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History Film / JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth1959

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* AccidentalDiscovery: The plumb bob that clues Lindenbrook in to Arne Saknussem's solo expedition is revealed because of a small accidental explosion.

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* AccidentalDiscovery: The plumb bob that clues Lindenbrook in to Arne Saknussem's solo expedition is revealed because it happened to be covered by a piece of volcanic rock that Eric bought as a small accidental explosion.souvenir to Oliver who was surprised by its heaviness despite volcanic rock being pourous by nature, and a mishap at his laboratory ended up destroying the rock via an explosion when he was trying to melt it down to better figure out its composition.
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* ClothingDamage: The heroes' clothes get progressively more damaged the further they go. This ends with Alec completely naked by the time he gets to the surface, in a humourous scene with some rather embarassed nuns.

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* ClothingDamage: The heroes' clothes get progressively more damaged the further they go. This ends with Alec completely naked by the time he gets to the surface, where he's stuck in a humourous scene tree in an Italian monestary and is trying to tell the nuns coming to his rescue with a ladder to fetch him some rather embarassed nuns.pants first. The branch he's sitting on breaks off just when the the nuns figure out what he's asking for, and he has to grab one of the lambs grazing nearby [[HandOrObjectUnderwear to cover his crotch]] while the nuns shield their eyes in terror.



* GentleGiant: Hans, until the moment he finds [[spoiler:his beloved Gertrude has been eaten]].
* HollywoodMagnetism: The pole at the center of the earth rips away Hans's gold tooth and Carla's wedding ring, which, as Sir Oliver takes the time to point out, was also gold.

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* GentleGiant: Hans, until the moment he finds [[spoiler:his beloved Gertrude has been eaten]].
eaten by Count Saknussem]].
* HollywoodMagnetism: The pole at the center of the earth rips away Hans's gold tooth and Carla's wedding ring, which, as Sir Oliver takes the time to point out, was also gold.gold, a non-ferrous metal by nature.
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The basic storyline is the same as in the novel, following a professor and his assistants as they follow the ancient explorer Arne Saknussen's notes to find an underground trail that will lead them to the center of the planet. A number of changes are made, however: the heroes' home is moved from the German city of Hamburg to the Scottish one of Edinburgh, Professor Otto Lidenbrock is renamed Oliver Lindenbrook, and his nephew and viewpoint character Axel becomes one his students student and is renamed Alec [=McEwan=]. Two new characters are also added: Carla Göteborg, the widow of one of Lindenbrook's rivals in the race to the center of the Earth, who joins the expedition to protect her husband's reputation, and Count Saknussemm, a descendant of Arne's who believes that only he has the right to follow his ancestor's footsteps. Count Saknussemm will protect his perceived birthright with deadly force -- he's the reason why Carla finds herself a widow at the start -- and provides an antagonist force to the narrative, which the novel lacks.

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The basic storyline is the same as in the novel, following a professor and his assistants as they follow the ancient explorer Arne Saknussen's notes to find an underground trail that will lead them to the center of the planet. A number of changes are made, however: the heroes' home is moved from the German city of Hamburg to the Scottish one of Edinburgh, Professor Otto Lidenbrock is renamed Oliver Lindenbrook, and his nephew and viewpoint character Axel becomes one his students student and is renamed Alec [=McEwan=]. Two new characters are also added: Carla Göteborg, the widow of one of Lindenbrook's rivals in the race to the center of the Earth, who joins the expedition to protect her husband's reputation, and Count Saknussemm, a descendant of Arne's who believes that only he has the right to follow his ancestor's footsteps. Count Saknussemm will protect his perceived birthright with deadly force -- he's the reason why Carla finds herself a widow at the start -- and provides an antagonist force to the narrative, which the novel lacks.

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Removed: 177

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Trope has been disambiguated per TRS


* BelligerentSexualTension: Sir Oliver Lindenbrook and DeterminedWidow Carla Göteborg snipe at each other throughout the journey.

