Around the World in 80 Days

If ever, oh ever, a one-off there was, Around the World in 80 Days is one because (because, because, because), because of the wonderful thing it does: namely, dragging us along on a three-hour widescreen (in Todd-AO) globe-circumnavigating tour (a three-hour tour; sorry) that is one-third action/adventure, one-third slapstick comedy, one-third travelogue, and three-thirds full of cameos (in a brief scene set in a San Francisco bar, for example, you'll see Marlene Dietrich, Red Skelton, George Raft, and Frank Sinatra). Oh, and this was producer Mike Todd's (one of the Mr. Elizabeth Taylor's) only feature film, which took Best Picture in 1957, beating out Giant, Friendly Persuasion, The King and I, and The Ten Commandments. Based on Jules Verne's classic 19th century novel, director Michael Anderson's epic romp stars David Niven as Phileas Fogg, a mysterious, laconic, whist-playing Reform Club member who wagers that he can travel around the globe in 80 days, and does so by plane (ok, hot air balloon), train, and automobile (ok, horse-drawn carriage), accompanied by his manservant Passepartout (the Mexican comic genius Cantinflas). Presented in a beautiful widescreen transfer, this double-disc set features an excellent commentary track with BBC Radio's Brian Sibley, the 51-minute profile documentary “Around the World of Mike Todd,” 15 minutes worth of outtakes, a star-studded stadium party celebrating the film's one-year-anniversary (an often rambling and chaotic affair broadcast live on Playhouse 90), and archival newsreel clips. Truth be told, Around the World in 80 Days is not a great movie (though some of the S.J. Perelman-written zingers are wonderful), but it is a unique one--2004 Jackie Chan-starring remake notwithstanding. Recommended. [Note: two PBS-aired documentaries serve as excellent companion pieces: Around the World in 72 Days (VL-11/97), about the first person to circle the globe--who was not a gentleman at all, but a rather rambunctious woman known as Nellie Bly, and Around the World in 80 Days, the superb travelogue/documentary following Monty Python's Michael Palin on a trip replicating Fogg's adventure.] (R. Pitman)