On 3/30/25 8:02 AM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1929) is the first film version of the
Jules Verne novel. Well, sort of--Verne's novel did not have
dragons or duck people. THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND is a bizarre
adaptation of the Jules Verne. No film adaptation is much like
the book, which would resemble ROBINSON CRUSOE with just a touch
of science fiction. In this version Lionel Barrymore plays Count
Andre Dakkar (alias Captain Nemo) on an island where he studies
deep seas. On the ocean floor he finds a race of what TCM calls
"fish men," but I would say they look more like they are wearing
duck suits. It has early two-strip Technicolor and sound
sequences, but it is really mostly a pre-sound film. MGM was
slowly moving to sound. The film may be more interesting as an
artifact than as a rip-snorting science fiction film.
The 1916 _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_ incorporates parts of
_Mysterious Island_, including Nemo's back story, though it takes major liberties with both novels.
--
Gary McGath
http://www.mcgath.com
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