- Master of the World (1961 film)
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Master of the World 
film posterDirected by William Witney Produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff
Anthony Carras
James H. NicholsonWritten by Richard Matheson Based on the novels Robur the Conqueror and Master of the World by
Jules VerneStarring Vincent Price
Charles Bronson
Henry Hull
Mary Webster
Richard HarrisonMusic by Les Baxter Editing by Anthony Carras Distributed by American International Release date(s) 1961 Running time 102 min / USA:99 min (including prologue) Country USA Language English Master of the World is a 1961 science fiction film based upon the Jules Verne novels Robur the Conqueror and Master of the World. The movie stars Vincent Price, Charles Bronson, and Henry Hull, was written by Richard Matheson, and directed by William Witney.
The film was an attempt by American International Pictures to create a prestigious epic adventure along the lines of 1956's Around the World in 80 Days. While it boasted a larger cast and more location work than was then the norm for AIP, it still utilised stock footage, including the opening miniature shot of Elizabethan London from Laurence Olivier's Henry V as a stand-in for Victorian London, with the skyship Albatross superimposed over the top. Additional scenes of the Albatross destroying both sides in a naval engagement are created in the same manner, with stock footage borrowed from model shoots of Napoleonic sea battles. Vincent Price played the dangerously idealistic Captain Robur, who traveled the globe in his Albatross, in order to force peace on the world.
The script combined elements of both Jules Verne's novels, Master of the World, and Robur the Conqueror. Robur, genius, inventor and in this instance, creator of powered heavier than air craft Albatross, with his hand picked crew chooses to use weapons of war to force the governments of the world to lay down their arms and live in peace.
Cast
- Vincent Price as Robur
- Charles Bronson as John Strock
- Henry Hull as Prudent
- Mary Webster as Dorothy Prudent
- David Frankham as Philip Evans
- Richard Harrison as Alistair The Helmsman
- Vito Scotti as Topage
- Wally Campo as First Mate Turner
- Ken Terrell as Crewman Shanks
External links
Richard Matheson Novels I Am Legend (1954) • The Shrinking Man (1956) • A Stir of Echoes (1958) • The Beardless Warriors (1960) • Hell House (1971) • Bid Time Return (1975) • What Dreams May Come (1978)Short stories "Born of Man and Woman" (1950) • "Blood Son" (1951) • "Button, Button" (1970)Screenplays The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) • House of Usher (1960) • "The Last Flight" (1960) • "Nick of Time" (1960) • "A World of Difference" (1960) • "A World of His Own" (1960) • Master of the World (1961) • The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) • "The Invaders" (1961) • "Once Upon a Time" (1961) • Night of the Eagle (1962) • Tales of Terror (1962) • "Little Girl Lost" (1962) • "Young Man's Fancy" (1962) • The Raven (1963) • "Death Ship" (1963) • "Mute" (1963) • "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (1963) • "Steel" (1963) • The Comedy of Terrors (1964) • The Last Man on Earth (1964) • "Night Call" (1964) • "Spur of the Moment" (1964) • Fanatic (1965) • The Young Warriors (1966) • "The Enemy Within" (1966) • The Devil Rides Out (1968) • De Sade (1969) • Duel (1971) • The Night Stalker (1972) • The Night Strangler (1973) • The Legend of Hell House (1973) • Dracula (1973) • The Morning After (1974) • Trilogy of Terror (1975) • The Martian Chronicles Mini-Series (1980) • Somewhere in Time (1980) • Jaws 3-D (1983) • Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) • "Button, Button" (1986) • Loose Cannons (1990) • The Dreamer of Oz (1990) • Rod Serling's Lost Classics (1994) • Trilogy of Terror II (1996)Adaptations
by others"And When the Sky Was Opened" (1959) • "Third from the Sun" (1960) • Cold Sweat (1970) • The Omega Man (1971) • The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) • What Dreams May Come (1998) • Stir of Echoes (1999) • "Dance of the Dead" (2005) • "My Ambition" (2006) • I Am Legend (2007) • I Am Omega (2007) • The Box (2009) • "The Splendid Source" (2010) • Real Steel (2011)Categories:- 1961 films
- 1960s adventure films
- 1960s science fiction films
- American International Pictures films
- Aviation films
- Films based on works by Jules Verne
- Films directed by William Witney
- Screenplays by Richard Matheson
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