Congratulations. Thank you.
It's a wonderful article in the paper about you, Sir Oliver. Wonderful, Sir!
Good morning, Professor, or I should say, Sir Oliver.
Long article about you on page two. Is there? Well, well, well.
I think they made a mistake about your age.
Paper! Paper!
Paper!
Aye, it's such an honor for Edinburgh, Sir Oliver.
I cannot take your money. Thank you.
Paper! Paper!
Congratulations, Professor.
Sorry.
Sir Oliver, since you've been created a knight,
I've given your students a holiday...
a day for a knight, so to speak.
First, however, there's to be a presentation.
Will the lad of Glen Darrick step forward?
Sir Oliver, in the name of the whole student body,
in gratitude for the knowledge you have imparted to us‒
That's enough obituary prose.
An inkwell, I presume.
A very handsome thing.
Hellish to dust.
I thank you all from the bottom of my heart,
and now, off to the playing fields, all of you!
- Yay! - Yay!
Ah. It cost £4. 17.
I was on the committee that made the collection. I thank you for your efforts, McKuen.
£5 was subscribed. That left three shillings.
You're not going to give me the change, are you?
I expended it on this,
a little extra token I thought you might fancy.
I saw it during Easter week in a window in Glasgow, a curiosity shop.
It seemed to whisper to me, "Buy me for Professor Lindenbrook."
Aye, what did you reply?
I said, "Only if you can be bought for three shillings."
I had to argue with the owner all through Good Friday.
It's lava, of course. Mm-hmm.
But exceptionally heavy.
It could serve as a paperweight.
Do you like it, Professor?
It's a scholar's choice.
Where are you eating tonight?
Oh, this being Tuesday, I'm not eating.
- Oh? - I find it healthy to eat only every other night.
Be at my house at 8:00. I'm entertaining some members of the faculty.
Professor, I do not think I could.
What's the matter with you, McKuen?
You used to come to my house quite regularly.
Is it those frayed cuffs that are worrying you?
I won't get back my other shirt from the wash till Friday.
8:00 sharp!
We're scientists, aren't we?
That's one society where frayed cuffs don't matter.
We've all had 'em. Yes, Sir Oliver.
8:00.
Lava?
I swear there's something inside.
There's Uncle now, Kirsty.
And high time too!
I-I thought it was Uncle Oliver.
I want it thoroughly understood not a single stitch I'm wearing belongs to me.
Good evening, Miss Jenny. Good evening, Alec McKuen.
I'm early. But I trust I'm not too early.
I didn't know you were coming.
Well, your uncle‒ I should say, Sir Oliver ordered me to come.
Oh, where is he?
He's never been late like this. Never.
I don't know, but to return to the subject of my clothes,
they're the property of my classmate, the young lad of Glen Darrick.
"You can't go to dinner dressed like that," said the young lad.
"The professor knows my wardrobe," I replied and went to take my bath.
Uh, when I returned, my clothes had been confiscated and these substituted.
I want to make it clear, I have no claim to the Glen Darrick tartan.
You've explained your magnificence.
Kirsty, there will be one more guest.
I'll seat you between the dean and the rector.
Couldn't I sit next to you? Certainly not.
You'll pardon my being personal, Miss Jenny,
but I notice a certain harshness in your attitude toward me.
What attitude do you expect when it takes a command from my uncle to bring you to this house?
Miss Jenny, why should I torture myself and on purpose?
Two years more I have to study for my master's degree,
then four years more as a laboratory assistant.
Then there's the money I have to give back to my relatives.
They're paying for my schooling.
You are very logical, Mr. McKuen.
It's the logic of an empty purse.
How like a Scotsman!
I am a Scotsman.
I know of one whose purse was not empty,
because he didn't even have a purse.
His name was Robert Burns.
Do you know what he said?
Miss Jenny, the time of poetry is over.
If this is true, Alec McKuen,
what are you doing with your hand on my knee?
Miss Jenny...
Now you just wait in there.
Kirsty, I'll set the extra place.
Is there something you want?
- Uh, a key is stuck. - But that's impossible.
It was just tuned last month.
Which one?
This one. Can't you see?
No, I can't.
At least you can see how unhappy I am.
You know how I've felt ever since that first day you entered the classroom.
Brought your uncle the galoshes he forgot.
You looked like spring itself.
Miss Jenny, I thought you were settin' the table.
There's a key stuck. Mr. McKuen is fixing it.
Shh.
Miss Jenny, you're crying.
I-I bent over the goose. The fumes.
Good evening, Miss Jenny.
G-Good evening, gentlemen.
We were just worrying about Professor Lindenbrook.
Yes, we were. Isn't he with you?
- Isn't he here? - No.
Careful it doesn't go too high, Paisley.
It's just about the limit now, Sir Oliver.
I gave no permission for visitors!
Oh, it's you, McKuen. Good lad. You can lend Paisley a hand.
Uncle Oliver, your guests are waiting.
If you don't come, the goose will be completely spoil‒
Oh, goose, goose, goose. Tell him, Alec.
This lump of lava you gave me is 1 in 10 million.
I've been at it all day.
Aye, without a pause for lunch or tea.
You've had three semesters of petrology. Now then,
from which volcano could this piece of lava have emerged?
Fujiyama? No.
Mt. Etna? Very close.
The Mediterranean. The Lipari Islands group off the coast of Italy.
But theirs is a very light lava.
That's exactly what stumped me,
because inside must be something
the weight of the heaviest rock in existence.
But professor, that would be Icelandic peridotite.
Precisely.
There's a piece chipped off. By me.
What's the rock inside?
Icelandic peridotite, naturally.
When I saw this, I stopped chipping.
There's some marks on the surface.
It looks like a letter or some notches.
Three notches made by the hand of man.
But how could a rock from Iceland
possibly pop out of a volcano across the world?
What's your conclusion?
