Mysterious Island (1941 film)
Encyclopedia
Mysterious Island, or Tainstvennyy ostrov in Russian, is a USSR film adaptation of the 1874 novel by Jules Verne
, The Mysterious Island
(L'Île mystérieuse). The story is a follow-up to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
.
, in the American Civil War
, five northern prisoners of war decide to escape in a rather unusual way – by hijacking a balloon.
The group eventually crash-lands on a cliff-bound, volcanic, unknown (and fictitious) island, located in the South Pacific. They name it "Lincoln Island" in honour of American President Abraham Lincoln
. With the knowledge of the brilliant engineer, the five are able to sustain themselves on the island, producing fire, pottery, bricks, nitroglycerine, iron, a simple electric telegraph, and even a seaworthy ship. They also manage to find their geographical location.
The mystery of the island seems to come from periodic and inexplicable deus ex machina
s: the unexplainable survival of Smith from his fall from the balloon, the mysterious rescue of his dog Top from a wild manatee
, a box full of equipment (guns and ammunition, tools, etc...), the finding of a message in the sea calling for help, and so on.
A crew of pirates arrives at the Lincoln Island to use it as their hideout. After some fighting with the heroes, the pirate ship is mysteriously destroyed by an explosion, and the pirates themselves are found dead, apparently in combat, but with no visible wounds.
The secret of the island is revealed when it turns out to be Captain Nemo
's hideout, and home harbour of the Nautilus
. Captain Nemo had been the savior of the heroes, providing them with equipment, sending a message about a fellow castaway, torpedoing the pirate ship and killing the pirates with an electric gun.
Yuri Grammatikati ... Herbert
Pavel Kiyansky .... Gideon Spillett
Nikolai Komissarov ... Captain Nemo
I. Kozlov ... Ayrton
Alexei Krasnopolsky .... Capt. Cyrus Harding (Smith)
R. Ross .... Neb
Andrei Sova .... Jupe
M. Kalinin, Boris Shelontsev, and Jules Verne
(writers)
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...
, The Mysterious Island
The Mysterious Island
The Mysterious Island is a novel by Jules Verne, published in 1874. The original edition, published by Hetzel, contains a number of illustrations by Jules Férat. The novel is a sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and In Search of the Castaways, though thematically it is...
(L'Île mystérieuse). The story is a follow-up to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne published in 1870. It tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus as seen from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax...
.
Plot summary
During the siege of Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, five northern prisoners of war decide to escape in a rather unusual way – by hijacking a balloon.
The group eventually crash-lands on a cliff-bound, volcanic, unknown (and fictitious) island, located in the South Pacific. They name it "Lincoln Island" in honour of American President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. With the knowledge of the brilliant engineer, the five are able to sustain themselves on the island, producing fire, pottery, bricks, nitroglycerine, iron, a simple electric telegraph, and even a seaworthy ship. They also manage to find their geographical location.
The mystery of the island seems to come from periodic and inexplicable deus ex machina
Deus ex machina
A deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.-Linguistic considerations:...
s: the unexplainable survival of Smith from his fall from the balloon, the mysterious rescue of his dog Top from a wild manatee
Manatee
Manatees are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows...
, a box full of equipment (guns and ammunition, tools, etc...), the finding of a message in the sea calling for help, and so on.
A crew of pirates arrives at the Lincoln Island to use it as their hideout. After some fighting with the heroes, the pirate ship is mysteriously destroyed by an explosion, and the pirates themselves are found dead, apparently in combat, but with no visible wounds.
The secret of the island is revealed when it turns out to be Captain Nemo
Captain Nemo
Captain Nemo, also known as Prince Dakkar, is a fictional character featured in Jules Verne's novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island ....
's hideout, and home harbour of the Nautilus
Nautilus (Verne)
The Nautilus is the fictional submarine featured in Jules Verne's novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island . Verne named the Nautilus after Robert Fulton's real-life submarine Nautilus...
. Captain Nemo had been the savior of the heroes, providing them with equipment, sending a message about a fellow castaway, torpedoing the pirate ship and killing the pirates with an electric gun.
Cast
A. Andriyenko-Zemskov ... PencroftYuri Grammatikati ... Herbert
Pavel Kiyansky .... Gideon Spillett
Nikolai Komissarov ... Captain Nemo
I. Kozlov ... Ayrton
Alexei Krasnopolsky .... Capt. Cyrus Harding (Smith)
R. Ross .... Neb
Andrei Sova .... Jupe
Crew
B. M. Chelintsev and Eduard Pentslin (directors)M. Kalinin, Boris Shelontsev, and 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...
(writers)