boblipton Jules Verne gets Disneyfied again by the reliable Robert Stevenson, with Hayley Mills, Wilfred Hyde-White, George Sanders and Maurice Chevalier, singing some songs by the Sherman brothers. Given a story that traveled around the world and got its characters involved in floods, volcanic eruptions, mutinies, and capture by cannibals, somehow, everyone remains pink-faced & scrubbed clean at all times, with every bow-tie perfectly tied.It's a perfect movie at a moment when the strains of Hollywood's erosion and its retreat into what is today called a "tentpole movie" model was just about to collapse. While the Major studios like Fox were still relying on blockbusters like THE LONGEST DAY (which outgrossed this film), cheap producers like AIP were serving the Teen market. By the end of the decade, everyone would be going after them and movies like this would be seen as quaint. Well, I guess I'm old-fashioned. I love it.

SplitPersonality1 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.

Lars-Toralf Storstrand To destroy an epic adventure as Jules Verne's "The Children of Captain Grant" in such a way - is a crime that cannot be pardoned. The twist of the history in the beginning, the drop-outs of large parts of the history, and the cheap stage settings is not even worthy for a studio like Walt Disney.Now of course some would excuse this to the lack of special effects compared to today, but that is really no real excuse. In Norway, the book wasn't even translated and published in complete edition to 2013, but this is shameful. To destroy a major literary work like this is ... well I really don't have words for it.I am shocked.

Chris Gaskin I recently watched this movie for the first time and found very enjoyable and it is a good old adventure movie. The only thing I didn't like about it were the songs, which seemed pointless and did not fit in with the storyline.An excellent cast, which includes Hayley Mills (Tiger Bay), Wilfred Hyde White (North West Frontier), George Sanders (Village of the Damned) and Wilfred Brambell (Steptoe and Son). All play excellent parts and they seem to be enjoying themselves. The special effects are excellent too.While searching for Hayley Mills's dad, the expedition encounters dangers such as an earthquake, volcano, tidal wave and flood, cannibals, a leopard and a rather unfriendly giant eagle. They do find him at the end, alive and well.I found this movie excellent but the songs do let it down slightly.Rating: 4 stars out of 5.