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. ***. 

LIFE FOR RUTH / WALK IN THE SHADOW

Michael Craig

LIFE FOR RUTH (aka Walk in the Shadow/1962). Director: Basil Dearden.

"You put your personal faith before her welfare -- you let her die!

John Harris (Michael Craig) and his wife, Pat (Janet Munro), have an eight-year-old daughter named Ruth (Lynn Taylor). John has to rescue Ruth and a young friend when they go out on a boat in choppy waters to get the girl's ball. The boy is saved, but John is told that only a blood transfusion will save Ruth's life. John's religion, similar to Christian Science (although never named) is against transfusions and medical intervention and fears Ruth will be denied everlasting peace in the next world. Dr. Brown (Patrick McGoohan) is utterly appalled by Harris' attitude -- even Harris' wife eventually asks the doctor to do all he can to save Ruth but it's too late. Brown decides to see that Harris is prosecuted for his actions -- or lack of same -- and he is arrested on a charge of manslaughter under the "cruelty to children" act. Brown wants no more children to die because of simple-minded religious dogma so the whole thing will have to be resolved in a courtroom ... What makes the picture even more interesting is that Harris is not really portrayed as some kind of monster, but genuinely thinks he's doing the right thing, until he has a powerful epiphany in the courtroom. Michael Craig, who could play doctor playboys [Doctor in Love] and Civil War heroes [The Mysterious Island] with equal aplomb, proves his versatility yet again with his excellent portrayal of the simple yet tormented John Harris. Munro, McGoohan and the supporting cast, including Megs Jenkins as Pat's mother, are all excellent as well. Cinematography by Otto Heller [Richard III] and a score by William Alwyn [She Played with Fire] add to the film's quality.

Verdict: Powerful, well-acted, and completely absorbing. ***1/2.

THE CRAWLING EYE/THE TROLLENBERG TERROR

Peekaboo!

THE CRAWLING EYE (aka The Trollenberg Terror/1958). Director: Quentin Lawrence. Screenplay by Jimmy Sangster.

In 1956 British TV presented a six-part sci-fi thriller entitled The Trollenberg Terror, directed by Quentin Lawrence but with a different cast [apparently this TV production is lost]. Two years later a feature-length film of the same title was released, renamed the juicier Crawling Eye for American distribution. Two young ladies who do a mind-reading act, Sarah (Jennifer Jayne) and Anne (Janet Munro) Pilgrim, are heading for Geneva by train, but get off at the small village of Trollenberg due to Anne's compulsion to do so. Another passenger named Alan Brooks (Forrest Tucker) also disembarks and they all go to the hotel, where they learn that there have been a series of terrible mountain-climbing tragedies. High on the Trollenberg mountain there is an observatory that is researching cosmic rays, and has observed a radioactive cloud that moves about as if it were being directed ...  Alan remembers similar incidents in the Andes, and that certain people with psychic abilities, like Anne, could be manipulated by whatever beings there are in the cloud. Speaking of which, said cloud starts moving down towards the hotel, blocking off escape, and the creatures inside reveal themselves ... The Crawling Eye is a suspenseful, creepy movie with some interesting notions (such as corpses being reanimated and going after victims with cleavers), headless bodies, and surprisingly convincing monsters that figure in the climax. The actors are all good, with Laurence Payne particularly effective as the reporter Prescott, and Tucker managing to summon up some energy in his portrayal of the hero; Jayne and especially Munro are also convincing, although Warren Mitchell is perhaps a little too weird as Professor Crevett. The movie has its share of illogical and silly moments, but it's still a superior "creature feature."

Verdict: If it blinks, watch out! ***.