David Niven plays Phileas Fogg during the New Year's Eve journey in the 1956 film Around the World in 80 Days.
The film adapts Jules Verne's 1872 adventure novel about an English gentleman who wagers that he can travel around the world in eighty days. Niven portrays Fogg as disciplined and reserved, while Cantinflas plays his servant Passepartout and Shirley MacLaine plays Princess Aouda.
New Year's Eve matters to the plot because Fogg believes he has arrived too late after completing the journey. He then realizes that traveling eastward across time zones has effectively gained him a day, allowing him to win the wager. The story uses the International Date Line concept dramatically, although the film's route and timing are presented for adventure rather than as a scientific timetable.
The production became famous for its unusually large cast of guest stars. A common mix-up is identifying Cary Grant as Fogg; Grant was considered for the role but did not play it in the finished film.