Master of the World

Dir: William Witney

1961

***

1961's Master of the World was American International Pictures's attempt at making a prestigious adventure epic out of Jules Verne's novels, just like United Artists had done in 1956 with Verne's Around the World in 80 Days. The film incorporates parts of Verne's Robur the Conqueror (1886) and its sequel Master of the World (1904) but also borrows from some of the author’s lesser-known work. It had an impressive cast and was by far the biggest production that American International Pictures had made at that point and yet they still used stock footage from old navel films and miniature shots from Laurence Olivier's Henry V (1944). The adaptation is brilliant from a story perspective, it's just let down by conformist clichés of the era and by the narrow-mindedness of the studio. Vincent Price's magnificent performance (said to be the favourite of the actor's career) is decades ahead of the shoddy acting from his fellow cast members and the questionable set pieces, script and overall production. Price's script is amazing, so perhaps everyone else's dialogue was kept simple for his character to take main stage but when you compare Price's performance to that of either Charles Bronson's or Henry Hull's (who came out of retirement especially), they just don't compare. Special effects back in the early 60's were limited and what they did produce was extremely effective, it just let down by the obvious stock footage and overacting. The visuals were in keeping with every other Jules Verne adaptation made before, when really they should have used his idea to progress with the story, especially as they essentially dissected the source material anyway. This lack of foresight and original thinking also prevented them for making a sequel, as they realized they had used to much of both books that there wasn't anything left to make a follow up that would be in keeping with the story's continuity. The film begins brilliantly, with a ghostly voice coming from a Volcano towering over a small town but begins to drag after the story's big reveal. There is a fault with the original story with some respects as a lot of Verne's plots followed a similar pattern but when the build-up is so good and the big reveal is so bad, one can't help but think you should let the build-up carry on for a little longer. Still, the idea is sound and the performance from Price makes it well worth a watch, I just can't help but think a bigger (and better) studio could and should have made a much better adaptation that would now be a classic.