Science does not jump to conclusions.
Science is not a guessing game.
We're going to melt off the crust of lava.
Mr. Paisley.
Add 10 cc of aqua regia. Not too fast, you know.
I shall write to Professor Goetaborg of Stockholm about this.
He's the world's leading authority on volcanoes.
How long is all this going to take?
A typically female question.
To melt lava will take as long as it takes lava to melt.
Maybe two hours. Maybe four hours.
Two hours? Four hours?
Maybe the whole night. Who cares?
Jenny!
Are you all right?
That was entirely my fault, Sir Oliver.
I don't know how it could have happened.
Mr. Paisley, by your slip you've rendered an inestimable service to science.
Alec!
See this? What would you call it?
As you said, it's a man-made object.
It looks like a-a top,
a surveyor's instrument, a plumb bob.
Not only looks like. It is a plumb bob.
There are letters on it.
It's an inscription, a message, perhaps.
Can you make out what it says, Professor?
It's in some Nordic tongue.
The hand that wrote this trembled.
Perhaps it was a dying hand.
I wonder what it's written in. Paint? Ink?
Perhaps blood.
Possibly.
Look at this side, sir! A signature!
Arne Saknussemm.
Arne Saknussemm!
I hope it isn't too much to suggest that you take me home now, Uncle Oliver.
Or do I have to go alone?
Alone. Alone!
It's unthinkable, but it must be true.
A man took some tools...
and went where no human being has ever set foot...
alone into the interior of the earth, alone.
Who? What is he talking about?
Arne Saknussemm, the Icelandic scientist. The greatest of his day.
He was laughed at when he claimed there must be some kind of a world down below.
The laughter stopped when he disappeared, never to be heard from...
until tonight.
Get out of here, woman. I didn't ask for tea!
I don't want any tea! All I want is my post.
There's no use shouting at me, Sir Oliver!
I can shout just as loud as you can!
For the past two weeks, you've had nothing to eat, and you haven't slept.
Out, woman!
Here's your post, Uncle Oliver.
Another day, and still nothing!
Can you believe that? No answer.
And where is Alec McKuen? He went to the university in case there are some letters there.
How long does it take for a letter to get from Stockholm to Edinburgh?
Answer the bell. Did it ring?
We have to speak to Sir Oliver.
And don't tell us he's busy.
Callers? Callers! That's all I need.
Oliver, we all know your reputation for rudeness.
You also have a reputation as a conscientious man.
But you've skipped every lecture in the past two weeks.
I'm involved in something important.
More important than our university?
Something any university in the world would envy us.
Ah, yes!
You laugh!
What does the name Arne Saknussemm mean to you?
Saknussemm, Saknussemm.
Wasn't he the one who wrote about the lost city of Atlantis?
That was an early phase of his career.
His real fame rests on his study of volcanoes.
Out of a volcano came this message from him.
It lay unnoticed for 100 years
was probably picked up by some peasant,
gathered dust in a curiosity shop till it came to me.
Here is a translation of the words.
"I am dying, but my life's work must not be lost.
Whoever descends into the crater of Sneffels Yocul
can reach the center of the Earth.
I did it. Arne Saknussemm."
The center of the Earth? Sneffels Yocul?
That's an extinct volcano in Iceland.
According to this, there must be a direct route from it to a region no man has ever seen.
But Oliver, this is sheer fantasy.
You haven't heard all of it. There's a postscriptum.
"At sunrise on the last day of May,
the mountain Scartaris will point the path."
What do you say now?
I'm more mystified than ever. Scartaris?
Scartaris is a mountain peak near the volcano.
This is some kind of student's hoax. You should know better.
Wait a second, rector. Let's not take that tone.
Let's assume it's authentic.
Isn't the correct procedure
to write a paper and submit it to the university officially?
You must consult other experts.
A thing like this needs verification.
Here is my paper.
I've written to the foremost authority in Europe.
The Royal Geological Society?
More eminent still. Professor Goetaborg of Stockholm.
Oh? And what does he say?
Unfortunately, I've not yet received his reply.
I've written to him twice!
Well, then, I suggest we relax on the matter
until your famous correspondent sees fit to answer you.
In the meantime, we could do with a cup of tea.
I know you two think I'm daft!
Think whatever you want!
Jenny, tea!
When did you get here?
Just this moment, Sir Oliver. Look.
It's from Stockholm.
Well, he's got his letter from Stockholm.
Did you see the shine in his eyes?
There'll never be a better moment than today.
I'm going to tell him about our feelings for each other.
He'll say yes almost inadvertently.
What if he says no advertently?
You wait and see how firm my voice can be when I speak of you.
Blast and damnation!
The devil blast it!
What is it, Oliver? Don't keep us in the dark.
Bad news, sir? I am stricken.
The University of Stockholm informs me
that Professor Goetaborg has vanished from Sweden.
His disappearance follows closely the date
when my communication must have reached him...
with all my material.
He evidently didn't think it important enough to answer.
Or too important.
McKuen, go to the shipping offices. No, go directly to the harbor!
Find out when the next ship leaves for Iceland.
Oliver, Oliver. I will not be beaten to my goal.
What is your goal? Can you ask that?
You heard Saknussemm's message.
Oliver, you're seriously ill. I am seriously well!
What are you waiting for? I told you to hurry.
If you'll excuse me, I must start packing my things.
To go where? To Iceland, to begin with.
And then? Where Arne Saknussemm went.
Oliver! Will you kindly stop saying Oliver?
You don't think I can sit in my classroom
while a scoundrel named Goetaborg exploits what I foolishly placed in his hands.
Don't you see what's at stake?
The ultimate aim of all science‒ to penetrate the unknown.
Do you know we know less about the earth we live on
than about the stars and galaxies of outer space?
The greatest mystery is right here.
Right under our feet.
And now, if you'll excuse me, gentlemen.
