Highly Overrated But Still Good

Don't listen to the negative reviews

An absolute waste of money

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Previous experience with this film: I went into this one blind. I like some of the old classic Disney films and had a crush on Hayley Mills when I was a kid, so my expectations were a bit higher than they should have been.General Notes: In Search of the Castaways is not a great film. It is not a particularly good film, but if you are looking for basic, safe, family fare, this is your film. Mary Grant (Hayley Mills) and her younger brother Robert (Keith Hamshere) are two siblings in search of their missing sea captain father. With the help of French professor Jacques Paganel (Maurice Chevalier) and a stained note from in a bottle found inside the stomach of a shark; they scam their way onto the ship "Persevero" during a bon voyage party. That is when things start to get a bit unbelievable. Throughout the movie, the explorers endure many trials including an earthquake, an encounter with a giant condor, a flashflood and a tribe of cannibals. The storyline is over the top and the special effects are quite dated. The movie is based on a book by Jules Verne, Les Enfants du capitaine Grant or The Children of Captain Grant, published in 1873. Verne uses the travels of the expedition to describe plants, animals and geography of exotic places to his intended 19th century audience. Unfortunately, it does not translate very well to film.Positives: About the only bright spot in this movie is Maurice Chevalier's portrayal of Professor Paganel. He is a very likable character and when he breaks out into song, (did I forget to mention that this movie has a couple of musical numbers), it doesn't appear forced; it seems as if it is something that his character would naturally do.Negatives: This is a typical 1960s Disney family film so I am not going to hammer on it too hard. Yes, the plot is overdone. Yes, the special effects are laughable. My biggest gripe with the movie is that Hayley Mills is not given a lot to work with. She almost disappears in this film and that is a shame. One of the original taglines for this movie was "A Thousand Thrills and Hayley Mills". It really did not deliver.Overall: This is a 1962 Disney family film. It is exactly what you would expect. There are no surprises in this one. I would recommend this movie to someone nostalgic for Disney. Maybe to seven to nine-year old's that might like some of the fantastic adventure elements of the film. I give it a tepid score of 5.

Captain Grant disappeared in the south seas. A bottle with some message suggests he is not dead, as most people in authority choose to believe, but alive and imprisoned. His three children determine to rescue him. THE CHILDREN OF CAPTAIN GRANT was written in 1866-1868 (the year it was published). It followed Verne's first novel successes (FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON, A JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, and - his first North Pole novel - THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HATTARAS). Of these first six titles, five have been made into films. CAPTAIN HATTARAS can't be made into a film, because Verne was wrong about the state of the North Pole (he put a live volcano there that we know is not there). Pity because it is a good story, deserving a film treatment, with a chilling conclusion. It has been suggested that the genesis of CAPTAIN GRANT is the determination of Lady Jane Franklin in sacrificing her fortune to find out the fate of her husband Sir John Franklin and his Northwest Passage Expedition of 1845-48. Possibly, however, it is something more current than the Franklin Mystery (already solved in 1859, and somewhat old-hat in 1868). The question of whether Thomas Castro was the actual Sir Roger Ticheborne, wealthy, missing baronet, was a growing issue in England in 1868 (it would not be legally settled - against Castro/Arthur Orton - in 1874). That may have been tied to what Verne had in mind. Also the long lost fate of the French explorer La Perouse in the South Seas (in 1788 - his fate is mentioned in TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA). In any event, THE CHILDREN OF CAPTAIN GRANT was the first three volumes of seven (or eight - depending on one's counting of sections of TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES) volumes that were interlinked. Verne loved cross-connecting stories (in ROBUR THE CONQUEROR he suggests the appearance of an orbiting mystery at the start of the novel is actually an artificial satellite created by Professor Schultz in THE BEGUM'S FORTUNE). He never got this involved again (subsequently, however, he plays a private joke in AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, when Princess Aouda is rescued from being burned alive at her husband's funeral: the husband is the usurper of the title of Prince Dakar who is Captain Nemo). CAPTAIN GRANT traces the world wide search for the Captain by his three determined children and their French tutor, which go through South America and the South Seas. The villain is one Ayrton, a sailor who imprisoned Grant for his own purposes on a small island near New Zealand. At the end of the novel, Aryton is punished for his treachery to Grant (and Grant's children) by Lord Glenelg, who promises to leave him there for only 10 years alone, roughly the time Grant was marooned. Then comes the story of Nemo and the Nautilus in TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES (published in 1870). Then comes THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1873). A party of five men, led by Captain Cyrus Harding, from Libby Prison in Richmond escape in a balloon in a hurricane as the American Civil War is ending. They land on an uncharted island in the Pacific (called "Lincoln Island"), which they build up into a livable environment. They keep finding machinery and books to help them. Also they find a trail that leads them to the rescue of Aryton, nearly insane from loneliness, off a nearby island. Eventually they learn that the dying Nemo (on his submarine) is responsible for their safety and survival. Nemo dies, the island is destroyed in an eruption (the novel has been compared to a study of the growth and destruction of civilization), and Lord Glenelg's yacht comes to rescue the castaways and Aryton.It is a long, complex series of stories. Movies have been made of CAPTAIN GRANT, TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES, and THE MYSTERIOUS ISLANDS. However, no miniseries (nine parts possibly) has been suggested for the whole three novels. Possibly because the adventures are so fantastic they stretch our imagination too far.This Walt Disney production is satisfactory for CAPTAIN GRANT and good fun. Hailey Mills was given another of her early star turns in this film, and Maurice Chevalier was coasting on his starring turn in GIGI four years earlier (as well as his appearance as Panisse in FANNY). One can watch this film as an entertaining adventure flick, with Disney's typical good production values. It is actually quite easy to take.

A young boy and girl look for their father with the aid of a disbelieving old English captain and his young son, brought together by a Frenchman who found a note in a bottle. Seeing this movie as a youngster, I found them all delightful (altho I haven't seen alot of his work, I must agree about Chevalier being tedious listening to him explain things. Only Hyde-White's attention and irritation at Maurice diluted any that disdain this viewer may have felt). But the earthquake, the snowslide, the giant condor, the flood, the burning tree, and expecially the suddenly unexpected leopard all made for a good, entertaining film to hold my attention. The slip? Oh, we went the wrong way. Have to backtrack. Definite loss of attention as to what is going on. Pity that George Sander's speech merged with Hyde-White and Chevalier dialects couldn't have helped. Perhaps had he played the father of Mills and her brother instead of the uninteresting actor who did play the part (another downer in the film), things would have been better. Mills and her two male counterparts were delightful to see when I was young so I still enjoy them now. Old Bill Gaye was a definite pick-me-up the film needed. A shame the regular cast couldn't have held on to the film to the end. In watching this movie now, I can't help but check out the characterization of the natives performing their 'ceremony' while the prisoners are escaping. Especially check out the expressions of the 'chieftain'. Hilarious.

This was a long way from being a Disney classic. An overused story, goofball acting, not so special effects, and Maurice Chevalier made this romp through pre-teen hell a total castoff. Pure hogwash it is when we see a group merrily singing away all sorts of calamities as they go happily seeking dear old Father. I wonder if anyone else is as sick and tired of Chevalier's standard one trick pony as I am. Can this no talent frog come up with nothing new after 50 years in the business? Well...no, obviously. This film should be dropped in a bottle, tightly corked, and cast away into the most remote corner of the 7 seas.