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* BelligerentSexualTension: Sir Oliver Lindenbrook and DeterminedWidow Carla Göteborg snipe at each other throughout the journey.



* CanonForeigner: [[TheRival Professor Göteberg]] and his wife [[DeterminedWidow Carla]], [[TeamPet Gertrude]] the duck, and [[AristocratsAreEvil Count Saknussem]] and his [[EvilMinions servant]]. Basically, half the principal cast.

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* CanonForeigner: [[TheRival Professor Göteberg]] and his wife [[DeterminedWidow Carla]], Carla, [[TeamPet Gertrude]] the duck, and [[AristocratsAreEvil Count Saknussem]] and his [[EvilMinions servant]]. Basically, half the principal cast.



* DeterminedWidow: Carla Göteborg falls into this role before her husband is even in the ground, declaring her intentions to continue his work by joining his rival's expedition.


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* TakingUpTheMantle: Carla Göteborg falls into this role before her husband is even in the ground, declaring her intentions to continue his work by joining his rival's expedition.
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* {{Determinator}}: [[spoiler:Arne Saknussem]] is very, very dead when the group finally find him, but he was mere feet away from a possible exit when he expired and Lindenbrook figures out, from the skeleton, that he broke his leg at some point and dragged himself all the way here.

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* DiesWideOpen: Count Saknussem's servant keels over off-screen (although the Count says that he worked himself to death, and considering he was packing as much weight as a mule and the huge amounts of heat of the cave, it's probably right) and Alec (and the audience) sees the servant's eyes are still wide in shock in death.



%%* PeekABooCorpse: Count Saknussem's dead servant.

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%%* * PeekABooCorpse: Count Saknussem's dead servant.servant. Alec runs into him a few seconds before the Count appears, [[NoSympathy mentions the poor man worked himself to death]], and orders Alec to pick up the dead man's gear to continue the Count's expedition or the Count will shoot Alec.



%%* SelfDisposingVillain: After [[spoiler:Count Saknussem eats Gertrude]], Hans is fully prepared to commit murder. Fortunately, the villain enacts this trope instead.%%ZCE. How?

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%%* * SelfDisposingVillain: After [[spoiler:Count Saknussem eats Gertrude]], Hans is fully prepared to commit murder. Fortunately, the villain enacts this trope instead.%%ZCE. How?instead [[spoiler:by leaning too hard on a pillar of rocks and making them fall on top of him, [[DisneyVillainDeath making him fall down a volcano shaft]].]]
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* AdaptationDyeJob: Redhead Hans becomes blond here.

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* AdaptationDyeJob: Redhead Hans becomes is a redhead in the novel, but is blond here.
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* SelfDisposingVillain: After [[spoiler:Count Saknussem has eaten Gertrude]], Hans is fully prepared to commit murder. Fortunately, the villain enacts this trope instead.

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* %%* SelfDisposingVillain: After [[spoiler:Count Saknussem has eaten eats Gertrude]], Hans is fully prepared to commit murder. Fortunately, the villain enacts this trope instead.%%ZCE. How?
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* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Pat Boone as Alec. He started out at least attempting it, but [[OohMeAccentsSlipping lost it pretty early on]].
* PeekABooCorpse: Count Saknussem's dead servant.

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* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Pat Boone as Alec. He started starts out at least attempting it, but [[OohMeAccentsSlipping lost loses it pretty early on]].
* %%* PeekABooCorpse: Count Saknussem's dead servant.
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Moving to Trivia.


* TheCastShowoff: Pat Boone sings every chance he gets.
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Splitting from novel's page.

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[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/journey_to_the_center_of_the_earth_1959.jpg]]

A 1959 film adaptation of Creator/JulesVerne's novel ''Literature/JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth'', directed by Henry Levin and distributed by 20th Century Fox.