I must have a word with you. I have no time for words.
You must take time for this, sir.
What are you so urgent about? This is the most urgent. moment of my life.
For you, but not for me.
I have to be in Iceland before the week's over.
So must I. I'm going with you, sir.
Where? To the center of the Earth, naturally.
Oh!
By now all Iceland must be aware that the Scots have arrived.
I wish I could sing loud enough for Jenny to hear me.
Homesick already?
It's a bit painful to leave your fiancée on the first day of your engagement.
But to come back as a world famous scientist, that's not to be sneezed at.
Come here. Take a look.
Did you expect a flight of stairs with a red carpet?
I neglected to tell you, sir, I have a nervous fear of heights.
Well, you'll get over that after the first million fathoms or so.
Million fathoms.
Alec! He's been here!
He's been surveying here. This is fresh-cut wood.
Your revered colleague from Stockholm. He isn't wasting any time.
Do you think he's already gone down?
No. Saknussemm stipulated the last day of May.
Take a carriage back to Reykjavik.
Buy every foot of rope that's available.
Stock up on hardtack, salted beef, chocolate and medical supplies.
But more than anything, inquire whether they have Ruhmkorf lamps.
Have another carriage waiting for me at the foot of the slope at sunset.
You think we can prepare it all so quickly?
We must. We're in a race.
What's that you're taking?
Jenny's farewell gift.
I'll keep it with me always.
Scartaris!
- Back to my hotel. - Ja, Professor Goetaborg.
Ah, there, my good man.
I assume my assistant sent you.
No, thank you. Nobody carries the soldier's weapons.
And take your time. These instruments are delicate.
Easy, coachman! Easy!
This isn't the same road we came by this morning!
I said, slow down, man!
You're out of your senses!
Stop your horses, man!
This is not a request, it's a command!
Can't you hear me? Slow down!
Stop, you fool!
Whoa!
If you've ruined my instruments, I'll horsewhip you, so help me.
And where are we?
This certainly is not my hotel.
- Professor! - Alec!
Where are we?
Apparently in an eider feather storehouse.
How did you get here? I don't know what happened. It went so fast.
I was clubbed. I was overpowered before I knew there was a struggle.
Did you see who did it? No. I was just walking trying to get done with your errands.
When I said Professor Goetaborg was a scoundrel, I flattered him. He's a criminal!
Likely all his life long, he's dreamed of such a project.
Your letter was the key to the door of fame.
Hush. Did you hear that?
What? Some tapping.
Don't get your hopes up, Professor. There's not a soul around.
Everybody's in Iceland is in the market square.
Why? It isn't Sunday! Tomorrow the fishing fleet goes out for the first haul.
You couldn't make our purchases. The shops are closed.
No. The shops are open, but every piece of rope, every lamp,
everything we'd need was sold in the last two days.
To Professor Goetaborg!
He's staying in the inn where we have our rooms.
This time I heard it too.
A fellow prisoner, do you suppose?
He's giving us signals.
It's a code. Morse?
I can't just make it out. Jot this down.
Dash, dash, dot, dot, dot, dot, long dash.
It doesn't make sense.
Perhaps it's in Icelandic.
I don't think so.
We've established contact.
I still can't make it out.
My esteemed friend, whoever you are,
let me introduce myself,
Professor Oliver Lindenbrook, University of Edinburgh.
May I ask you to interrupt your tapping and listen?
In what language would you like me to speak?
Apparently, he doesn't understand English.
I'll try French.
Mon cher ami,
vous et nous sonnes dans une situation abominable!
It's no good, sir. It sounds more Russian.
Gertrude!
It's a female prisoner. And her lover.
Professor, they're kissing.
I'm sorry, but for once we must dispense with tact.
Much as I regret to disturb this tender moment, can you get us out of here?
Oh, Gertrude.
It's a duck!
And I was just about to try Latin.
Young man with the gold tooth, I'll give you more gold
if you'll guide us to Reykjavik.
Ah. Ja, Reykjavik.
You take us to Reykjavik.
I understand that Professor Goetaborg from Stockholm is stopping here.
A friend‒ A friend of yours? Professor Goetaborg?
Let's say a colleague.
May I be of help?
- He is at home, isn't he? - Yes. I‒
Oh, he is not at home. He is not to be disturbed.
Don't tell me he's asleep with all this going on.
You cannot see him. I'm sorry.
Here are your coins. And here is my card.
If you'd be good enough to put it in his box so he'll know that I'm around.
Thank you so much.
Goetaborg, I know you're in there!
Open up! This is Lindenbrook.
Goetaborg.
Do you see what this is, laddie?
The very last word in equipment.
Ruhmkorf lamps! Oh!
Self-generating.
How long will they burn, Professor? My guess is indefinitely.
As long as they're wound up, the induction coil will give off current.
Breathing devices,
the kind they use in coal mines in Wales.
All the instruments needed for exploring the world below,
whatever it may be!
I shall wait here till Goetaborg returns.
You...
wait too.
Goetaborg may be a strong man.
More treasure, sir. Climbing boots,
alpenstocks,
blankets.
Food for months.
A chart with‒
P-P-Professor!
What?
Well, Goetaborg, it seems there's such a thing as justice, after all.
So you wanted to push in ahead of us?
Fate took care of him.
Why didn't they tell us at the desk?
Hotels rarely advertise the fact that they have corpses lying around.
The Icelander teaches us a lesson.
All right. We'll observe one minute of silence in memory of a great scientist,
even if he was a blasted thief.
Alec, you mentioned fate.
Slight correction‒
Fate plus a few grains of potassium cyanide.
He was against us. Someone was even more against him.
Who?
I'm the wife of Professor Goetaborg.
Oh, my dear. What is it?
I was surprised my husband wasn't at the pier to meet me.
Is something wrong? Won't you sit down for a minute before you go up?
Please, my dear.
