The Mysterious Island (1929 film)

Infobox Film
name = The Mysterious Island

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caption =
director = Benjamin Christensen Lucien Hubbard Maurice Tourneur
producer = J. Ernest Williamson
writer = Jules Verne (novel) Lucien Hubbard Carl Pierson
starring = Lionel Barrymore Jacqueline Gadsden Lloyd Hughes Montagu Love Harry Gribbon
music = Martin Broones Art Lange Special Effects: James Basevi Irving G. Ries J. Ernest Williamson
cinematography = Percy Hilburn
editing = Carl Pierson
distributor = Metro Goldwyn Mayer
released = 5 October 1929
runtime = 95 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:103465
imdb_id = 0020198

"The Mysterious Island", directed by Lucien Hubbard, is the 1929 film adaptation of Jules Verne's French novel "L'Île mystérieuse" ("The Mysterious Island"), published in 1874. It is an all-color, in Technicolor, part-talkie feature film with talking sequences, sound effect and synchronized music.

Production

According to an article in the original "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine, production was actually started in 1926. There were various problems, including weather and the advent of talkies, which slowed/halted production several times before the film was finally completed and released three years later. The article included stills showing the original 1926 undersea denizens and the redesigned version which actually appeared in the film. Footage shot by Maurice Tourneur and Benjamin Christensen in 1927 was incorporated into the final 1929 version.

Adaptation

The film is loosely based on the back-story given for Captain Nemo in the novel "The Mysterious Island", and might more properly be thought of as a prequel to "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". It is the story of Count Dakkar (Captain Nemo's real name is revealed to be Prince Dakkar in "The Mysterious Island"), how he built his submarine, how he was betrayed, and how he became an outcast seeking revenge.

Preservation

No complete color prints survive. Only one reel exists tinted and with Technicolor sequences, which is part of the UCLA Film and Television Archive. The complete film exists in a black-and-white copy apparently made in the 1950s for television showings.

Cast

*Lionel Barrymore as Count Dakkar
*Jacqueline Gadsden as Sonia Dakkar (credited as Jane Daly)
*Lloyd Hughes as Nikolai Roget
*Montagu Love as Falon
*Harry Gribbon as Mikhail
*Snitz Edwards as Anton
*Gibson Gowland as Dmitry
*Pauline Starke
*Karl Dane