It's Always The Stupidity Of Others That Ruins Things

The 1956 version of Around the World in Eighty Days was on last night. I found it irritating that Princess Auoda kept thanking Phileas Fogg for saving her life. Maybe she was watching a different movie than me, but I'm pretty sure Passpartout was the one who kept her from being immolated on a funeral pyre. He disguised himself as the deceased rajah, so he could pretend said rajah was back from the dead, panicking the assembled masses, and they could flee. Fogg was a spectator throughout.


It seems strange that they arrested Fogg when he reached England. I get they thought he robbed a bank before he left on his journey. Then he booked passage on a ship out of New York headed to Venezuela, with which Britain has no extradition treaty. Except it turns out Fogg bought the ship he was on, so he could order the skipper to pilot it to Englad. Kind of blows a hole in the "fleeing the authorities" idea. Perhaps they wanted to keep him locked up while they solidified their case, but they'd had over two months while he globe-trotted to assemble evidence, and he was back in England. How hard was it going to be to keep tabs on him, after their man managed to keep up with him all the way