It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
In Search of the Castaways (1962) – Musical #790

Studio:
Walt Disney Productions

Director:
Robert Stevenson

Starring:
Hayley Mills, Maurice Chevalier, George Sanders, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Michael Anderson Jr., Antonio Cifariello, Keith Hamshere, Wilfrid Brambell, Jack Gwillim, Ronald Fraser

Plot:
Set in 1858, Mary (Mills) and Robert Grant (Hamshere) believe their father, Capt. Grant, is alive though he has been reported dead in a shipwreck, because Jacques Paganel (Chevalier) found a letter in a bottle from Capt. Grant. The trio enlists the help of Lord Glenarvan (Hyde-White) and his son Jon (Anderson Jr.) to go on an expedition to search for their father.

Trivia:
• Based on the novel “Les enfants du Capitaine Grant; voyage autour du monde” (Captain Grant’s Children) by Jules Verne
• One of two feature films featuring actor Keith Hamshere, who played Oliver in the original 1960 London stage musical. Hamshere went on to be a still photographer on film sets.
• The songs were written by Richard and Robert Sherman.
• Charles Laughton was originally cast as Lord Glenarvan, but illness forced him to drop out and he was replayed by Wilfrid Hyde-White.
• When “In Search of Castaways” was announced, Hayley Mills’s brother, Jonathan, was originally going to play her brother in the film, but he was replaced by Keith Hamshere. The original announcement also said John Mills would appear in a cameo as Capt. Grant, according to Hayley Mills’s memoir, “Forever Young.”
• Released in Christmas in 1962.
• Hayley Mills was supposed to have her first on-screen kiss in “In Search of The Castaways,” but the script was changed and her first on-screen kiss wouldn’t be until “Moon Spinners,” according to Hayley Mills’s memoir.
• Final Walt Disney feature film of composer William Allwyn.

Highlights:
• George Sanders

Notable Songs:
• “Grimpons” performed by Maurice Chevalier
• “The Castaways Theme” performed by Hayley Mills
• “Enjoy It” performed by Maurice Chevalier, Michael Anderson Jr., Keith Hamshere and Hayley Mills

My review:
Like many of us, I grew up on Hayley Mills films (on VHS for me), but IN SEARCH OF THE CASTAWAYS is a film that my family didn’t watch. When I was a teenager, I checked this movie out from the library with high hopes of a magical Walt Disney film starring Mills. Yet as I watched, those hopes sank lower and lower as the ludicrous plot unfolded.

The story follows two children, Mary (Mills) and Robert (Hamshere) whose father, Capt. Grant, was shipwrecked and reported dead. However, when Jacques Paganel (Chevalier) finds a letter in a bottle that may be from their father, they seek help to find him. The trio enlists the help of shipping magnet Lord Glenarvan (Hyde-White) and his son Jon (Anderson Jr.) to go on an expedition to search for their father. They leave England for South America, trek across the Andres Mountains, survive an earthquake in the Andes and sled down the mountains on a rock, survive a tidal wave in the desert and are stuck in a tree for days, fear being eaten by alligators and leopards, and then end up in Australia where they are tricked by a sailor into going to New Zealand.

And for the added benefit of we musical fans, they added songs to the story performed by Maurice Chevalier and Hayley Mills.

The perilous adventures are just so much and quite ridiculous. The sledding down the mountain on the rock almost took me out. It is perhaps the silliest part of the movie.

And sure, this is based on a Jules Verne story, so it’s not a surprise that this is fanciful and imaginative. The issue is how it’s executed and acted. For example, through all of these perils, Maurice Chevalier has a silly smile and is perhaps a bit too cheerful.

Hayley Mills wrote in her autobiography that IN SEARCH OF THE CASTAWAYS was her biggest film to date and she was excited to make a Jules Verne story. She thought she would be filming in exotic locations, such as Patagonia and the Andes Mountains, and that her brother, Jonathan, would co-star as her younger brother.

However, none of this happened. The movie was made at Pinewood Studios in England, not far from the Mills home, and Jonathan was not cast, but Keith Hamshere, who originated the role of “Oliver” in the stage musical.

Mills was also supposed to have her first on-screen kiss in the film, which is how her co-star Michael Anderson, Jr. was cast. The two previously had co-starred and gotten along well in TIGER BAY.

“I thought, if I’m going to be kissed, better it be with someone I knew,” Mills wrote.
However, for some reason the kiss was cut from the script and never filmed.

“Strangely I never did discover why they decided to cancel this momentous event in history, and I would have to wait another two years for it to happen,” Mills wrote in her autobiography.

However, while the film isn’t great—something Mills acknowledges in her book—the cast is still impressive and got along famously.

“All the actors seem somewhat detached from the quite extraordinary things that are happening all around them,” she wrote.

Michael Anderson is adorable and Mills said she, Anderson and Hamshere got on famously.

Mills also wrote that Maurice Chevalier was a darling and loved working with him and that George Sanders was charming and courteous.

Outside of the film being overall disappointing, I think it’s a major shame that John Mills didn’t have a cameo (as originally considered) as Capt. Grant. I think I that would have been a wonderful surprise late in the film.

While the music in the film feels random, it honestly is the saving grace. I was disappointed when I first saw this movie and really thought I would enjoy it more this time. I’m sorry to say that I did not.

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