In Search of the Castaways (film)

:"This article addresses the 1962 film. For the novel by Jules Verne, see In Search of the Castaways."Infobox Film
name = In Search of the Castaways


image_size =
caption = DVD cover
director = Robert Stevenson
producer = Associate Producer:
Hugh Attwooll
writer = Novel:
Jules Verne
Screenplay:
Lowell S. Hawley
narrator =
starring = Hayley Mills
Maurice Chevalier
George Sanders
Wilfrid Hyde-White
Keith Hamshere
Jack Gwillim
music = Music Composed by:
William Alwyn
Musical Director:
Muir Mathieson
Songs:
Richard Sherman
Robert Sherman
cinematography = Paul Beeson
editing = Gordon Stone
distributor = Buena Vista
released = flagicon|USA 21 December 1962
runtime = 98 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0056095

"In Search of the Castaways" (1962) is a Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Hayley Mills and Maurice Chevalier in a tale about a worldwide search for a shipwrecked sea captain. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson from a screenplay by Lowell S, Hawley based upon Jules Verne's 1868 adventure novel "Captain Grant's Children". The film was Mills' third of six for the Disney Studios.

Plot

In company with her brother Robert (Keith Hamshere) and friend Jacques Paganel (Maurice Chevalier), teenage Mary Grant (Hayley Mills) journeys to Glasgow to persuade Lord Glenarvan (Wilfrid Hyde-White) to rescue her shipwrecked father, John Grant (Jack Gwillim). The expedition sets sail and ventures halfway around the world. The party suffers assorted perils including earthquake, flood, and fire before finding the father. A subplot involves a gunrunner (George Sanders) and another subplot involves a romance between Mary and Lord Glenarvan's son John (Michael Anderson, Jr.).

Cast and characters

* Hayley Mills as Mary Grant
* Maurice Chevalier as Jacques Paganel
* George Sanders as Thomas Ayerton
* Wilfrid Hyde-White as Lord Glenarvan
* Michael Anderson Jr. as John Glenarvan
* Antonio Cifariello as Indian Chief
* Keith Hamshere as Robert Grant
* Wilfrid Brambell as Bill Gaye
* Jack Gwillim as Captain Grant
* Inia Te Wiata as Maori Chief

Musical numbers

Songs composed by the Sherman Brothers include "Castaway", "Merci Beaucoup", "Let's Climb", and "Enjoy It!" with an orchestral arrangement of "Castaway" serving as the film's overture.

Reception

Hal Erickson notes, " [The film] is a roller-coaster of a Disney film, making up in excitement what it lacks in credibility or coherence...the film was ideal Saturday-matinee fodder for the kiddie trade in 1963." [ [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/24579/In-Search-of-the-Castaways/overview New York Times Overview] . Retrieved 12 September 2008.]

Awards and nominations

The film placed third in the 1963 Golden Laurel Top Male Musical Performance (Chevalier) and was nominated for the Golden Laurel Top Action Drama.

Other adaptations of Verne's novel

Verne's tale has seen two Russian film adaptations (1936, 1985) and a Spanish operetta.

References