Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon
Encyclopedia
Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon (aka Rocket to the Moon,Blast Off) is a 1967
British
science fiction
comedy film
directed by Don Sharp
and produced by Harry Alan Towers
. It was released in the United States as Those Fantastic Flying Fools.
Towers (as "Peter Welbeck") devised the story, very loosely based on From the Earth to the Moon
by Jules Verne
, and the script was by Dave Freeman
. Burl Ives
plays showman Phineas T. Barnum in a race to become the first man to reach the Moon
. The comic style is in the vein of other star-studded caper movies of the era, such as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
(1963) and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
(1965). As such it has some clever moments. Lionel Jeffries
as an engineer named Sir Charles Dillworthy shows a model of the machine to take the astronaut to the Moon. He is asked how it will bring him back. Jeffries, with a slight look of disapproval at the question says, "The project was to get a man to the moon. Nobody said a word about getting him back!" Terry-Thomas
in another of his unscrupulous businessmen or scoundrel roles, drives Jeffries around in an early prototype of an automobile, but when it runs down he takes out a rubber tube and pumps gas out of a gas streetlamp into the engine. A horified Jeffries comments, "The whole concept of this car is immoral. It runs on stolen gas!". Unimpressed, Terry-Thomas replies, "You miss the point. It is very economical!"
1967 in film
The year 1967 in film involved some significant events. It is widely considered as one of the most ground-breaking years in film.-Events:* December 26 - The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour airs on British television....
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Don Sharp
Don Sharp
Donald Sharp is a British film director.His most famous films were made for Hammer Studios in the sixties, and included The Kiss of the Vampire and Rasputin, the Mad Monk . Also in 1965 he directed The Face of Fu Manchu, based on the character created by Sax Rohmer, here played by Christopher Lee...
and produced by Harry Alan Towers
Harry Alan Towers
Harry Alan Towers was a British-born radio and film producer and screenwriter, regularly using the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over a hundred feature films and continued to write and produce well into his eighties...
. It was released in the United States as Those Fantastic Flying Fools.
Towers (as "Peter Welbeck") devised the story, very loosely based on From the Earth to the Moon
From the Earth to the Moon
From the Earth to the Moon is a humorous science fantasy novel by Jules Verne and is one of the earliest entries in that genre. It tells the story of the president of a post-American Civil War gun club in Baltimore, his rival, a Philadelphia maker of armor, and a Frenchman, who build an enormous...
by Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
, and the script was by Dave Freeman
Dave Freeman (writer)
Dave Freeman was a British film and television writer, working chiefly in comedy.As well as writing sketches for comedians such as Tony Hancock and Arthur Askey, Freeman wrote screenplays for comedies including Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon and Carry On Behind as well as being a regular...
. Burl Ives
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
plays showman Phineas T. Barnum in a race to become the first man to reach the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
. The comic style is in the vein of other star-studded caper movies of the era, such as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a 1963 American comedy film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer about the madcap pursuit of $350,000 in stolen cash by a diverse and colorful group of strangers...
(1963) and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, Or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes is a 1965 British comedy film starring Stuart Whitman and directed and co-written by Ken Annakin...
(1965). As such it has some clever moments. Lionel Jeffries
Lionel Jeffries
Lionel Charles Jeffries was an English actor, screenwriter and film director.-Early life and career:Jeffries attended the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wimborne Minster, Dorset. In 1945, he received a commission in the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry...
as an engineer named Sir Charles Dillworthy shows a model of the machine to take the astronaut to the Moon. He is asked how it will bring him back. Jeffries, with a slight look of disapproval at the question says, "The project was to get a man to the moon. Nobody said a word about getting him back!" Terry-Thomas
Terry-Thomas
Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens was a distinctive English comic actor, known as Terry-Thomas. He was famous for his portrayal of disreputable members of the upper classes, especially cads and toffs, with the trademark gap in his front teeth, cigarette holder, smoking jacket, and catch-phrases such as...
in another of his unscrupulous businessmen or scoundrel roles, drives Jeffries around in an early prototype of an automobile, but when it runs down he takes out a rubber tube and pumps gas out of a gas streetlamp into the engine. A horified Jeffries comments, "The whole concept of this car is immoral. It runs on stolen gas!". Unimpressed, Terry-Thomas replies, "You miss the point. It is very economical!"
