Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959).
IMDb meta-data is a runtime of 2h and 9m, rated 7.0 by 20,000 cinemtaizens.
Genre: Sy Fy.
DNA: Verne.
Verdict: Fun.
Tagline: What waits below?
Pretty sure I saw this on the wide screen as a boy, and marvelled at it. The character studies stand the test of time even if the special effects don’t. James Mason is, well, James Mason. He can’t act but he doesn’t have to. Arlene Dahl can and does. Then there is Pat Boone in his underwear. Something for everyone. Though I thought the villain wouldn’t scare fourth graders.
Declaration: I have tried to read Jules Verne and found his prose impenetrable. So mannered, so stiff, so roundabout, so ponderous, so unyielding that I did not make it past page 10 in either 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or Five Weeks in a Balloon.
There is a genre of JCE films. I count more than dozen on the IMDb using that exact title, and many others with variants.