Long before Hugh Jackman talked of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN – and two years before Neil Armstrong officially took a leap for mankind, Victorian scientists were attempting to land somebody on the silvery Moon in the 1967 adventure comedy JULES VERNE’S ROCKET TO THE MOON.
Burl Ives takes up the mantle of entrepreneur Phineas T. Barnum in a time when great potential for forward thinking was taking more than a step back with a whole load of real disaster. Barnum is at the forefront of this when his own Stateside-based ‘Greatest Show On Earth’ burns down and escapes to England with star Tom Thumb (Jimmy Clitheroe) via boat, sneaking in under the radar with a hope that he might make more of a difference in ‘Old Blighty’
Soon after arriving, Barnum and Thumb go to a scientific lecture from enterprising but off-colour scientist Professor Von Bulow (Gert Frobe) who intends – with the help of a rather volatile new chemical combo – to send a projectile rocket to the Moon. Bulow recruits the new arrivals, as well as Sir Charles Dillworthy (Lionel Jeffries) who then designs a suitable rocket, but unfortunately a lot of complexities that would not even make the later back end of a NASA brain-storming session prove mere futility.
Into this mix comes American balloonist Gaylord Sullivan (Troy Donahue) who has commandeered his French girlfriend away from a rich man, Henri (Edward De Souza) in his travel vehicle of choice across the English Channel where he wants to be part of Bulow and Co’s revolutionary concept. However, sabotage is waiting in the trajectory with Dillworthy and brother-in-law Harry Washington-Smythe (Terry Thomas, in classic ‘bounder’ mode), determined to see it fall flat on its’ back….
Hugely enjoyable reissue from Don Sharp (THE THIRTY NINE STEPS remake) with much of the spirit of classic British cinema of the time, with key name players adding to the wonderment of a time when anything seemed possible after the Industrial Revolution and beyond. Much of the satisfaction comes from inevitability of things going pear shaped, be it Bulow’s attempts to create an even more potent mix of power or Dillworthy and Smythe’s determination to cause havoc before the big day.
The remastering is brilliant, with rich colours and aural quality assured – and StudioCanal have got another winner in their ‘Vintage Classics’ label.
