The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Val Guest

Writers:

Wolf Mankowitz (writer) &
Val Guest (writer)

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 | Alcoholic | Disaster | Newsroom | Newspaper Editor

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Janet Munro	...	Jeannie Craig
Leo McKern	...	Bill Maguire
Edward Judd	...	Peter Stenning
Michael Goodliffe	...	'Jacko', Night editor
Bernard Braden	...	News editor
Reginald Beckwith	...	Harry
Gene Anderson	...	May
Renée Asherson	...	Angela
Arthur Christiansen	...	Editor
Austin Trevor	...	Sir John Kelly
Edward Underdown	...	Sanderson
Ian Ellis	...	Michael Stenning
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jane Aird	...	Nanny (uncredited)
John Barron	...	Sub-editor (uncredited)
Peter Butterworth	...	Newspaperman (uncredited)
Michael Caine	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Norman Chappell	...	Hotel Receptionist (uncredited)
Geoffrey Chater	...	Pat Holroyd (uncredited)
John Dearth	...	Dick (uncredited)
Pamela Green	...	Nurse, at laundrette (uncredited)
Robin Hawdon	...	Ronnie (uncredited)
Reginald Marsh	...	Newspaperman (uncredited)
Jim McManus	...	Man at Water Station (uncredited)
Carmel McSharry	...	Woman lost in fog (uncredited)
Charles Morgan	...	Foreign Editor (uncredited)
John Rae	...	Daily Express doorman (uncredited)
Marianne Stone	...	Miss Evans, Jeff's Secretary (uncredited)

Directed by
Val Guest

Writing credits
Wolf Mankowitz		(writer) &
Val Guest		(writer)

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

Original Music by
Stanley Black		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Harry Waxman

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	....	hair stylist
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 (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (video)
• Republic Pictures (II) (199?) (USA) (video)

Also Known As:

The Day the Sky Caught Fire

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:

Plot holes: It's some forty days after the bomb blasts before the scoop is made concerning the eleven degree shift in the Earth's axis (the flashback begins ten days after the explosions with another four weeks going by before Pete and Jeanie meet again). Even if the officials and professionals were mum, it would still be impossible for all the amateur astronomers, naturalists, Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, navigators, timekeepers, ritual sun worshipers, etcetera the world over, not to notice a gradual tilt of the globe's axis (the destruction of the planet notwithstanding). In short, the alteration would have been common knowledge long before it was officially confirmed in the film, and The Daily Express, if not from the "top down", would certainly have learned the big bad news from the "ground up".

Quotes:

Peter Stenning: Alcoholics of the press, unite!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Matinee (1993)

Soundtrack:

Light Cavalry Overture

The Earth is doomed

I have seen The Day the Earth Caught Fire several times and is one of the best sci-fi movies of the 1960's.

Reporters at the Daily Express in London make the startling discovery that the Earth has been knocked of its axis and is heading towards the sun. This has been caused by too much nuclear testing. As a result, freak and unusual weather conditions are happening round the world, including hotter than normal temperatures in the UK, cyclones, freak fog caused by the heat, blizzards and tornado's. The River Thames is drying up too and water is put on ration. To stop the Earth's journey towards the sun, the USA and Russia explode the biggest nuclear bombs to date and if it that doesn't work, Earth is certainly doomed... Through all of this, one of the reporters falls in love.

The scenes of the streets of London deserted, the fog and the dried up Thames are very eerie. This movie doesn't have much background music, but it isn't needed as the atmosphere is haunting enough.

The cast includes sci-fi regular Edward Judd (First Men In the Moon, Island Of Terror), Janet Munro (The Crawling Eye) as his love interest and Leo McKern (Rumpole Of the Bailey), Michael Goodliffe (A Night To Remember) and Bernard Braden. Look out for Michael Caine as a policeman towards the end. You certainly cannot mistake that voice.

This movie is a must see. Fantastic.

Rating: 4 and a half stars out of 5.