THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE

Edward Judd

THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE (1961). Producer/director/co-screenplay: Val Guest.

Two nuclear bombs are detonated at the same time, and before long there are serious changes to the weather -- flooding, devastating winds, and a massive heat wave along with thick fog. London reporter Peter Stenning (Edward Judd of Island of Terror) tries to ferret out exactly what's going on with the unwitting help of a ministry employee named Jean (Janet Munro of Life for Ruth), who gets angry when Stenning's paper publishes the alarming fact that the blasts have not only shifted the tilt of the earth, but caused an 11% shift in orbit that has the earth moving closer and closer to the sun!

Edward Judd and Leo McKern

The Day the Earth Caught Fire is one of the best science fiction films of the sixties. The movie has a documentary-like feel with overlapping dialogue (a la The Thing from Another World) that makes it even more compelling. Edward Judd was "introduced" in this film but he actually had had numerous credits before this. He is excellent playing a bitter divorced man who is not especially likable or pleasant except when he's romancing Jean, well-played by an appealing Munro. Leo McKern is also notable as Stenning's associate at the paper, Bill Maguire.

McKern, Judd, Munro and Gene Anderson

One thing that especially sets Caught Fire apart from similar films is the superb widescreen cinematography of Harry Waxman [Stolen Hours], whose images of panicking city dwellers, dried up river beds, and a thick fog covering the city are always strikingly effective. The first few minutes, as well as the last few minutes, of the film are tinted sepia to illustrate the extreme heat.

Happier times: Janet Munro and Edward Judd

The Day the Earth Caught Fire also benefits from a literate and intelligent screenplay written by Wolf Mankowitz and Val Guest. The characterizations are solid and there is some well-crafted dialogue, such as when Stenning comments on the suicidal feelings engendered by the approaching disaster. I could quibble about a couple of things: perhaps the collapse of the likable copy boy who drank black market water and gets sick could have generated more pathos, and the last shot of the film is the hoariest of cliches. Other than that, this is an absorbing and very well-made motion picture. This movie was undoubtedly influential on a later and somewhat similar disaster film entitled Crack in the World.

Edward Judd was married at the time to Gene Anderson, who plays the saucy barmaid May. Tragically she died four years later.

Verdict: This is probably the best film Val Guest ever made. ***. 

STOLEN HOURS aka SUMMER FLIGHT

Susan Hayward

STOLEN HOURS (aka Summer Flight/1963). Director: Daniel Petrie.

In this remake of Dark Victory, Laura Pember (Susan Hayward) is experiencing headaches and vision problems and is scared to see a doctor. In a wholly contrived scene, her friend, racing car driver Mike (Edward Judd), brings Dr. John Carmody (Michael Craig) to see Laura at a party she's throwing for her younger sister, Ellie (Diane Baker). It isn't long before Laura is being operated on [there's less technical information in this than in the original], thinking she's had a full recovery, and falling in love with her rather dreamy doctor. She doesn't know that her condition will reoccur and she'll be dead in a few months ... As in the original, Laura will experience no symptoms until the very end, and can die looking beautiful. At 46, Hayward is slightly too old to play the very youthful Laura, but her performance is generally very good. Judd [Island of Terror] and Baker are suitable support. Michael Craig [Doctor in Love] is required mostly to be handsome and certainly fills the bill. This version ups the tear factor by having Laura bond with a lonely little boy, Peter (quite well acted by Robert Bacon, who had only this one film credit), whose mother is an alcoholic. Laura takes the mother's place at a parent-child celebration, and holds a party for him and his friends. Although it's absurd that Laura would send away her husband and sister when the "moment" approaches -- does she want to drop dead in front of a bunch of unsupervised children? -- the ending is still quite poignant. Mort Lindsey's score is a help as are the beautiful shots of the Cornish coastline [Harry Waxman]. The most interesting scene has Laura objecting when paramedics want to cover the face of a badly injured man at a race track. "Don't cover his face while he's alive," she says. "Let him see as long as he can see." (Of course, the whole notion of paramedics covering a living person's face, no matter how injured or unconscious, is highly improbable anyway.) Petrie also directed Moon of the Wolf and many other movies.

Verdict: Has its moments, but stick with the original. **1/2.