![]() In fact, the first time the heroes of AROUND THE WORLD met ballooning was in the 1957 film. While that is a better written novel (and a more frequently read one) there is no scene in it of Phileas Fogg and Passepartout flying in a balloon. Ironically, despite it's title mentioning "balloons", most people now think that Verne's ballooning novel is AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS. The book was Verne's first published novel, and it turned out to be a success. Taking advantage of current interest in African exploration (the brouhaha regarding Burton and Speke and the source of the Nile - see THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON - as well as the discoveries of the first gorilla by French explorer Paul du Chaillu), Verne joined this to the growing interest in ballooning, and man's conquest of the air. ![]() Jules Verne had written several failed plays (boulevard farces) and a few short stories before this novel was written. And the film did moderately well if at all. It was one of the first motion pictures that used television to advertise it's scenes and cast and excitement (including it's theme song). I remember when this film came out in 1962.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |