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Journey to the Center of the Earth
1959 movie poster
Directed by	Henry Levin
Produced by	Charles Brackett
Written by	screenplay by Charles Brackett & Walter Reisch from the novel by Jules Verne
Starring	Pat Boone James Mason Arlene Dahl Diane Baker Peter Ronson Thayer David
Music by	Bernard Herrmann
Cinematography	Leo Tover
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	December 16, 1959
Running time	132 min
Country	USA
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Journey to the Center of the Earth is a 1959 adventure film adapted by Charles Brackett from the novel by Jules Verne. It stars Pat Boone, James Mason, Arlene Dahl, Peter Ronson, Diane Baker, Thayer David, and Alan Napier. It was directed by Henry Levin.

This film is also known as Trip to the Center of the Earth.

An Edinburgh professor is intriqued by a strange rock given to him by one of his pupils. Uncovering its secret leads him and a few other hardy individuals to a dangerous journey that may have no return.

The film is notable for its special effects. It was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Effects, Special Effects and Best Sound. It won a second place Golden Laurel award for Top Action Drama in 1960.

Professor Oliver Lindenbrook (Mason) is given a piece of volcanic rock that is much heavier than it should be. After finding a plumb bob inside and reading its cryptic inscription, he and his admiring student, Alec, discern that a previous explorer had actually found a passage to the center of the Earth and sent the plumb up as a signal. Through various transcripts and notes left by the explorer, the two discern where the entrance to the passage is.

Before they can start their journey, they discover a Professor Goetaborg, whom they asked for some help, has usurped their mission and has made plans to make the discovery before them. Finding him dead before he can start his mission, they find his lodgings filled with everything they need to mount their own expedition. Coerced into taking Goetaborg's recent widow, they start their search and are soon journeying to the heart of the Earth itself. They also take a tall young Icelander, Hans Belker, and his duck Gertrude (Belker speaks no English; Karla Goetaborg does speak Icelandic, and this is part of the reason she is allowed to accompany the others).

Strange terrain, a deranged rival scientist, breathtaking scenery and dinosaurs embellish the rest of their journey. Even coming upon the sunken city of Atlantis, the group is faced with one ominous question: How will they return to the surface?

Not far from the ruins of Atlantis they see the skeleton of the explorer who went before them—with a hand pointing toward a passage to the surface. With ingenuity—and luck—they come up with an idea for using the passage to return.

• Slurpasaur
• At the Earth's Core

• Journey to the Center of the Earth at the Internet Movie Database
• Journey to the Center of the Earth at All Movie Guide
• A review of the movie with original poster