He seemed so well. Early in the morning, he went to the mountain.
He came back for lunch and received his guest in the lobby. I saw him myself.
They went up to his room and ate.
What are you trying to tell me? That my husband is‒
His guest left about 4:00.
In the evening, when the maid went to make the bed‒
Oh, dear God.
As long as I can remember no one ever died in my inn.
Of course, we called a doctor, but it was too late.
We left him up there because we knew you were due in on the morning boat.
Just 10 days ago, he was joking on the pier in Stockholm.
The moment he arrived here, he sent me a message
just with one word‒ "Come."
Madam, my deep sympathy.
My name is Oliver Lindenbrook of Edinburgh University.
I take it you're familiar with that name.
Professor Lindenbrook.
I see you are.
I must ask you a question.
It's just as well that Madam Goetaborg be present.
This will be difficult for you, madam. But it must be faced.
Who was the last person to see Professor Goetaborg alive?
His luncheon guest. Who was that?
- Count Saknussemm. - Count Saknussemm?
I didn't realize the Saknussemm family still existed.
The Saknussemms are the oldest family in this whole land.
A descendant of Arne Saknussemm.
And a scientist, too, in his own right.
It was he who lunched with Professor Goetaborg?
They saw each other every day.
They worked together in his room
with all those charts and instruments.
I suggest that you have an autopsy performed immediately.
You think there's something suspicious about my husband's death?
Your husband came to Iceland for the same reasons that brought me.
Neither he nor I could possibly suspect
there was a third party would stop at nothing to forestall us.
He was killed? Poisoned.
Oh. This is now a matter for the police.
Send for them at once.
To your room first, madam.
Uh, just one second, if you please. Thank you.
I'm deeply distressed by your husband's death.
I fully understand your feelings.
However, I must ask you one question.
How do you plan to dispose of the equipment your husband assembled up there?
What does it matter now?
Precisely. Don't give it another thought. I'll take it off your hands.
We can discuss it later. We cannot discuss it later. Time is running out.
My expedition must start within 24 hours.
Your expedition? Exactly.
I only know of the Goetaborg Expedition.
Husbands don't always tell their wives everything.
I don't wish to blacken the memory your husband.
However, because I'm under pressure, I must change my request to a demand.
I have a right to that equipment and I claim it.
A right to take over the work of another man's lifetime?
He died for that idea! An idea he stole from me.
That is a lie.
Madam. An unforgivable lie.
I would rather destroy every pound of that equipment than let you have it.
"Incredible encounter!
A Saknussemm descendant turns up,
acts as if he were King of Volcanoes,
tries to force me to surrender his ancestor's secret.
Saknussemm called again.
New complication!
My real adversary arrives, Lindenbrook,
undoubtedly to claim his rights.
Must fight him somehow."
Oh, uh, young man, would you come here a moment, please?
Who are those for?
Professor Lindenbrook.
Ah-ha.
Ja, madam.
Oh, at least we have some rope. That's a beginning.
Tell him to stop jabbering and go shopping.
What about lamps?
Uh, lamps. Lamps. What about, uh, picks?
Oh, and provisions, food.
What are you doing? What are you doing?
Put me down. Put me down, big ox!
Tell him to put me down! Put me down!
Somebody please explain this outrage.
Are we to be abducted every day in Iceland?
Ja, madam.
She speaks Icelandic. I do,
but I wish to apologize to you in plain English.
I went through my husband's diary.
Some of his remarks led me to believe you. I did you an injustice.
I'm sorry. I didn't know. Don't give it another thought. I shan't.
I'm Sir Oliver's assistant. My name is Alec McKuen.
This whole expedition began thanks to this lad.
Began and that's all it has done.
Sir Oliver, this morning you asked me for these. If you still want them, they're yours.
Will you say that again?
I shall not stand in the way of the Lindenbrook Expedition.
Madam. My husband had these boots made specially.
I hope they fit you.
Mine will be ready without delay.
I told your man to order some for me immediately.
Good, good.
What was that?
Why would you need boots like this?
I can't very well go in these.
Go where, madam? Don't say it.
Naturally, I'm coming along.
That's why I'm giving you all of this. That's a condition. I thought you understood.
You didn't mention any condition.
Then I do now.
- Whom did you intend to take besides this young man? - The big Icelander.
Then I'll be very useful. He doesn't understand English.
You can't come along! You're a woman! What has my sex to do with this?
We're not contemplating a stroll down Piccadilly or the Champs-Elysées.
Professor Lindenbrook, I've just lost my husband.
I have nothing else to live for up here.
Down there, I can at least represent his name.
Unfortunately, the decision is not yours to make.
The police require your presence for the investigation into your husband's death.
I have already given my testimony.
But madam, quite apart from the appalling danger, think of the inconvenience.
The lack of privacy!
In short, you don't want all of this. Is that it?
I may be mad on the subject of this journey, but I am not stupid!
To burden myself with a female is sheer stupidity.
I resent that word. I may have been a disturbance to men, never a burden.
This is an absolute holdup.
I assure you you will not receive one iota of extra consideration.
You'll sleep where we sleep, you'll eat what we eat and wash when we wash.
Then you accept my proposition?
Oh!
Professor, look!
There's our gateway.
Thank you, Scartaris.
Never was there a brighter sunrise.
Now, we descend into oblivion,
or we enter the great book of history.
- Roll call. - Carla Goetaborg.
- Alexander McKuen. - Hans und Gertrude Belka.
Oliver S. Lindenbrook.
What did he say? Hans and who?
And Gertrude.
Professor!
All right, you've arrived.
Rather an alarming descent. I found it exhilarating.
I wonder if Madam Goetaborg will change her mind as the last moment.
You make my mouth water.
Hans is tying the rope on her.
I'm a fool. I should have told him to tie her to one of the mules and send her back where she belongs.
In what language would you have told him that, Sir Oliver?
