With the summer hoopla of the end-of-the-world saga The Day After Tomorrow smashing theaters, I'm reminded of one of the great disaster films of all time. You probably haven't heard of the 1962 flick, as it was made in England of all places. But it was a brilliant little suspense drama, told from the viewpoint of a bustling London newsroom.
Called The Day the Earth Caught Fire, this terrific disaster drama did not have great box office success, but critics rightfully regarded it as a diamond awaiting discovery. The special effects are minimal, as we see littered abandoned streets, thick London fogs, a few burning buildings and drunk beatniks dancing on cars. I've never run into a drunk beatnik before, but according to The Day the Earth Caught Fire, once they start to groovin' baby, they're hard to stop. Damn hippies.
The beauty of this film is emphasis on story and character rather than special effects. British science fiction from this period leaned towards respectability, and The Day the Earth Caught Fire's writer/director Val Guest was responsible for many of these films. His The Quatermass Experiment began the trend in 1955, and he continued with Quatermass II: Enemy From Space (1957) and The Abominable Snowman (1957). This notable British sci-fi class also includes Village of the Damned (1960), Day of the Triffids (1962), Island of Terror (1966) and Five Million Years to Earth (1967). American cult director John Carpenter has been a fan of these films for years, writing Prince of Darkness in 1987 under the name "Martin Quatermass" and even remaking Village of the Damned in 1995.
The Day the Earth Caught Fire has been a favorite of mine because most of the intense drama is played out in the confines of the newsroom. Edward Judd plays a down-on-his-luck reporter suffering the trauma of divorce, writer's block and alcoholism. His buddy and mentor, wonderfully played by Leo McKern, covers his ass and even writes a few stories under his friend's byline. At one point frustrated with Judd's destructive melancholy, McKern tells the wet noodle, "There will be somebody else sooner or later. London's full of somebody else's. Find yourself another. Find yourself a dozen." Judd replies with appropriate British dryness, "You dirty old man."
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Article comments
1 - RJ Elliott
Good review. I may have to check this one out some time.
BTW, is "Day of the Triffids" any good? I've heard it mentioned numerous times, but I have no idea what it's about or if it is worthwhile...
2 - Chris Puzak
Day of the Triffids is about an invasion of earth by giant killer plants. Personally, I don't think the movie's that good, but the novel by John Wyndham is excellent.
3 - duane
Interesting premise. Since some reviewers have questioned the plausibility of the "science" in The Day After Tomorrow, I thought it might be interesting to look at the plausibility of changing the spin axis of the Earth with nukes. What you need is an estimate of the angular momentum of the Earth. Then, assume that you apply a torque with the nukes, which you need to knock the spin axis from its current orientation. A quick calculation shows that you would need about 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion) megaton-class directional nukes to change the spin axis on a timescale of about 1 minute, which I assumed for a typical explosion duration (being conservative). The Earth is fairly hard to budge.
4 - Chris Kent
RJ - the man, the myth, the legend!
Thank you RJ for your comments. I have always loved The Day the Earth Caught Fire and hope you enjoy it. Day of the Triffids is similar in many ways and details a another apocalyptic doom .....the special effects are not particularly good, unless one if terrified a slow-moving trees. But the atmosphere is excellent, specifically the concluding drama in which a man and woman, trapped in a lighthouse, attempt to fight off the evil trees from hell. It's fun.....
5 - Chris Kent
Thanks Chris Puzak,
I have heard that the Wyndham novel, which Day of the Triffids is based, is great. If memory serves, Stephen King was a big fan of the novel - and he liked the film too. I think in the back of his nonfiction work Danse Macabre he mentions both the film and book.....
6 - Chris Kent
Duane,
Great info and I'm with you on the validity of two nuclear bombs knocking the earth off of its axis. It's pretty farfetched. It plays very well however in the film. I also think The Day the Earth Caught Fire is an analogy of nuclear war. When the film was made in 1962, the Cold War between US and USSR was at its peak......
7 - David Flanagan
The movie, "Five Million Years To Earth" is one of my favorites from that era. Excellent story and good acting make the movie very entertaining, even almost 37 years later.
Good article.
David
8 - Chris Kent
Thanks David,
I first saw Five Million Years to Earth when I was a kid, and the scene where the image of the alien/devil comes out of the building gave me the creeps. To this day, it's a great scene. One of my favorite sci-fis of all time.
9 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Chris, really enjoyed this article. One of your best, lad. That "damn hippies" punchline made me laugh out loud, is what.
As to other british speculative fiction of the time, you might wanna check out a wonderful film by the name of The War Game, which dealt with the effects of nuculear fallout in rural England, at a time when folks were being told they should hide under a desk if the bomb falls. It was effectively banned bt the BBC, who made it, and were then embaressed as all hell when it went and won oscars and what not.
Brilliant piece of television, and still terrifying.
Also, a film called It Happened Here, about The Nazi's succeeding in occupying Britain. Again, stunning stuff.
Much like this review. Truly wonderful.
10 - Chris Kent
Thank you El Senor Duke, I always appreciate your comments. I have heard of The War Game but not It Happened Here. I have not seen either and will certainly look them up. Nazis occupying Britain! I'm off to find that one! Thank you my friend for the recommendations......
11 - Bryan - EmptyWorld
Great article - I have always loved end of the world fiction and my site lists loads of books and films on the theme. Have recently got hold of the first series of Survivors and am watching them this week.
12 - Rick DeSandre
Arthur Christiansen was not only a true journalist but was also a tecnical advisor for this movie, as well as being my great uncle on my mothers side.
He was an incredibly talented man.
Thank you for recognizing his work.
13 - Chris Kent
Thanks Bryan and Rick.
Great info Rick on Arthur Christiansen. I was not aware he was a technical advisor for this film, though its portrayal of the newsroom is so accurate, an expert had to be involved. Am glad to know Christiansen (who gives a terrific performance by the way) was the man.....
14 - Chris Kent
Recently ran across a bit of trivia. Supposedly John F. Kennedy was a big fan of The Day the Earth Caught Fire. Knowing his role in the Missles of October crisis the year this film came out, it's not difficult to see why....