A lavish, colorful production, with a marvelous cast of seasoned professionals made this a sure-fire box-office winner on its first release. Lots of gadgets and gimmicks, all set in the Victorian era, so many vintage period-piece antiques abound to give the audience a lot to look at. Special visual effects are terrific, heighten the action. The three-chamber rotating centrifuge in the rocket is a unique idea; it's unclear what real scientific purpose it would serve, but it looks great in the movie; also the neon added around the rocket engine is an intriguing touch, but there's no real reason for it to be there. The script is the only real departure from the original story by Jules Verne; like Wells' FIRST MEN IN THE MOON (1964), the filmmakers felt they had to add in a love interest in the story where there were none in the original novels. Otherwise, very beautifully done. Cotten is good, Sanders hams it up, and Paget is lovely. It's interesting that Jules Verne, setting his story in the year 1869, was 100 years exactly before the real historic event of the Apollo 11 Moon landing on July 20, 1969; and Verne correctly selected Florida as a good place to launch rockets from. Highly recommended.
Review of From the Earth to the Moon