She may be of some use in that respect.
Then there's always the blessed chance the rope may break.
Are you all right, ma'am? Oh, quite.
Hans insisted on a double rope.
Did he indeed? How solicitous.
But that was for Gertrude.
Poor Sir Oliver, stuck with a woman.
If only you could see your face.
That's my consolation, madam.
I don't have to look at it. You do.
There isn't enough rope in all Europe!
Perhaps we made a mistake and this is the wrong entrance.
The sign was unmistakable.
But there's no other way to continue.
Gertrude!
Oh, madam! Madam!
He says there's a tunnel on the other side.
Slanting downhill, but walkable. Eureka!
Oh, thank you.
Now then, a general summary.
A‒ We must never use more than two Ruhmkorf lamps at a time.
B‒ We'll not be needing our breathing equipment for a long stretch.
Nevertheless, never take a step without it.
C‒ Use our canteens freely for the present.
There'll be plenty of springs on our way.
As my husband's charts indicated.
Is Professor Goetaborg to be with us on our entire journey?
Sorry.
Well, every journey begins with a first step.
May the good Lord be with us. Onward!
And let's have some music. Alec, will you start us off?
Miss Jenny!
I saw you turn pale when the dominie spoke of those in peril
at the far ends of the earth.
Far ends of the earth, at least that would be somewhere.
There was a clipping in a Stockholm paper,
a dispatch from Reykjavik.
I can only read their names. I had it translated.
The last news of them was that they went up Mount Sneffels
with some heavily-laden donkeys. Yes?
And then the animals came down without their packs.
And? And that's all.
Oliver S. Lindenbrook, Alexander McKuen,
Hans Belka, and Madam‒
What's‒ Why, it seems a woman went with them.
A woman!
You know what they'll call that
in the Royal Observatory at Greenwich?
"A slight tremor coming from undefined regions."
Well, we've lived through a slight tremor. Let us proceed.
It seems to be moving away from us.
Madam, in these regions, I'd never venture to say
anything is moving away or coming towards us.
The only thing we can be certain of is that danger is always with us.
We might as well ignore it.
Run!
Jump!
Aah! Oh!
The three notches.
The three notches of Arne Saknussemm. What does that mean?
We've been shown the right path. We have a guide.
Alec, the plumb bob.
Look! Without these marks, we would have gone astray.
We'd have wasted months exploring endlessly.
We might have taken any one of these channels.
But our great colleague maketh a path for our feet.
Well, you all deserve a rest.
Let's have tea with a double ration of raisins.
May I comb my hair first, Professor? Oh!
Ladies on the left. Gentleman on the right.
Oh!
What is it, madam? Shh!
If we'd known you were subject to nightmares,
we'd have made different sleeping arrangements.
Someone is walking up there.
I heard footsteps, human footsteps.
Madam, since the beginning of time,
all women have heard footsteps... up there.
My hearing is extremely acute.
The hearing of all women is extremely acute.
My wife used to hear rats in the attic,
usually, on the nights before I had an important lecture.
I used to go up, armed with a broom.
Alec, go up and find out. Hans‒
Madam, will you leave those men alone? They need rest.
Moreover, it was stipulated that I give the orders.
There's no need to use that patient voice with me, Professor.
Would you rather I used an impatient voice?
Professor Lindenbrook, I am a member of this expedition.
As such, I intend to report any observations I make.
Alec, put it down in the record
that a member of the expedition reported rats in the attic.
Lights out!
Don't be afraid, madam. I'm right here.
Conceal these marks completely.
I'll give them some new ones.
This is steeper than anything we've encountered.
It's just as well we all had a good night's rest.
Alec, take this down. 21 st day of our descent,
starting from an estimated depth of 129 kilometers,
limestone formation continues.
Aye, aye, Professor!
Here are the three notches again. Good!
Gertrude! Wrong turn.
Let's see. What have we here?
One heads 220 degrees south-southwest,
the other 160 degrees south-southeast. Strange.
I would have wagered we'd have to bear in that direction.
That was Gertrude's feeling too.
Are you sure your compass is right?
Quite.
Madam‒
What's he saying?
Hans is wondering about the ultimate goal of our expedition.
He's asking, "Why?"
Alec, suppose you tell him.
Well, why does man freeze to death trying to reach the North Pole?
Why does man suffer the steam and heat of the Amazon?
Why does he stagger his mind with the mathematics of the sky?
Once a question mark has arisen in the human brain,
the answer must be found if it takes a hundred years, a thousand years.
Let's hear you render that into a few well-chosen Icelandic words.
Why not simply tell him scientists have bats in their belfries?
Oh!
Are you all right?
Can you unhook yourself? Yes! Hans!
Grab his hand. I didn't see it! I didn't see it!
Never mind about that.
How is it possible?
This way was clearly indicated.
There must have been a quake since Arne Saknussemm's day.
This is no recent fissure. This has been here since the beginning of time.
I was not in a position to observe it scientifically.
We made a mistake somewhere, but where?
What are you doing here, madam? We're supposed to stay together.
You know we must never have more than two lamps at a time.
We've been tricked, tricked into the wrong tunnel.
Those three notches are not Arne Saknussemm's.
She's right, Professor.
Someone has passed through before us.
No need to ask who.
Madam heard him last night.
Now she's saying, "I told you so."
Silently, I admit, but she's saying it.
When I wish to say something, I say it aloud.
In view of this new development,
I have no choice but to break up the expedition.
- We must return. - Why?
You don't strike me as a man who frightens easily.
I'm not thinking of myself. You know that.
I must think of you‒ a woman!
We agreed I was to be one of your men.
But if there is a madman is loose in these‒
He's against all of us, against the very concept of this journey.
What's happened now? What's he saying?
He said we should go back to where Alec fell.
But it's not on our route.
If we're to go ahead, we've no time for detours.
