“Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war, anymore.”
In 1868 Morgantown Pennsylvania is normally a quiet little town. One day they hear a booming thunder and see lightning coming from a local mountain, (which looks more like “El Capitan” than a regular mountain) called “The Great Eyrie”. Then a deep resonating voice begins spouting bible verse.
The Department of the Interior sends John Strock (Charles Bronson) to investigate. He asks Philip Evans (David Frankham) for the use of his hot air balloon, which would allow him to view the mountain from the air. Accompanied by Evans’ fiancée Dorothy Prudent (Mary Webster) and her father (Henry Hull), they come under attack from rockets fired from inside the mountain.
The balloon is struck and it crashes. When they awaken they find they are prisoners of Captain Robur (Vincent Price). Robur is a genius, however slightly unhinged. He commands a really cool looking 150 foot long and 20 foot wide airship called the “Albatross”. He is also a proclaimed pacifist whose mission is to stop all wars, even if he has to kill everyone to do it.
Escape has proven to be impossible. Kept prisoner on the Albatross, Strock, Evans, Dorothy and Mr. Prudent bide their time until they can find a way to sabotage the airship and stop Robur’s one man crusade against the world.
“Master of the World” was released in 1961 and was directed by William Witney. The movie is an amalgam of two of Jules Verne’s stories “Robur The Conqueror” and “Master of the World”. The budget for this was $500,000. Generous for most pictures but not enough if you are trying to make an epic style glossy adventure. To get the most bang out their buck William Witney used rear-screen projection, stock footage and miniatures to pull it all off.
The movie begins with a narrative of man’s quest for flight and stock footage of not so effective flying machines. The old time filler “movie in a movie” trick.
Not exactly a thrill a minute, “Master of the World” has a lot of dialogue. After all that’s what mad men do, spout stuff. And Vincent spouts it with style. Of course it’s not all talk. There are some action sequences and the plot is good. I also felt the acting was good. Some thought Bronson was miscast. I’m not sure I agree. He got to be the hero and he dangled from a rope and slid down another, plus he got shot. That's a lot. Sure he had to wear that silly striped pirate outfit, but a least he didn’t have to wear the hat with the pom pom on it.
It’s a science fiction/adventure film. I’d say it was a good film for the family. And a little steampunk is always nice.