The basic storyline is the same as in the novel, following a professor and his assistants as they follow the ancient explorer Arne Saknussen's notes to find an underground trail that will lead them to the center of the planet. A number of changes are made, however: the heroes' home is moved from the German city of Hamburg to the Scottish one of Edinburgh, Professor Otto Lidenbrock is renamed Oliver Lindenbrook, and his nephew and viewpoint character Axel becomes one his students student and is renamed Alec [=McEwan=]. Two new characters are also added: Carla Göteborg, the widow of one of Lindenbrook's rivals in the race to the center of the Earth, who joins the expedition to protect her husband's reputation, and Count Saknussemm, a descendant of Arne's who believes that only he has the right to follow his ancestor's footsteps. Count Saknussemm will protect his perceived birthright with deadly force -- he's the reason why Carla finds herself a widow at the start -- and provides an antagonist force to the narrative, which the novel lacks.

Due to the movie's age, the practical effects are often a little crude -- notably, lizards with glued-on horns serve as stand-ins for prehistoric reptiles.
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!!This movie contains examples of:
* AbsentMindedProfessor: Sir Oliver walks through the marching band of a Highland regiment because he's wrapped up in reading his newspaper.
* AccidentalDiscovery: The plumb bob that clues Lindenbrook in to Arne Saknussem's solo expedition is revealed because of a small accidental explosion.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Redhead Hans becomes blond here.
* AdaptationalNameChange: To accompany the AdaptationalNationality below, Prof. Otto Lidenbrock becomes Prof. Oliver Lindenbrook, and Axel becomes Alec [=McEwan=]. Gretchen's equivalent character is named Jenny.
* AdaptationalNationality: In the book, most of the characters are Germans, while in the movie, they're Scots, albeit ones with Scottish accents that range from [[OohMeAccentsSlipping shaky]] to [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent nonexistent.]] Presumably, so soon after the end of the Second World War, American audiences weren't keen to see Germans as protagonists.
* AndTheAdventureContinues: Sir Oliver is sure that his will not be the last expedition to the center, and wonders if any of his students will carry on his work. Hans, meanwhile, learns enough English to offer that, if Sir Oliver ever goes back down there, he'll come too.
* ArtisticLicenseSpace: Lindenbrook remarks that more is known about the stars and galaxies than about the Earth's deeper layers. At the time the film is set, distant galaxies were called "spiral nebulae"; only our own Milky Way was referred to as a "galaxy".
* {{Atlantis}}: The climax takes place here, with Atlantis buried in an air pocket cave rather than being the usual UnderwaterRuins. Naturally, even the ruins are ultimately destroyed in a CataclysmClimax.
* BadBoss: It's heavily implied Count Saknussem literally worked his servant to death.
* BelligerentSexualTension: Sir Oliver Lindenbrook and DeterminedWidow Carla Göteborg snipe at each other throughout the journey.
* TheBigGuy: As in the book, Hans. He towers over the other characters and easily resolves a TakeMyHand situation described below.
* BriefAccentImitation: Sir Oliver briefly puts on a Scottish accent to imitate his mother. This raises the question that, if Creator/JamesMason was able to do the accent, why he didn't do one for the rest of the movie, since his character is also supposed to be a Scot.
* CanonForeigner: [[TheRival Professor Göteberg]] and his wife [[DeterminedWidow Carla]], [[TeamPet Gertrude]] the duck, and [[AristocratsAreEvil Count Saknussem]] and his [[EvilMinions servant]]. Basically, half the principal cast.
* TheCastShowoff: Pat Boone sings every chance he gets.
* ClothingDamage: The heroes' clothes get progressively more damaged the further they go. This ends with Alec completely naked by the time he gets to the surface, in a humourous scene with some rather embarassed nuns.
* DeterminedWidow: Carla Göteborg falls into this role before her husband is even in the ground, declaring her intentions to continue his work by joining his rival's expedition.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: Prof. Göteberg is initially set up as the villain before being murdered by the ''real'' bad guy.
