![]() We begin our journey with a grand heraldic opening, which launches the Travel Theme with all it’s sumptuous old world splendor. ![]() It is a score highlight, which offers testimony to Young’s mastery of his craft in that it perfectly captures the film’s spirit. “Around The World, Part 1” is an Overture that played during the long film’s intermission. Worth noting is that Young received 22 Academy Award nominations during his career with the dubious honor of receiving the most Oscar nominations before finally winning an Academy Award: 21! What is sad is that he died on November 10th, 1956, and his win for “Around the World in Eighty Days” was awarded posthumously. To imbue his score with ambiance, Young also references two national anthems Rule Britannia for the British Empire and Yankee Doodle Dandy for America. Maxie’s Theme is derived from source music, a popular French dance tune from the gay 1890’s, which he uses to support a French sensibility. The string laden Sailing Theme offers a classic nautical sound for which one can actually feel the wind in your face. The American Indian Theme offers tom toms and pastoral woodwinds, which perfectly capture this native culture. The American Theme is a carried by warm French horns and speaks with classic Americana expression. The rhythmic Indian Theme 2 is more exotic, featuring hand bells, ethnic flutes, tambura and tabla, which impart a strong ethnic Indian flavor. The string laden Indian Theme 1 flows sumptuously with a classic dance-like elegance that captures the exotic splendor of the Indian countryside. Next is Passepartout’s Theme a whimsical carefree construct animated by violins, woodwinds and xylophone, which has a wondrous ebullience and lightness of being, emblematic of its namesake. It may be the best waltz ever written within film score canon. Its construct is that of a lush and eloquent waltz, which flows with a carefree old world charm. His primary theme is the Travel Theme whose classic Golden Age sensibility animates the film. He responded by providing a multiplicity of themes and nationalistic anthems that fully captured the film’s many and diverse settings. ![]() He quickly realized that the three-hour film covered a huge swath across the globe and that his music needed to speak to the ethno-cultural sensibilities of the various locals. Veteran studio composer Victor Young was assigned the project. The film was both a commercial and critical success, being nominated for eight Academy Awards and winning five for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Score. He wins both the wager and the hand of his love, Princess Aouda, thus bringing our adventure to a most satisfying conclusion. Fogg realizes that he gained a day by crossing the International Date Line and manages to reach the Club just before the clock’s chime at 8:45 pm. Yet the tables are turned when he learns to his dismay that the real criminal was already caught in Brighton! Although exonerated of the charges, Fogg believes he has missed the deadline and lost the wager until Passepartout buys a newspaper and sees that it is still Saturday. ![]() However, with victory finally in his grasp Fogg is arrested upon his arrival at Liverpool by the relentless Inspector Fix. Our journey takes us to Spain, where Passepartout engages in a comic bullfight, to Egypt, then India where Fogg and Passepartout rescue young widow Princess Aouda from certain death at her husband’s funeral pyre, to exotic Thailand, then to Hong Kong, Japan, San Francisco, and the wild American west where they battle Sioux Indians. Against this backdrop is a growing suspicion that Fogg has stolen £55,000 from the Bank of England, which elicits Scotland Yard to dispatch Police Inspector Fix to arrest Fogg. Fogg sets off on the first leg of their journey to Paris by hot air balloon. He offers a £20,000 wager with four skeptical compatriots of the Reform Club, thus setting the stage for the adventure. Fogg makes the audacious claim that he can circumnavigate the world in eighty days. The story takes place in England circa 1872 and centers on an epic adventure taken by Phileas Fogg and his man servant Passepartout. He gave the director reigns to Michael Anderson who brought in an amazing cast which included David Niven as the classic Victorian English gentleman Phileas Fogg, Mexican icon Cantinflas as the resourceful ‘Jack of all Trades’ Passepartout, Shirley MacLaine as the captivating Princess Aouda, her debut acting role, and Robert Newton as the redoubtable Inspector Fix. He hired screenwriter James Poe to adapt renowned author Jules Verne’s novel Around the World in 80 Days. Ever-ambitious producer Mike Todd sought to bring an epic adventure tale to the big screen.
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