I so wanted to like this film. An unsurpassable cast delivering a story depicting the ultimate in compendium storytelling. What could go wrong? Well, sadly - quite a lot. David Niven is fine as the dapper sophisticate "Fogg" who along with his gentleman's gentleman of one whole day "Passepartout" (the acrobatic Cantinflas) accepts a bet from some toffs in the Reform Club that he cannot circumnavigate the world in 80 days. Steam trains, balloons, ships, camels, horses, even a paddle-steamer facilitate their travels with just about every movie star on the books joining in as our tour of the world offers us colourful and entertaining escapades from many different countries and cultures. There is a sort of chemistry between the two travellers, but they are all to often apart on screen, and sadly I thought, it is the very diversity of the stories that lets this down. It is too episodic: the narrative frequently lacks cohesion, often little better than a colourful, occasionally pithy, travelogue and even the mischievous contributions from a super Robert Newton ("Insp. Fix") who reckons "Fogg" is really an infamous bank robber, and the delightful antics of Shirley MacLaine as the "Princess Aouda" can't really redeem or sustain it. It is long, but that needn't have been a problem (at least it isn't 80 days) it's just flat, somehow - so much more could have been going on, but wasn't. To be fair, it does hot up in the last twenty minutes or so, as their quest comes to a head but that isn't enough. The technical aspects are flawless, however - particularly the photography; with the costumiers facing a sartorial Herculean task and Victor Young's score is suitably international in it's themes and well worthy of his Oscar. Maybe it just had too much time and too much money but somehow it's all a wee bit disappointing.
