| As the Earth Turns | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Richard Lyford |
| Written by | Richard Lyford |
| Produced by | Ed Hartman Jonathan Keasey Richard Lyford |
| Starring | Barbara Berjer Alan Hoelting Edwin C. Frost |
| Cinematography | Richard Lyford |
| Edited by | Richard Lyford |
| Music by | Ed Hartman |
Release date |
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Running time | 46 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | Silent / Black and White |
As the Earth Turns is a 1938 American independent, [1] science-fiction and silent film directed by Richard Lyford. Lyford was age 20 when he directed As the Earth Turns, and the film is one of many avant-garde films that he made in Seattle, Washington, before finding success with Walt Disney in the 1940s. [2]
He portrays Pax, a central character in the film, "who attempts to persuade the world to put down its weapons by inducing extreme climate change". [3]
Like most of Lyford's early films, it was presumed lost until it was discovered in his former Seattle home over 80 years later. [4] KING-TV reported that the film may have never left Lyford's basement, which he would use as an auditorium to show his films. [5] After the rediscovery, Lyford's family asked Seattle composer Ed Hartman to create a score for the film. [5] As the Earth Turns made its theatrical premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival in 2019. [1] LA Weekly wrote that by October 2019, the rediscovered film "played at over 100 film festivals worldwide and garnered many awards along the way". [2] It made its television debut on Turner Classic Movies on October 31, 2021. [1]