Cast
- Burl IvesBurl IvesBurl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
as Phineas T. Barnum - Troy DonahueTroy DonahueTroy Donahue was an American actor, who was active between the late 1950s and late 1990s.-Life and career:...
as Gaylord Sullivan - Gert FröbeGert FröbeKarl Gerhart Fröbe, better known as Gert Fröbe was a German actor who starred in many films, including the James Bond film Goldfinger as Auric Goldfinger, The Threepenny Opera as Peachum, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as Baron Bomburst, and in Der Räuber Hotzenplotz as Hotzenplotz.-Life:Born in...
as Professor Siegfried von Bulow - Hermione GingoldHermione GingoldHermione Gingold was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric persona, an image enhanced by her sharp nose and chin, as well as her deepening voice, a result of vocal nodes which her mother reportedly encouraged her not to remove. She starred on stage, on radio, in films, on...
as Angelica - Lionel JeffriesLionel JeffriesLionel Charles Jeffries was an English actor, screenwriter and film director.-Early life and career:Jeffries attended the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wimborne Minster, Dorset. In 1945, he received a commission in the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry...
as Sir Charles Dillworthy - Dennis PriceDennis PriceDennis Price was an English actor, remembered for his suave screen roles, particularly Louis Mazzini in Kind Hearts and Coronets, and for his portrayal of the omniscient valet Jeeves in 1960s television adaptations of P. G...
as The Duke of Barset - Daliah LaviDaliah LaviDaliah Lavi is an Israeli actress, singer and model.Born in Shavei Zion, British Mandate of Palestine, she studied ballet in Stockholm, Sweden, where she appeared in her first film Hemsöborna...
as Madelaine - Stratford JohnsStratford JohnsStratford Johns, born Alan Edgar Stratford-Johns, was a popular British stage, film and television actor who is best remembered for his starring role as Detective Inspector Charlie Barlow in the innovative and long-running BBC police series Z-Cars, created by Troy Kennedy-Martin.-Early life:Johns...
as Warrant Officer - Graham StarkGraham StarkGraham Stark is an English comedian, actor, writer and director.Stark was born in Wallasey on the Wirral in Cheshire, England. He first came to prominence on BBC Radio, making his debut in Happy Go Lucky and going on to Ray's A Laugh, Educating Archie and substitute on The Goon Show...
as Bertram Grundle - Terry-ThomasTerry-ThomasThomas Terry Hoar Stevens was a distinctive English comic actor, known as Terry-Thomas. He was famous for his portrayal of disreputable members of the upper classes, especially cads and toffs, with the trademark gap in his front teeth, cigarette holder, smoking jacket, and catch-phrases such as...
as Captain Sir Harry Washington-Smythe - Renate von Holt as Anna Lindstrom
- Jimmy ClitheroeJimmy ClitheroeJames Robinson Clitheroe was a British comic entertainer. He never grew any taller than 4 feet 3 inches, and could easily pass for an 11-year-old boy, the character he played in The Clitheroe Kid....
as General Tom Thumb - Judy CornwellJudy CornwellJudy Valerie Cornwell is an English actress best known for her role as Daisy in the British sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.-Biography:...
as Lady Electra - Joachim Teege as Joachim Bulgeroff
- Edward de SouzaEdward de SouzaEdward James de Souza is a British character actor and graduate of RADA with ethnic Portuguese Indian and English origins.-Early life:...
as Henri - Joan Sterndale-Bennett as Queen Victoria
- Allan CuthbertsonAllan CuthbertsonAllan Cuthbertson was a naturalised Anglo-Australian actor.-Early life:Born Allan Darling Cuthbertson in Perth, Western Australia, son of Ernest and Isobel Ferguson Cuthbertson, he performed on stage and radio from an early age.During World War II, he served as a Flight Lieutenant with the RAAF...
as Colonel Scuttling - Derek FrancisDerek FrancisDerek Francis was an English comedy and character actor.He was a regular in the Carry On film players, appearing in six of the films in the 1960s and 1970s. He appeared in Roger Corman's last film of his Edgar Allan Poe series The Tomb of Ligeia...
as Puddleby - Anthony Woodruff as Announcer