Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)

Scottish geology professor James Mason leads a group of explorers through an Icelandic volcano to the center of the planet. It’s a brightly colored adventure that has zero basis in reality that is drawn out past 2 hours when 90 minutes would have sufficed. Unfortunately once again, the only female on the expedition, Arlene Dahl, is told she’s too ‘weak’ for such work and relegated to an unnecessary romance in the end, but I do enjoy the peeks into artificial Icelandic culture and the creativity of the inner planetary setting.      

Oscar Nominations: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; Best Sound; Best Effects, Special Effects