Journey to the Center of the Earth

film by Levin [1959]

Written by Lee Pfeiffer

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Journey to the Center of the Earth, American science-fiction film, released in 1959, that was an adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic novel of the same name. Especially noted for its special effects, the film was nominated for three Academy Awards.

Professor Oliver Lindenbrook (played by James Mason), an intrepid 19th-century Scottish explorer, leads an eclectic group of adventurers on an expedition to explore the centre of Earth. There Lindenbrook’s expedition discovers such wonders as giant mushrooms, extinct dimetrodons, and the lost city of Atlantis.

Journey to the Center of the Earth was one of several films based on Verne’s novels that followed the great success of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), which also starred Mason. Some aspects of the film seem dated by modern standards, especially those scenes in which then teen idol Pat Boone, who played Lindenbrook’s student, croons love songs. However, the film’s special effects were excellent for their day, and the story can still hold the viewer, thanks mostly to the charismatic performance of Mason.