Whatever does a man do on an island like this for eight years?
As saddened as I was to hear of Herbert Lom's passing on Thursday at the age of 95, I knew I had a great film in the offing since I hadn't seen 1961's Mysterious Island, in which he plays Jules Verne's peacemongering antihero Captain Nemo. The other main draw for me was Ray Harryhausen's special visual effects, which were stunning as always, especially the stop-motion creatures of considerable proportion. Apart from Lom, though -- and he doesn't show up until the film is nearly over -- the only other actor who makes any kind of an impression is Gary Merrill as the wry war correspondent who goes along with a trio of Union soldiers (captain Michael Craig, coward Michael Callan, black corporal Dan Jackson) when they hijack a balloon to escape from a besieged town. (Now, where have I heard that one before?)
Also along for the trip is a Confederate soldier (Percy Herbert) who actually knows how to steer the balloon, which stays aloft for so long that they eventually wind up over the Pacific Ocean and just barely make it to the island that gives the film its title. Once there, director Cy Endfield puts them through their paces as they have a run-in with a giant crab, save two shipwrecked Englishwomen (aristocrat Joan Greenwood, her niece Beth Rogan), have run-ins with an oversize flightless bird and giant honey bees, and stumble onto the Nautilus and its captain, both of which were believed to have been sunk eight years earlier. Naturally, Nemo turns out to be the one responsible for the strange creatures they've encountered as well as many of the creature comforts they've enjoyed in their time on the island, but he's not the sort of chap to make a simple social call. Rather, he informs them that the volcano at its center is on the verge of erupting and they need his help to escape -- and vice versa. But first there's just enough time for one more fight, this time with a giant squid. You gotta give the matinee crowd its money's worth.