Regarding the query on scientists on screen, and to a lesser
extent those on an sf course and filmic utopias, I would
suggest--being a Jules Verne enthusiast--that the archetypes
developed in his books and the screen adaptations might
demonstrate some of these forms in useful ways. Most obviously,
there is the inventor and lone avenger, Captain Nemo, in the
myriad versions, including silents, of 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE
SEA and MYSTERIOUS ISLAND. CAPTAIN NEMO AND THE UNDERWATER CITY
also offers an interesting cinematic variation in an original
story for the screen, portraying, generally positively, a cross
between Shangri-La and Great Society, with Nemo in the style of
an undersea LBJ. A very similar character to the more classical
Nemo, but one who is less withdrawn and is simultaneously a
militant pacifist, appears in MASTER OF THE WORLD (1961). A
wholly different portrayal, scientist as explorer, appears in
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, and although there have again
been many versions, the 1959 movie offers the most from this
angle. FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON (1958) offers only bizarre and
inconsistent characters widely divergent from the novels. More
can be found in my chapter on Verne movies in The Jules Verne
Encyclopedia, to be published Scarecrow early next year.
Brian Taves
Motion Picture Division, Library of Congress
Tavesmail.loc.gov
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