In 1858, Professor Paganel (Maurice Chevalier), a French geography professor, finds a bottle containing a note which seems to have been written by the missing Captain John Grant (Jack Gwillim). Paganel and Grant's two teenaged children, Mary (Hayley Mills) and Robert (Keith Hamshere), approach John Glenarvan (Michael Anderson, Jr.) and his father, the wealthy shipping magnate Lord Glenarvan (Wilfrid Hyde-White), the owner of Captain Grant's ship, and persuade them to finance a search expedition. Paganel determines the bottle's origins to have been in South America and the group set off on a voyage to find the missing captain Grant contending with many manmade and natural hazards along the way.
The third of six films Hayley Mills made for Walt Disney Pictures, In Search of the Castaways was inspired by the success of Disney's previous Jules Verne adaptation 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea prompting production of Castaways in the hopes of recapturing that film's success. The movie was one of two films based on the source novel with Disney and Irwin Allen Productions planning separate adaptations of the novel until Disney bought the international rights in other territories leading Allen to abandon his own version for Five Weeks in a Balloon. The movie was a box office success and critical reception was mostly positive, but it does pale in comparison to the groundbreaking 20,000 Leagues.
Like with most of her films, Hayley Mills is a likable screen presence and is effortlessly watchable in a role such as this. It's a slightly more rough performance for Mills as she's called on to do more action/adventure elements in comparison to prior films such as The Parent Trap and Pollyanna and it showcases her range as an actress. The movie also has a nicely built out ensemble such as Maurice Chevalier as the quirky and humorous Professor Paganel, Wilfrid Hyde-White as Lord Glenarvan who serves as an effective straight man to the proceedings, and a host of other supporting players including George Sanders who plays one of the many antagonists who our heroes come against.
The movie features everything you've come to expect from an adventure story: exotic locales, intriguing action sequences, etc. The effects used for scenes such as an earthquake, a condor bird, and a volcanic eruption aren't quite as revolutionary as the effects work seen in 20,000 Leagues, but they are used for some quite memorable if preposterous sequences. Of course like many adventure stories it's unquestionably a product of its time, and while it does try to balance out some of the more troublesome aspects of the adventure genre by trying to have a broad portrayal of indigenous peoples, we still fall into some of the traps of this genre that are unfortunately held in the DNA of the its foundations laid by Edgar Rice Burroughs (albeit not to THAT extent). At the time of this writing In Search of the Castaways is one of a number of Disney films not available on Disney+ and having seen some of the other films on the service I'm not quite sure why. Unlike something like One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing that played up certain antiquated gags and motifs for straight humor, Castaways isn't nearly in the same ballpark but it does straddle the line (such as an Italian in redface). The movie also has a much more lighthearted feel to it than Treasure Island or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and feels like it was made in mind more for children than a broad family audience, not necessarily a slight against the movie, but noted nonetheless.
In Search of the Castaways is a solid live-action adventure from Disney. While it doesn't have the same polish and intensity seen in Treaure Island or 20,000 Leagues, it boasts a likable ensemble and some memorable set pieces for the adventure. It does feature some of the "othering" that's come t be expected from the adventure genre with natives portrayed as either more "civilized" or "cannibalistic savages" with not much subtlety, but it is a 60s Disney adventure film so it's hardly the worst offender out there.
The third of six films Hayley Mills made for Walt Disney Pictures, In Search of the Castaways was inspired by the success of Disney's previous Jules Verne adaptation 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea prompting production of Castaways in the hopes of recapturing that film's success. The movie was one of two films based on the source novel with Disney and Irwin Allen Productions planning separate adaptations of the novel until Disney bought the international rights in other territories leading Allen to abandon his own version for Five Weeks in a Balloon. The movie was a box office success and critical reception was mostly positive, but it does pale in comparison to the groundbreaking 20,000 Leagues.
Like with most of her films, Hayley Mills is a likable screen presence and is effortlessly watchable in a role such as this. It's a slightly more rough performance for Mills as she's called on to do more action/adventure elements in comparison to prior films such as The Parent Trap and Pollyanna and it showcases her range as an actress. The movie also has a nicely built out ensemble such as Maurice Chevalier as the quirky and humorous Professor Paganel, Wilfrid Hyde-White as Lord Glenarvan who serves as an effective straight man to the proceedings, and a host of other supporting players including George Sanders who plays one of the many antagonists who our heroes come against.
The movie features everything you've come to expect from an adventure story: exotic locales, intriguing action sequences, etc. The effects used for scenes such as an earthquake, a condor bird, and a volcanic eruption aren't quite as revolutionary as the effects work seen in 20,000 Leagues, but they are used for some quite memorable if preposterous sequences. Of course like many adventure stories it's unquestionably a product of its time, and while it does try to balance out some of the more troublesome aspects of the adventure genre by trying to have a broad portrayal of indigenous peoples, we still fall into some of the traps of this genre that are unfortunately held in the DNA of the its foundations laid by Edgar Rice Burroughs (albeit not to THAT extent). At the time of this writing In Search of the Castaways is one of a number of Disney films not available on Disney+ and having seen some of the other films on the service I'm not quite sure why. Unlike something like One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing that played up certain antiquated gags and motifs for straight humor, Castaways isn't nearly in the same ballpark but it does straddle the line (such as an Italian in redface). The movie also has a much more lighthearted feel to it than Treasure Island or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and feels like it was made in mind more for children than a broad family audience, not necessarily a slight against the movie, but noted nonetheless.
In Search of the Castaways is a solid live-action adventure from Disney. While it doesn't have the same polish and intensity seen in Treaure Island or 20,000 Leagues, it boasts a likable ensemble and some memorable set pieces for the adventure. It does feature some of the "othering" that's come t be expected from the adventure genre with natives portrayed as either more "civilized" or "cannibalistic savages" with not much subtlety, but it is a 60s Disney adventure film so it's hardly the worst offender out there.