Journey to the Center of the Earth (also called Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth) is a 1959 American science fiction adventure film directed by Henry Levin and starring James Mason, Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl and Diane Baker.

Based on the 1864 novel of the same name by Jules Verne, it was written for the screen by Charles Brackett (who also produced) and Walter Reisch.

It was a commercial success[2] and well-received by critics,[3] earning three Academy Award nominations.In 1880 Edinburgh, Professor Sir Oliver Lindenbrook, a geologist at the University of Edinburgh, is given a piece of volcanic rock by his admiring student, Alec McEwan, who is in love with Lindenbrook's niece Jenny.

Finding the rock unusually heavy, Lindenbrook discovers a plumb bob inside bearing a cryptic inscription.

Lindenbrook and Alec discover that it was left by a scientist named Arne Saknussemm, who, almost 100 years earlier, had found a passage to the center of the Earth by descending into the volcano Snæfellsjökull, in western Iceland.

Professor Göteborg, upon receiving correspondence from Lindenbrook regarding the message, attempts to reach the Earth's center first.

Göteborg's widow, Carla, who initially believed Lindenbrook was trying to capitalize on her deceased husband's work, learns the truth.

The professor deduces that this must be the center of the Earth: The magnetic forces of north and south meet there and are powerful enough to snatch away even the gold in their rings and tooth fillings.

Reeling back, Saknussemm inadvertently loosens a column of large stones and is buried beneath them, killing him.

Lindenbrook decides to blow up the obstruction with gunpowder left by Saknussemm, and they take shelter in a large sacrificial altar bowl.

Lindenbrook turns down all the honors due to the loss of their documented evidence, but encourages the next generations to follow in their footsteps.

[4] The film was produced by Charles Brackett, who said: Our picture describes action and events, with not the slightest shadow of Freud.

The master's work, though a beautiful basic idea, went in a thousand directions and never achieved a real constructive "roundness".

[9] Following up on that point, Diabolique magazine later observed: It remains a mystery why Boone never appeared in another fantasy/sci-fi adventure in his entire career.

Reisch said: That was absolutely the most beautiful idea, because Clifton Webb had a certain tongue-in-cheek style, suited to playing a professor with crazy notions, which could be paired with Pat Boone as his favorite disciple.

Every week Clifton visited Brackett's office, where we described scenes to him and he became very excited at the prospect of playing that kind of part.

[11]Webb was replaced at the last minute by James Mason, who had previously appeared as Captain Nemo in Disney's earlier adaptation of Jules Verne's novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954).

[13]Some of the underground sequences for Journey to the Center of the Earth were filmed at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

[14] Originally, Life magazine editor and science writer Lincoln Barnett was to write the screenplay and later acted as one of the technical advisers on the film.

[15][16] The giant Dimetrodon depicted at the center of the Earth action sequence were actually rhinoceros iguanas with a large, glued-on make-up appliance added to their back.

[19] At the time of release, Journey to the Center of the Earth was a financial success, grossing $10,000,000 at the box office[2] (well over its $3.44 million budget).

The website's critical consensus describes Journey to the Center of the Earth as "a silly but fun movie with everything you'd want from a sci-fi blockbuster – heroic characters, menacing villains, monsters, big sets and special effects".

[21] Journey to the Center of the Earth won a second place Golden Laurel award for Top Action Drama in 1960.