Around the World in Eighty Days

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Jules Verne wrote many books.

He was able to transfer

his soaring imagination to print.

His predictions were bold.

What he wrote was regarded

as fantastic fiction...

but much of it has become fact.

Flying machines,

submarines, television, rockets.

But not even his imagination

could shrink the earth...

to the point it has now reached.

He wrote a book called

From the Earth to the Moon.

And in Paris,

that authentic genius Georges Mlis...

turned it into a movie, 35 millimeter...

just as you're looking at it now.

lt was, of course, fantasy.

But as of now,

no one has yet gone to the moon...

to see whether Mlis was right.

Here is the actual film

as Mlis' camera recorded it...

at the turn of the century.

I suppose that since man

began to waIk upright,,,

he has been interested in space and speed,

He has wondered increasingIy

about the pIanets he sees in the sky,

The stretching fingertips of science

have moved him higher and faster,,,

than man has ever moved before,

One of JuIes Verne's characters,

a fanatic and a dreamer,,,

argues for the construction

of a rocket to the moon,

After reasoned discourse,

the venture is Iaunched,

This is the first photographic dissoIve,

This is a do-it-yourseIf rocket,

Rockets have changed,

Photography has changed,

Costumes have changed,

But some things remain unchanged,

even in Verne and MIis'imagination,

JuIes Verne's rocket returns to the earth,,,

a minor pIanet,

where fiction Iags behind fact,

Ten, nine,,,

eight, seven, six, five,,,

four, three, two, one, Fire!

There is, in this power of destruction,,,

aIso the promise of hope,

A worId of unIimited power

and IimitIess hope,

Man has devised a method

of destroying most of humanity,,,

or of Iifting it up to high pIateaus

of prosperity and progress,,,

never dreamed of

by the boIdest dreamer,

You are now Iooking

at the receding shape of this pIanet Earth,

This is how the earth Iooks

from a camera in the rocket,

JuIes Verne wrote a book

about going around the worId in 80 days,

He even predicted

it couId be done in 80 hours,

Today it can be done

in Iess than haIf that time,

But each journey must have an end,

Speed is good

onIy when wisdom Ieads the way,

The end of this journey,,,

whether to the high horizons of hope

or the depths of destruction,,,

will be determined

by the collective wisdom...

of the people who live

on this shrinking planet.

There was a time not so long ago

when learned men thought that was flat.

Around The WorId In 80 Days

is the Jules Verne classic.

And the world was already shrinking

when it was written.

And that was in 1872.

Get your morning paper here.

All about the bank robbery here.

Paper, sir?

-Good morning, sir.

-Good morning, Thorndyke.

-Hinshaw.

-Yes, sir.

Someone's been tampering

with my TeIegraph. The pages are crushed.

One of the members borrowed it

to read about the robbery.

You mean it's been used?

-Kindly remove it and send for a fresh one.

-At once, sir.

l'm a patient man, Hinshaw,

but don't trespass on my good feelings.

Pilbeam ! Did you hear that?

-Some fellow stole that chap's paper.

-The devil you say!

Word of honor.

First time it's happened here,

to my knowledge, in 45 years.

The club's going to the dogs.

Next thing you know,

the members will be talking to each other!

-Yes, it's the thin end of the wedge.

-Oh, dog!

-lce, my lord?

-lce?

Certainly not.

What do l look like, a polar bear?

Sorry, sir. Several of the members use it

now and then.

Learned it from some Yankee, l dare say.

Those redskins over there drink anything.

A dangerous custom,

as l've always thought, sir.

A man might catch

a nasty chill on his liver.

Or break a tooth.

Remind me to speak

to the House committee about it.

No, by Gad! l'll write a letter to The Times.

-l say, Hinshaw.

-Yes, Mr. Mockridge?

Must we have that confounded animal

around here, stamping its feet?

-Mind the horses!

-That bloke is barmy!

There's a sight!

Move over!

Move that confounded contraption!

When l placed you with Mr. Fogg

a fortnight ago...

l warned you that he was an eccentric.

An eccentric, Mr. Hesketh-Baggott?

The man's a tyrant.

A cold-hearted, implacable fiend.

Must l remind you that you are

speaking of a member of the Reform Club?

l don't care if he's member of the

Worshipful Company of Fishmongers.

The man's mad!

Actually, excessive sanity

is not a necessary qualification...

for that particular institution.

Believe me, sir, he is not human.

Do you know how many valets

he's had in six months?

Certainly l do.

l've supplied him with five of them myself.

And are you aware that he tortured them

with a refinement of cruelty...

which would have put Torquemada and

the entire Spanish lnquisition to shame!

He's as cold and methodical as those

two watches he carries about with him.

You are abandoning yourself to rhetoric.

Remember, you've been rigorously trained

as a gentleman's gentleman.

A gentleman's gentleman is one thing, sir.

A whimpering, cringing...

slave is another.

You are allowing

your native imperturbability...

to be swept away

by a spate of mounting hysteria.

-You really must calm down.

-l can't help it, sir.

lf you knew how ardently

l have worked for Mr. Fogg...

how enthusiastically l have endeavored

to cater to his every whim.

His bath water had to be exactly

one foot, three and one-quarter inches.

No less, no more.

His morning toast had to be

83 degrees Fahrenheit.

-No more, no less.

-Extraordinary.

How does one take

the temperature of toast?

lncidentally...

have you found out

anything definite about him?

Who he is, what he does?

-Not the faintest indication, sir. Have you?

-Alas, no.

All l have discovered is entirely negative.

He is not a professional man,

and he isn't in trade.

He has no family connections

or background worth mentioning.

He doesn't go in

for hunting, or fishing, or wenching.

Cannot imagine how he ever got

into the Reform Club!

Perhaps your uncle the Bishop

might inquire for you.

-He is a member, is he not?

-One of the most distinguished, Foster.

We are a very ancient family, you know.

l was just rather curious

about our precious Mr. Fogg.

l suppose he'll be hectoring me soon

for someone to fill your place.

Thank you for your cooperation, Foster.

We must pray for guidance.

You have a nice little position

for a gentleman's gentleman, sir?

-For you?

-Yes, sir.

Never doubt for one instant, Foster...

the efficacy of prayer.

What is your name?

Passepartout.

l am from a very ancient family, sir.

Obviously.

You've had a rather speckled career, l see.

Professor of gymnastics--

-Yes, sir. Watch.

-No demonstrations, please.

Trapeze artist, fireman, chimney sweep.

-Amazing. How did you come to England?

-ln a clothes basket, sir.

l escaped.

-From what?

-Women, sir.

A ladies' man?

There are no women in this household.

Now, my conditions are strict.

My timetable never varies.

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