Master of the World

• Directed by William Witney
• May 24, 1961
• Based on the Jules Verne novels Robur the Conqueror (1886) and its sequel Master of the World (1904)

In 1868 an American industrialist and his friends become hostages of fanatical pacifist using his advanced airship to destroy military targets on Earth. Because that makes sense.

Maybe as a very young kid I encountered this but as an adult Master of the World was a mystery to me. The main draw is the presence of Vincent Price and Charles Bronson. Given the persona Price had for the bulk of his career and that which Bronson earned by his later years this became a must see. I knew I would not get a playfully macabre Vincent nor a hyperviolent Bronson but I still needed to watch.

The action begins in boring fictitious Morgantown, Pennsylvania which is apparently situated very near a mesa described by characters as a mountain with a crater. The matte painting does not work with what the characters say. It looks cool but this individual with a passing knowledge of science understands you don’t get mesas in Pennsylvania. And with a deep knowledge of Pennsylvania itself there are much more boring towns than this fictitious Morgantown.

To date this is quite possibly the most family-friendly thing I’ve ever seen Charles Bronson in. He was an actor known more for his violent and action-oriented movies than he was something as fanciful and at points sweet as Master of the World. Bronson is still the man of action here. Charles Bronson as government agent John Strock is trying to figure out the best way to stop the villain.

Bronson brings a more subdued tough guy persona to this than he is generally known for. He is certainly strong and tough but thinks things through rather than spray bullets or throw fists. He flirts with Dorothy Prudent (Mary Webster) who is the only woman in this whole thing and as such exists for three things: to be saved, to be flirted with (like Strock does), and to provide token assistance for the men when needed. Philip Evans (David Frankham) is her jealous fiancé who does a few things to compete with Strock rather than listen to his more intelligent path of action.

Price on the other hand brings his usual feeling of mysterious madness to the mononymous Robur whose airship the Albatross will be used to bring calm to all seven continents. He wants to bring about peace by threat of independent and seemingly randomly applied military force at his discretion. How many bases do you need to destroy in the 19^th century to cripple all military?

Like many films of this type Master of the World is a one-off and rather inconsequential story for those involved with some thrills and excitement. It follows the one time trend of adapting Jules Verne stories into feature films. And unlike some of the other stuff to come from that fad the treat of all this is to watch Charles Bronson play a nice upstanding guy with no shades of gray or even kinda dark. This is about as far you can get from any number of other characters he has played over the years.

I have no sense of why Robur’s crew-including the French chef Topage (Vito Scotti) who clued Strock in on a few things-decided to go down with the ship in the end. I have no sense of why their loyalty exists. They didn’t seem to fear him more or love him during the course of the movie. His one subordinate First Mate Turner (Wally Campo) was doggedly loyal, but there was no explanation of that either. What brought these people to Robur’s side?

Aside from that though this is not a bad movie. Not great, but not bad. It’s main attraction at this point in human history is that it is a quality example of a film from a bygone era as well as a rare instance of Charles Bronson doing family friendly. That gets you through any rough patches that may exist in the film. 

And one of those is who or what is the focus of the story? Is it Robur? Strock? Dorothy and Philip? Or was it the opposing views of Robur and industrialist Prudent (Henry Hull)? This movie doesn’t really have one. The space you have to play in a book is not available in a film. 

To see Price do what he did best Master of the World is worth it for Vincent Price fans. Or Charles Bronson fans who want to see him do something a little different this is worth it as well. I don’t think your average movie goer will find anything appealing in this though.