The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)

Director:

Val Guest

Writers:

Wolf Mankowitz (written for the screen by) &
Val Guest (written for the screen by)

Release Date:

May 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Romance

Tagline:

THE PICTURE THAT GIVES YOU A FRONT SEAT TO THE MOST JOLTING EVENTS OF TOMORROW...TODAY! (original U.S. print ad - all caps)

Plot:

British reporters suspect an international cover-up of a global disaster in progress... and they're right.

Plot Keywords:

Reporter | Disaster | Newsroom | Newspaper | Alcoholic

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Janet Munro	...	Jeannie Craig
Leo McKern	...	Bill Maguire
Edward Judd	...	Peter Stenning
Michael Goodliffe	...	Jacko Jackson the Night Editor
Bernard Braden	...	Davis the News Editor
Reginald Beckwith	...	Harry
Gene Anderson	...	May
Renée Asherson	...	Angela
Arthur Christiansen	...	Jeff Jefferson the Editor
Austin Trevor	...	Sir John Kelly
Edward Underdown	...	Sanderson
Ian Ellis	...	Michael Stenning
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jane Aird	...	Nanny (uncredited)
John Barron	...	1st Sub-Editor (uncredited)
Timothy Bateson	...	Printer in Printroom (uncredited)
Peter Blythe	...	Copy Desk (uncredited)
Peter Butterworth	...	2nd Sub-Editor (uncredited)
Michael Caine	...	Checkpoint Policeman (uncredited)
Norman Chappell	...	Hotel Receptionist (uncredited)
Geoffrey Chater	...	Pat Holroyd (uncredited)
John Dearth	...	Dick (uncredited)
Pamela Green	...	Nurse at Laundrette (uncredited)
Verina Greenlaw	...	Trixie (uncredited)
Robin Hawdon	...	Ronnie (uncredited)
Fred Johnson	...	Archie (uncredited)
Reginald Marsh	...	Picture Editor (uncredited)
Jim McManus	...	Man at Water Station (uncredited)
Carmel McSharry	...	Woman Lost in Fog (uncredited)
George Merritt	...	Smudge (uncredited)
Charles Morgan	...	Foreign Editor (uncredited)
John Rae	...	Sarge the Doorman (uncredited)
Terence Soall	...	Undetermined role (uncredited)
Marianne Stone	...	Miss Evans, Jeff's Secretary (uncredited)
Terry Walsh	...	Man (uncredited)

Directed by
Val Guest

Writing credits
Wolf Mankowitz		(written for the screen by) &
Val Guest		(written for the screen by)

Produced by
F. Sherwin Green	....	associate producer (as Frank Sherwin Green)
Val Guest	....	producer

Original Music by
Stanley Black		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Harry Waxman		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Bill Lenny

Art Direction by
Anthony Masters		(as Tony Masters)

Set Decoration by
Scott Slimon

Costume Design by
Beatrice Dawson

Makeup Department
Joyce James	....	hairdresser
Tony Sforzini	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Clifton Brandon	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Philip Shipway	....	assistant director
Terry Lens	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Bill Dennison	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Peter Melrose	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Buster Ambler	....	sound
Chris Greenham	....	dubbing editor
Peter Dukelow	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Les Bowie	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Moray Grant	....	camera operator
Wally Byatt	....	focus puller (uncredited)
James Devis	....	focus puller (uncredited)
John Jay	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Jimmy Stilwell	....	clapper loader (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dulcie Midwinter	....	wardrobe mistress (uncredited)
Joyce Stoneman	....	assistant wardrobe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Mike Round	....	first assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Stanley Black	....	musical director
Monty Norman	....	composer: beatnik music

Other crew
Pamela Carlton	....	continuity
Arthur Christiansen	....	technical advisor
Maureen Newman	....	assistant production accountant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Pax Films

Distributors

• British Lion Film Corporation (1961) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1962) (USA) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Congress Entertainment (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Network (2001) (UK) (DVD)
• Network (2001) (UK) (VHS)
• Network (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Thorn EMI Video (198?) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (with tinted sequences)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Battersea Fun Fair, Battersea Park, Battersea, London, England, UK

Company:

Pax Films

Trivia:

In an early scene Jeannie is struggling with a Roneo stencil duplicator, saying it is "over-inking". The Roneo company threatened to sue the producers for the potential damage to the reputation of their products.

Goofs:

Continuity: The first time Bill visits Jeannie at her apartment, the camera is set outside the building looking in through the two windows. They cross the room to the window furthest from the door. In the next shot the camera is inside the apartment but Bill and Jeannie are at the wrong window.

Quotes:

Peter Stenning:Well, Billy boy, they got me doing your homework. Five hundred words on sun-spots.
Bill Maguire:Have you seen the figures on some of these Earth tremors?
Peter Stenning:It's another planet trying to contact us.
[He picks up his empty coffee mug and speaks into it]
Peter Stenning:This is Earth. Are you receiving me? Are you receiving me? You are?
Peter Stenning:Well get knotted.
Peter Stenning:[He sets the mug down again]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Godzilla (1977)

Soundtrack:

Light Cavalry Overture

An all-time classic

This has got to be one of the best sci-fi films ever made. Great plot, snappy and witty script, characters with real depth and histories, and a (debatably) great ending. What more could you ask for?

Although the plot is quite similar to that of 'When Worlds Collide', the realism of the characters and setting really lift the whole film far above its contemporaries. Its use of journalists to tell the story is similar to that of many of the classic works of literary science fiction (HG Wells' War Of The Worlds or John Wyndham's Kraken Wakes for example) and it follows a similar apocalyptic template as well.

The theme of mankind's actions causing havoc for the globe, which was originally a criticism of the cold war, is still very relevant today for quite different reasons. The parallel with global warming is obvious, and the graphic depiction of the effects of this are all the more disturbing because we see similar effects, on a smaller scale, around the world on a day to day basis. The film is shocking in its bleak vision of the havoc that mankind has brought upon himself.

Basically, this is the benchmark for all serious science-fiction, and makes a perfect partner for the other great of the cold war era, "The Day the Earth Stood Still".