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Count Saknussem]] leans against a loose rock pile and is buried in an avalanche just after he [[spoiler:kills and eats Gertrude]], sparing the others from having to kill or otherwise deal with him.
* DoomedPredecessor: [[spoiler:Arne Saknussemm]], who both made the MacGuffin and marked the [[TrailOfBreadCrumbs trail]] the protagonists follow, died centuries before the story and his skeleton is found in Atlantis pointing to the DoorToBefore.
* DoubleTake:
** Alec uncovers Göteberg's blanket-draped body while searching the hotel room's stockpiled supplies, then ''covers it up again and goes on searching'' for a moment before realizing what he's seen.
** Lindenbrook agrees absentmindedly to Carla's declaration that she'll be joining them, before backing up, asking for clarification, and protesting vehemently.
* FungusHumongous: The party encounters a forest of giant mushrooms just before the subterranean ocean, with skin tough enough to use as shoe leather and stems that can substitute for tree trunks when they need to build a raft.
* GentleGiant: Hans, until the moment he finds [[spoiler:his beloved Gertrude has been eaten]].
* HollywoodMagnetism: The pole at the center of the earth rips away Hans's gold tooth and Carla's wedding ring, which, as Sir Oliver takes the time to point out, was also gold.
* JumpedAtTheCall: Alec, who proposes to go on Sir Oliver's expedition instead of staying to marry his niece. This is the exact opposite of TheNarrator in the novel, who only goes along because he doesn't have the courage to tell Sir Oliver where he can stick his mad idea of exploring the interior of the Earth.
* KickTheDog: Count Saknussem commits murder and mayhem to deter his rivals, but finally crosses the MoralEventHorizon for the audience when he [[spoiler:eats Gertrude]]!
* MonstrousCannibalism: The Slurpasaurs abandon their pursuit of the humans when Hans spears one of them, opting to devour its carcass instead.
* MouthCam: There's a quick shot from inside the chameleon's mouth as it whips out its tongue to trip up Sir Oliver.
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Pat Boone as Alec. He started out at least attempting it, but [[OohMeAccentsSlipping lost it pretty early on]].
* PeekABooCorpse: Count Saknussem's dead servant.
* TheProfessor: Sir Oliver is a celebrated professor at the University of Edinburgh, and is consistently the most knowledgeable person on the expedition.
* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Sir Oliver is not afraid to explain away Carla's usefulness because "she's a woman." He then goes on to complain about her waking the expedition up when she hears men moving above them, which Oliver dismisses as "rats in the attic." Later, when she is proven correct, instead of apologizing like any good leader would, he insults her again. Then proceeds to continue insulting her for the rest of the journey. He finally appears to pull his head out of his ass after they return to the surface, [[CharacterDevelopment which gets him out of that mindset by the end of the film]].
* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In the book, the professor is not related to Gretchen, although she is his goddaughter. In the movie, he is Jenny's uncle.
* SelfDisposingVillain: After [[spoiler:Count Saknussem has eaten Gertrude]], Hans is fully prepared to commit murder. Fortunately, the villain enacts this trope instead.
* ShirtlessScene: Pat Boone spends a number of scenes wearing nothing but shorts and oil, and Hans gets in on the action sometimes too. Even Sir Oliver manages to show off his CarpetOfVirility once.
* {{Slurpasaur}}: The movie features rock iguanas with plastic fins masquerading as ''Dimetrodon'', and a tegu lizard covered in red paint as a "giant chameleon". Even Gertrude was an all-white American domestic duck painted like an Icelandic eider.
* TakeMyHand: After following the Count's false trail, Alec falls into from a precipice and is left hanging from a rope. Hans lifts him back up with no difficulty whatsoever.
* TeamPet: Gertrude the surprisingly useful duck.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Count Saknussem spends the first half of the movie trying to sabotage the expedition, and the second half tagging along with it after none of the party can bring themselves to execute or abandon him.
* TrailOfBreadCrumbs: The sets of three chipped notches, left behind by Arne Saknussen.
* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: In the book, the professor is Axel's uncle. In the movie, Alec is one of his students instead.
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