Mysterious Island (UK: Jules Verne's Mysterious Island) is a 1961 science fiction adventure film about prisoners in the American Civil War who escape in a balloon and then find themselves stranded on a remote island populated by giant and tiny animals.
Loosely based upon the 1874 novel The Mysterious Island (L'Île mystérieuse) by Jules Verne (which was the sequel to two other novels by Verne, 1867's In Search of the Castaways and 1870's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea), the film was produced by Charles H. Schneer and directed by Cy Endfield.
Shot in Catalonia, Spain, and at Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, England, the film serves as a showcase for Ray Harryhausen's stop motion animation effects. Like several of Harryhausen's classic productions, the musical score was composed by Bernard Herrmann. Another version of the story was produced in 2005.
Plot
In 1865, during the American Civil War, Union soldiers Cyrus Harding, Herbert Brown and Neb Nugent, along with war correspondent Gideon Spillet are being held at the Libby Military Prison in Richmond, Virginia. While escaping, they kidnap Pencroft, a Confederate guard that knows how to pilot a nearby gas balloon.
The balloon carries them westwards, over the Pacific Ocean. A storm arises, tearing open the airship and forcing the men to crash land on an unknown island. This strange place turns out to have lush tropical jungles, harsh plains, and many volcanoes which frequently erupt.
While exploring the island, the men are attacked by a giant crab. They manage to push it into a boiling geyser and have crab meat for dinner. Afterwards, they find two unconscious English ladies, Lady Mary Fairchild and her niece Elena, who were shipwrecked there by the same storm. Working together, the castaways find cover and protection in a cave. A treasure chest later washes ashore. It has a variety of useful items, including rifles, nautical charts, and books such as Robinson Crusoe. Markings upon one of the rifles indicate that it came from the Nautilus. Spillet gives Lady Fairchild a brief summation of the Nautilus, its creator Captain Nemo, and its supposed destruction off the coast of Mexico some eight years earlier. Spillet expresses a sense of respect and admiration for Nemo's genius and principles against war, while Harding derides him for being a madman, someone who killed numerous sailors during his crusade. Using one of the charts, the castaways are able to determine their location and proceed with the construction of a boat on which they can escape the island.
One day, Mary, Elena and Spillet encounter a giant flightless bird, belonging to a prehistoric species called Phorusrhacos. Spillet and the women retreat, while the bird attacks. As it tries to eat Elena, Herbert arrives and apparently kills the creature. Later, as they consume the bird, they discover it was actually killed by a bullet none of them had fired.
A few weeks later, Herbert and Elena are sunning outside when they notice a rivulet of honey. Atop a rocky bluff, they come across a hive of giant bees. While escaping from the hive into a large flooded cave, Herbert and Elena spot the Nautilus. They enter the vessel, but knowing that it belongs to someone else, retreat, swimming out of the cave. Meanwhile, Harding, Spillet, Neb, Mary and Pencroft spot an approaching pirate ship. They try to hide, but are discovered, and a fight ensues. The castaways prevail only after an explosion mysteriously sinks the pirate ship with all hands aboard.
Once outside, the castaways reunite and meet Captain Nemo, who is living aboard his disabled submarine. Nemo has been watching the castaways and secretly assisting them by sending the chest, shooting the giant bird, and sinking the pirate ship. He invites them to dinner aboard the Nautilus. There, they find out that the giant creatures are results of Nemo's genetic experiments to enlarge the world's food resources, thereby eliminating hunger and economic competition which he sees as prime causes for the wars he was striving to end all his life. Due to their fortitude, he has selected them to assist him in his efforts to make his achievements known to the world, especially since the Nautilus is incapacitated beyond repair and the volcano will soon erupt, destroying the island.