Then you wait here.
If only my Jenny were here to see this.
Madam, now that the boy has gone
and Hans doesn't understand English,
I must ask a delicate question.
I'm blushing already.
You're wearing stays, are you not?
Professor!
Yes, I thought so. I can hear them creaking as you walk.
What I wear is not your business!
Everything here is my business.
Hans and I will look the other way while you discard them.
Professor, you go too far.
We're approaching regions where the heat will be excessive.
Nothing must impede anyone's breathing.
Alec! Leaving in a few minutes!
I've got to take a specimen of this back to Edinburgh,
if it's the last thing I do.
Unique. Inexplicable.
Ready to go, if that boy Alec would be good enough to appear.
Where the devil is he?
It's a blind alley!
Keep back!
Professor!
Hans!
Good God!
Hold on. Hold on to my arm.
My shoulder. Hold on to me.
Oh, praise the Lord.
Oh!
Oh.
Alec.
Professor!
Hello! Hello!
Professor, here I am!
Here I am!
Salt!
Alec!
Professor, you can't go on this way.
I've kept track of the passage of days. You haven't.
We'll try that channel over there.
We were in that channel yesterday. We left marks.
You won't find him there.
I've got to find him. I'm responsible.
Oh.
No need to translate. I can see this is a recent break.
Alec!
Can you hear me?
If you're down there, give us a sign!
Alec, listen carefully.
When the echoes stop, you must try to answer.
If you're injured, if you can't talk, make an effort.
Pick up a pebble and scratch the rock. We'll hear you.
I promise you. Just give us a sign!
A phosphorescent pool.
Strange grave for a young Scot.
Professor, there's no use.
How can I live with myself?
Accept his loss like one soldier accepts the loss of another soldier.
You must continue what you started. You must go on with the Lindenbrook Expedition.
The Lindenbrook Expedition.
Yes.
Go on with it.
It was his project, as much as it was yours.
Yes, you're right.
We will proceed,
but we won't call it the Lindenbrook Expedition anymore.
From now on, it's the Alec McKuen Expedition.
No broken bones?
Ribs all right?
Good. Get up.
Down there, food and water. Refresh yourself.
So you lost your friends?
Just as well.
It's my servant.
Too much heat, too much load, too much fear.
You're younger. You'll do to carry my things.
I'm not your servant, Count Saknussemm.
Pride? Rather out of place here.
Eat, drink and pick up those things. I'm in a hurry.
To steal the professor's project?
Steal? Listen, young foreigner.
I don't have to steal what belongs to me.
You're in my world now.
Stop!
I need someone to carry my equipment!
You'll never find your companions or your way out.
You need me as much as I need you.
You found me. My friends could find me too.
Very well, you'll carry it with one arm, not two!
A hail of bullets.
No, no! It's a multiple echo reverberating through the rock chambers.
The last echo will give us the direction.
166 degrees south-southeast.
Alec. Alec.
Alec. Alec!
We'd given you up, but you're alive, laddie.
You're alive!
Professor. Carla. Hans.
Just to see y...
Where was he?
I-I didn't think he'd shoot, but he did.
Of course I did.
What did you expect? You are trespassers here.
I am the owner of this domain.
You are also the murderer of my husband.
I claimed my rights. He would not listen.
Count Saknussemm, in the name of your great ancestor,
put down that preposterous gun.
No harm will come if you accept my terms.
You will go back the way you came,
but you will leave equipment I need and that man.
Sir Oliver, you are not going to listen to a murderer.
Never interrupt a murderer, madam.
I resent that bourgeois classification.
I'll spare your lives.
You have my word of honor.
Give me your hand on that.
A bourgeois trick. So sorry.
All right, before we continue on our journey,
we must perform a solemn duty.
We have to hold court.
Here, hundreds of kilometers beneath the surface of the earth,
we are the law.
The defendant stands accused of one murder
and one act of mayhem.
To preserve legal formalities, I must ask you, as jurors,
is the defendant guilty or not guilty?
Guilty.
Hans.
Guilty.
Then the mandatory sentence...
is death.
There are two bullets left.
Madam, will you be good enough to explain to Hans?
We will follow the route marked by the notches.
He is to wait here for 10 minutes, then carry out the sentence.
No, no, no, no, no.
Professor, I can carry something with my left hand.
You can carry yourself for a couple of days. That's all we can expect.
Sir Oliver, there's a slight problem.
Our friend Hans refuses to shoot the count.
What do you mean, refuses? It's a court order.
It seems his family have been loyal to the Saknussemms for generations.
And, well, he cannot touch the gun.
This is contempt of court.
All right, Alec.
Oh, no, no, Profess‒ I mean, Sir Oliver.
You mustn't look at me. I, um‒
I couldn't pull the trigger with my left hand.
Oh, no. You‒ You couldn't consider for a moment that I could do it.
After all, I'm a woman!
I see. For weeks you've been denying your sex.
And now you fall back on it.
I would say the natural executioner
would be the leader of the expedition.
We must face the truth, sir.
We're much too civilized to‒ to do away with a fellow human being.
What do you propose? Drag him along with us? Feed him?
Let him share our glory? Stop fiddling with those lamps!
Oh, Madam‒
What's he jabbering about?
I'll tell you what he's saying.
The lamps are giving out. And I'll give you the reason.
The induction coils have been corroded by the salt.
To save what we can, I insist that we leave these regions at once.
You insist?
As a matter of fact, he's bloody well right.
Let's be off.
You realize, Professor, Saknussemm's unfastened himself from the rope again
and gone off?
Oh, what's the harm? He'll be back when it's time to eat.
The harm is, Madam, he's wasting a lamp.
Madam, will you try your lamp, please?
It's dead. Yours, Alec?
When these things are gone, they're really gone.
Madam, make a final note while there is still light enough to write by.
Let me. My arm's well now.
No need.
