylor está integrado de
una gran variedad de elementos tales como
426 bobinas de imagen y de sonido, en
varios idiomas, en en 16mm, 35mm et
70mm. El material film consiste en rushes y
copias de trabajo, separaciones de colores,
tests, tomas, rodajes de estudio y numerosas
curiosidades. La colección constituye una
fuente de documentación de un valor
inestimable para el estudio de la superproducción
hollywoodiana de Michael Todd.
horsemen up to speed outside and then say action to those playing the
scenes in the railway carriage.”
Making the schedule even more crowded was the necessity of shooting
two versions of the film, one in 70 mm., and another in CinemaScope.
At the time, it was impossible to transfer a film shot in 70 mm. to 35
mm. widescreen stock, and a CinemaScope version was essential so that
Around the World in 80 Days could play the many theaters only equipped
to show 35 mm. film. Most scenes were shot with the two different cameras
placed side by side, but sometimes scenes had to be reshot for the
benefit of one or the other camera. Consequently, there are actually two
different release versions of Around the World in 80 Days, and the Library’s
collection holds print and preprint material on both.
Todd found that raising financial backing necessary for the project was
difficult, especially since he was a Hollywood outsider. Often the movie
continued with just enough backing to keep progressing on a day-to-day
basis. After the project had been underway for nine months and Todd
was broke, he turned down offers to buy him out, holding on until
finally United Artists and Paramount Theaters came through with a
releasing deal and the necessary funding to complete work.
Humorist S.J. Perelman rewrote the script, staying very close to the
Verne novel, although James Poe and John Farrow (who was also originally
set to direct) sued and won a share of credit for authoring the original
draft. Associate producer was the talented William Cameron
Menzies, who selected the exteriors in Europe and the United States.
Kevin O’Donovan McClory, who began as an assistant director, became
steadily more important to the production and was ultimately also credited
as associate producer. McClory directed scenes in Paris, the Middle
East, Pakistan, Siam, Hong Kong, and Japan, before assisting in the editing
of the 680,000 feet of film exposed during the summer of 1956.
The expected budget doubled to $6 million as filming took place in 112
locations in 13 countries over 127 days of shooting (75 days for principal
photography under Anderson), employing, supposedly, nearly
70,000 people and 8,000 animals. In the United States, the principal
locations outside California were in Oklahoma and New Mexico, and
five Hollywood studio lots were used, with the bulk of the interiors shot
at RKO.
The result is what Todd called a show on film: a travelogue, a circus, a
revue, a comedy, a mystery, a romance, a Wild West show, and a bullfight
all rolled into one. Yet, unlike many such enormous productions,
Around the World in 80 Days does not seem heavy, but light and charming;
the awesome scale seldom dwarfs the story and characters.
Apparently most of the leads were chosen with relative ease, and David
Niven was quickly selected for the part of Phileas Fogg. By retaining
Verne’s satire of English manners and mores in the portrayal of Fogg, the
integrity of the book is preserved. The casting of the Mexican comedian
Cantinflas as Fogg’s French servant Passepartout does not strike a discordant
note, echoing Fogg’s own eccentricity.
20 Journal of Film Preservation / 56 / 1998