''Mysterious Island'' ( rus, Таинственный остров, Tainstvenny ostrov) is a 1941 Soviet film adaptation of the 1874 novel ''

The Mysterious Island ''The Mysterious Island'' (french: L'Île mystérieuse) is a novel by Jules Verne, published in 1875. The original edition, published by Hetzel, contains a number of illustrations by Jules Férat. The novel is a crossover sequel to Verne's fam ...

'' (french: L'Île mystérieuse) by

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

Plot summary

During the siege of

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, five northern prisoners of war decide to escape in a rather unusual way – by hijacking a balloon. The group eventually crash-lands on a cliff-bound, volcanic, unknown (and fictitious) island, located in the South Pacific. They name it "Lincoln Island" in honour of American President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. With the knowledge of the brilliant engineer, the five are able to sustain themselves on the island, producing fire, pottery, bricks,

nitroglycerine Nitroglycerin (NG), (alternative spelling of nitroglycerine) also known as trinitroglycerin (TNG), nitro, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), or 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane, is a dense, colorless, oily, explosive liquid most commonly produced by nitrating ...

, iron, a simple

electric telegraph Electrical telegraphs were point-to-point text messaging systems, primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems ...

, and even a seaworthy ship. They also manage to find their geographical location. The mystery of the island seems to come from periodic and inexplicable ''

deus ex machina ''Deus ex machina'' ( , ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; English "god out of the machine") is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly and abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function ...

s'': the unexplainable survival of

Smith Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people wi ...

from his fall from the balloon, a box full of equipment (guns and ammunition, tools, etc.), and so on. A crew of

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

s arrives at the Lincoln Island to use it as their hideout. After some fighting with the heroes, the pirate ship is mysteriously destroyed by an explosion, and the pirates themselves are found dead, apparently in combat, but with no visible wounds. The secret of the island is revealed when it turns out to be

Captain Nemo Captain Nemo (; later identified as an Indian, Prince Dakkar) is a fictional character created by the French novelist Jules Verne (1828–1905). Nemo appears in two of Verne's science-fiction classics, ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' ( ...

's hideout, and home harbour of the ''

Nautilus The nautilus (, ) is a pelagic marine mollusc of the cephalopod family Nautilidae. The nautilus is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina. It comprises six living species in t ...

''. Captain Nemo had been the savior of the heroes, sending a message about a fellow castaway, torpedoing the pirate ship.

Cast

* Andrey Andriyenko-Zemskov as Pencroft * Yuri Grammatikati as Herbert * Pavel Kiyansky as Gideon Spillett * Nikolai Komissarov as

* Igor Kozlov as

Tom Ayrton Tom Ayrton is a fictional character who appears in two novels by French author Jules Verne. He is first introduced as a major character in the novel ''In Search of the Castaways'' (1867–1868). He then reappears in a later novel, ''The Mysterio ...

* Alexei Krasnopolsky as Capt. Cyrus Harding (Smith) * Robert Ross as Neb * Andrei Sova as Jupe

References

External links

* 1941 films Films based on The Mysterious Island Soviet black-and-white films Soviet science fiction adventure films Odesa Film Studio films 1940s science fiction adventure films Russian Civil War films Films set in the Pacific Ocean Pirate films Films set in Richmond, Virginia Films about prison escapes 1940s Soviet films 1940s Russian-language films {{1940s-sf-film-stub