Covered another 92 kilometers.
Temperature dropped seven degrees.
Surprisingly cooler than anticipated.
The darkness is closing about us.
This may be our last entry.
Hans and I can cut some rope into torches.
That's a good idea.
What puzzles me is that the three notches of Arne Saknussemm...
still keep pointing our way.
What kind of a lamp did he have?
Perhaps my ancestor did not require a lamp.
From here on, neither do you, Sir Oliver. Why don't you turn it off?
Yes, just switch it off.
Why, it's miraculous.
Look at this.
What is it, sir?
A form of algae with a property of luminescence.
Light without heat. A cool chemical light.
You've seen fireflies, Madam, and glowworms
and forms of life in the sea that generate their own light?
The same principle is involved here.
256th day.
The phenomenal winds vanished as abruptly as they came.
We are now in a stupendous deposit of cinnabar.
What's that curious little mark you make on every page?
M.E.‒ McKuen Expedition.
You mean that whenever I've said Lindenbrook Expedition,
you've written McKuen Expedition?
May I remind you that months ago,
you gave me explicit orders to that effect?
You may not remind me. I do not wish to be corrected by you incessantly.
Is that what I'm doing?
You're doing it with your looks, with the inflection of your voice,
the very posture of your body.
Your entire presence is a constant criticism of me.
I'm tired of it. I've had enough!
You've had enough!
Let me tell you, you dried-up walnut of a man!
If anyone's had enough, it's me!
It's I.
It's I! It's me! It's Carla Goetaborg.
I quit! I'm leaving!
May I send for madam's horse and carriage?
Well, at least you know I have a temper.
Alec will keep the charts. Alec!
Alec!
Why can't he stay around?
Aye, aye, aye, aye-o!
Mushrooms! A forest of mushrooms.
They might be hundreds of years old, but the small ones we can eat.
They're delicious!
To think they grew without sun this far under the earth!
All the food we can eat!
It's tougher than leather.
We'll have new soles for our shoes.
Ooh!
It's like an oak tree!
Ah! Madam, you're magnificent.
Mushroom steak, mushroom soup, mushroom hash.
Let me say this‒ If we'd had one more week of that salted beef,
I would have perished.
Don't be too happy.
After some months of this, you'll be smacking your lips at the thought of salt beef.
Yes. Months, months.
If we only knew how many more.
There's no term to the work of a scientist.
Let me say this, Madam, if you hadn't been along,
this whole journey would have been unbearable.
But that's not Professor Lindenbrook's feeling.
It's mine.
You see, we have no sun, no moon, no stars,
but then you're here.
And what is the name of the girl you love?
I beg your pardon?
The girl you love. What's her name?
Jenny. But why would you want to know that just now?
Oh, dear Alec.
There are times when it's advisable to jog a young man's memory.
Professor!
Here's some hot mushroom porridge for you, Sir Oliver.
I slept as I'd never slept in Edinburgh.
No street noises, no church bells,
no clatter of pans from the kitchen.
I may move here permanently.
What's our large friend doing over there?
I don't know. Special command of His Majesty.
Is that madman still giving orders?
This is supposed to be his rest period.
The minute you fell asleep, he went off in that direction, through the tunnel.
He came back long enough to order the felling of the mushrooms.
What in the world can he want with all those?
You've come to ask me why I didn't take my rest period.
I don't sleep.
I hate those little slashes of death.
It's a sea. It's an ocean with waves and currents.
The ocean of the underworld.
Some earthquake before the beginning of history
cracked wide open the great sea,
and, through the fissures, poured this.
The fissures closed again.
No map ever recorded the Saknussemm Ocean.
I so christened it while you were asleep.
It's the prerogative of the discoverer. I congratulate you.
You realize, Lindenbrook, from now on there will be no more notches to follow.
That's why you ordered a raft. I approve.
A Dimetrodon! If I had my gun, we'd have fresh meat for dinner.
That's what he's saying! He's a flesh-eater!
Can he swim?
No, thank God.
The wind blows down the high street.
Here.
I brought you some nice apples.
I wonder if it's cold where they are.
Where they are, indeed!
Are they anyplace?
McKuen, put that toy away and take over the rudder.
Yes, sir.
I didn't tell you to throw it away!
It blew out of my hand!
My watch!
The instruments! Save the instruments!
My ring! My wedding ring!
A field of force that snatches gold away. This is it. This is it!
The junction of magnetic forces from the North to the South Pole!
The center of the Earth!
Hang on!
Hold on to your rope, Alec! Hold on!
No!
Is everyone here?
Madam Goetaborg, Alec,
Hans.
Gertrude.
And His Highness over there.
So...
the expedition with all the names ends like this.
We're alive, aren't we?
After all, we did hit the center of the Earth.
It hit us, laddie.
No need to tell us. He wants to know where we go from here.
Tired minds don't plan well.
Sleep first, plan later.
When I refused to eat my porridge when I was a boy,
my mother, like all mothers, used to say,
"Oliver, the day may come when you'd very much like to have that porridge."
Why do you look so surprised? Is it incredible that I ever had a mother?
I was just thinking how proud she'd be
of that little boy who wouldn't eat his porridge.
Here, duck.
Gertrude.
Gertrude?
Gertrude!
Gertrude! Gertrude!
Gertrude!
Hans! Hans!
Why do you look at me like that?
Hans!
I needed food, so I took it.
Professor, tell your man to calm himself.
I'm not in the mood to engage in a dispute about a slaughtered duck.
Professor! Stop him!
Stop this fool!
- Hans! - Hans!
You ingrates! What can you do without me?
Only I can show you the way out of this realm of mine.
Look out!
This is the sunken city.
After 5,000 years, men behold a fragment of the lost Atlantis.
All we know about it comes from the Greek.
The floor of the sea opened up and swallowed the whole island of Atlantis.
This must have been the market square.
Professor!
