Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

This is a nostalgic movie for me personally, it's the first classic movie that I ever saw on the big screen. I was in 8th grade, not yet in High School. I saw it at The Gateway Theater in Chicago in the spring of 1990 with my family, and it was a pretty awesome experience.  April 22, 1990.

This was the period in my life when I started to fall in love with old movies.

I was about 14 years old at the time.

I remember it being a huge, long epic, with lavish location photography, sets and costumes. The music by Victor Young was great too, enjoyable. The opening scenes with Passepartou (Cantinflas) riding the penny-farthing bicycle and meeting David Niven, I'll never forget those scenes. And then they go on their adventure, all over the world, and eventually to America. I remember the young princess in the movie and my mom whispering to me that this is Shirley MacClaine. I had only known her for her 1980s movie up to that point.

And I didn't recognize all the cameo stars, but I did know Frank Sinatra.

Also, there was an actual intermission, and it was a nice break. And the end credits; I was in awe. I love animation and seeing that on the big screen was so cool.

Alot of people criticize the film nowadays and don't think it should have won the Best Picture Oscar. For me, this film was awe-inspiring and impressed me like none other I had seen up until that point.

Another think I really like about 80 Days is the intro with Edward R Murrow when he talks about how travel has evolved. Watching that sequence with the hindsight we now have 50+ years later is really interesting.

Cameos: Charles Boyer, Joe E Brown, Noel Coward, Buster Keaton, Robert Morley, and Marlene Dietrich. Directed by Michael Anderson and Kevin McClory.

---

For more about this film:

Gerald has shared some memories of seeing this film when it was first released.

Read the post here at his blog, Laszlos On Lex

Travels With My Aunt (1972) and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)

Over the weekend I went with my aunt to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a new ensemble dramedy about British tourists in India. The stellar cast includes Judi Dench and - in a less-prominent storyline - Maggie Smith as a stubborn guest. Five minutes before the end of the film, Dame Judi says to Maggie, "We haven't talked much, have we?" Nope, they sure didn't, and I wished Maggie was in more of the film.  She's so good you'll want to see her star in a sequel.

I watched another of Maggie Smith's travel-themed movies where she shines in the lead: Travels With My Aunt from 1972.

Travels  is a quirky comedy from director George Cukor that has a screwball tone. Dame Maggie plays an eccentric socialite whose affair with a mysterious lover forces her to travel the world. She brings along her only relative, her nephew Henry, played by Alex McCowen, a perfect straight-man to her more high-spirited personality.

The movie unfolds to reveal more of the mysterious reason for her world travels, and it all comes together in a silly, memorable way.

Co-star Louis Gossett Jr. (who plays a fellow travel companion) shares some of the neat experiences he had filming the Travels in London in his autobiography, An Actor and A Gentleman. He recalls with fondness meeting the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, all the good food he enjoyed, and how gracious and encouraging Dame Maggie was.

Just a Cineaste blog post on Travels With My Aunt

Around the World in 80 Minutes (1931) with Douglas Fairbainks

What it's about
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and a crew of three—photographers Harry Sharp and Chuck Lewis and co-director Victor Fleming—journey around the world and report on various cultural curiosities and the humor they find in everyday life overseas. (From TCM.com)

My Take:
I love this movie! It's narrated by our "tour guide", Mr. Fairbanks himself, who addresses the camera throughout. We travel with him to Japan, China, India, Siam (Thailand today), and India among other countries, mostly in Asia. This film must have been incredible to watch on the big screen in 1931 when there were no TVs: we see some awesome landscape views, mixed in with humorous bits featuring Fairbanks, in a similar fashion to the popular TV travel show Globetrekker. In one scene, Fairbanks pretends like he's being chased by a wild leopard (but it's all trick photography). In another scene, he plays golf on a giant map of the world; when his ball lands on an island, he "jumps" over the ocean so he doesn't "fall into it". Plus he cracks alot of jokes throughout and I found myself laughing hysterically.

The crew travels mostly through Asia, but there is funny gag at the end where they hop on a flying carpet and manage to see other countries and cities in America, giving the illusion they're literally traveling "around the world". At one point the carpet flies over Chicago and there are some bullets fired at it. Har har. There are one or two other Chicago/mobster jokes in the film too (that cracked up our audience)

I don't think this type of full-length travel film was common back in the early 30s. This is a one of a kind film. You can tell that Fairbanks had fun making this film. The total running time is about 80 minutes (hence, Around the world in 80 minutes) A follow-up film might have been cool with Mr. Fairbanks hosting again, perhaps with a trip to Europe, which would have been fun. Highly recommended!

The Tourist (2010) with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie

Sometimes I like to check out a new movie without knowing much about it. Such was the case with me and The Tourist. I only knew the basics: that it was a spy film and that it had Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, and Italy - where I've always wanted to visit.

Photo: Destination360.com

From the reviews I've read so far, they are not calling this a classic, but I am. Some don't like the story (despite it being written by the Oscar winning writer of The Usual Suspects) and some have likened it to old romantic thrillers films from decades past. Roger Ebert in his review said the movie had a few clichés. I don't fault it for that; it's still fun to watch. The old-fashioned spy romance feel was what I loved about it. Others have criticized Depp's character as a bit of a timid traveler. Well, he may be at first but he redeems himself eventually. He just playing another slightly odd and misunderstood character that he's famous for, so don't think of Cary Grant in North by Northwest. And the scenery of Venice is really beautiful. I recommend this film if you love to travel or love watching movies about traveling, or if you are fan of either Depp's or Angelina's. I don't think you will be disappointed.

There's a couple of violent parts but they come from the baddies who you're not supposed to like anyway. The fella that plays one of the main gangsters looked really familiar. When I looked him up I realized it was Steven Berkoff who was in alot of 80s movies like Rambo II and Beverly Hills Cop and Octopussy. Speaking of Bond, Timothy Dalton is in it too. It's a light film, comical at times, and there's some good chase scenes in it. It's not like Salt if you've seen that one. I liked this one better (though I loved Salt too) So if you are looking to escape the winter blues, I recommend The Tourist at your local cinema.

Here's a review from The Movie Goddess who also loved the film!!

Peter has written a good review of this movie at Armchair Audience.