Professor, this looks like some sort of inn.
It is an inn, an eating place, certainly.
Eating. What a word. What a wonderful word.
Well, we've learned one thing about the inhabitants of Atlantis.
They ate oysters.
Stale bread.
We must speak to the baker.
Madam!
Ja?
He's asking if that was a temple to their god?
Yes, I'm sure it is.
It's some sort of altar stone where the sacred flame burned.
It's serpentine, isn't it?
Exactly. A massive form of asbestos.
To think that at a moment like this,
I've no pad and pencil to record it all.
Turn around, madam. Don't look.
What is it?
The great Arne Saknussemm, I presume.
So this is as far as he came.
What's the matter with you two? Say "How do you do" to a brave man.
He must have dragged himself here with a broken leg.
Look at that tibia.
You won't find anything edible in there.
Why not? The Chinese eat eggs over 400 years old.
Gunpowder.
Professor, look at his right hand. It's pointing somewhere.
To that shaft over there.
Of course! Of course! This is what the pointing finger meant!
This is the way up. He couldn't make it, but we can.
This is a volcanic chimney.
The violent updraft can mean only one thing.
A direct hatchway to the surface.
We can climb up!
Madam, explain to Hans.
Let him venture a hundred meters or so and reconnoiter.
The updraft can't carry him away.
Hans‒
Now I'd say let's roll up our sleeves, if we had any.
We mustn't hope for too much.
This light won't be with us all the way.
We'll have to provide some kind of light.
And food. I'll go see what I can find.
I'll comb every inch of Atlantis.
If we only had some shears, we could cut it off.
Could we?
Aye, aye! Aye, aye!
Flints! I found some flints.
Good lad.
We won't be walking in darkness.
Madam!
I wish I had better news for you.
It gives every indication of being a perfect passage upward,
straighter than the one we descended, but...
But? But?
There's an obstacle, a gigantic block of stone obstructs the passageway.
Hans said only a landslide could ever move it.
No. Let him be.
If all his hopes hadn't been so high.
- Alec! - Yes, sir?
The haversack. Arne Saknussemm's haversack. Get it!
If God is with us, and that gunpowder has kept its ginger over the years,
we'll make that landslide ourselves.
Now, my wonderful companions, you realize, I hope,
that we're taking an enormous chance.
But it's our only chance.
I guarantee that this will blow up the obstructing rock.
Whether the surrounding rocks will take the disturbance lightly, that I cannot guarantee.
Let's get what protection we can. Into the altar stone.
Dear God, ruler of heaven and the Earth‒
Don't set any limit to his realm, laddie.
God of the universe, we are in thy merciful hands.
Look out! Run, Professor! A monster!
Let me go!
We started an earthquake.
The lava is pushing us up!
It's an earthquake of unusual magnitude!
More likely, it's a volcanic eruption.
Listen to this‒ "Stromboli, Italy, first eyewitness report.
The capsule of the dead volcano
broke under a tremendous explosion.
Rocks of extraordinary size are being spewed out into the sea."
Dammi una mano.
Piano, eh? Piano.
Passami vino.
Ecco.
Signora, beva, beva.
Where's Alec?
Hans says Alec was thrown from the altar stone
long before we hit the water.
Non si preoccupi, abbiamo lo scalino!
I'm most grateful, ladies.
But my immediate need is not a ladder. I need trousers!
Che dice? Pants!
Pantaloons! Pantaloons!
Oh, vuole pantalone!
Pantalone? Oh!
Don't bring them yourselves.
Send a friar, a monk.
- Oh! - Oh!
Oh!
Excuse me, ladies.
Excuse me.
Lindenbrook! Lindenbrook! Lindenbrook!
Lindenbrook! Lindenbrook!
Lindenbrook!
Speech! Speech! Speech! Speech!
Hello, Scots!
If these shouts of yours express some pleasure that we've returned alive,
I thank you deeply.
However, if they're meant as praise for a successful scientist,
I must disclaim that honor.
- No! - No!
No. A scientist who cannot prove what he has accomplished has accomplished nothing.
I have no records, no shred of evidence.
I will never embarrass this distinguished university
by asking that it take my word.
Let me say only this.
300 years ago,
a daring man undertook a perilous journey
and never came back.
We followed his path and returned...
by the grace of God and a heathen altar stone.
One day, someone else,
it may be you, my boy, or your sons or grandsons
will pick up where we left off.
This I know.
The spirit of man cannot be stopped!
- Splendid, Oliver. - Thank you.
Professor, here's someone who wants to say good-bye.
His ship sails at 4:00.
Hans, old friend, we never could have done without you.
He has a speech.
Uh‒
Hello, sir. If you‒
If you'll ever go down there again,
the center Earth, Hans will go too.
Thank you.
Did you get your injuries when the volcano blew up, in the hot lava?
Oh, no. It happened in Edinburgh, at our wedding.
He was in such a hurry leaving the church he fell down the steps.
You poor wee bride, after all that waiting,
it's been no marriage for you at all.
You underestimate Alec.
I'm taking the night train to London and then back to Stockholm.
Stockholm? But you have a job to do right here.
I?
I intend to write my memoirs,
You don't think I can remember everything that happened alone.
Oh, I see. What you need is a widow
who can jog your memory and take dictation.
I suppose I'm to report every day from 9:00 till 12:00? From 2:00 to 6:00?
No. None of that nonsense. You can stay in my house.
And what would Edinburgh say?
It's one thing to spend one's days and nights with a man under the earth,
another under one roof in Scotland.
Well, uh, what do you propose?
Oh, that's not a word I bandy about, Professor.
What did I say? Which word?
I thought it would catch in your throat.
Uh, madam!
Madam. Oh, thank you.
Uh, Madam Goetaborg!
Frau Goetaborg. Carla!
Yes, Oliver?
Carla.
I warn you.
I'm wearing stays again.