The Night the World Exploded

Last updated

The Night the World Exploded
Poster of the movie The Night the World Exploded.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Fred F. Sears
Written by Jack Natteford
Luci Ward
Produced by Sam Katzman
Starring Kathryn Grant
William Leslie
Narrated by Gerald Mohr
CinematographyBenjamin H. Kline
Irving Lippman
Edited byPaul Borofsky
Al Clark
Music byRoss DiMaggio
Color process Black and white
Production
company
Clover Productions
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • June 1957 (1957-06)
Running time
64 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Night the World Exploded is a 1957 sci fi disaster film. The film was written by Jack Natteford and Luci Ward, and directed by Fred F. Sears with Sam Katzman the producer. [1] Both Katzman and Sears were known for their B film film. [2] The film was released on a double bill with The Giant Claw .

Contents

Plot

The scientific team of Dr. David Conway (William Leslie), Dr. Ellis Morton (Tristram Coffin) and Laura Hutchinson (Kathryn Grant) has built a machine that can predict earthquakes. After predicting one will hit California within the next 24 hours to a uniformly skeptical Gov. Cheney (Raymond Greenleaf) and state-level political and civil defense officials, the earthquake does materialize and does immense damage to northern parts of the state. Now with the support and funding necessary from the reformed skeptics, the team works on further predictions and comes to the conclusion that a wave of earthquakes is pending in and around the southwestern United States. They trace the epicenter of the pending disaster to an area beneath the Carlsbad Caverns and descend to a hitherto unexplored level.

Here they find a strange ore which, when removed from contact with water, becomes highly explosive, and realize that this element, somehow working its way from deep in the Earth, is responsible for the earthquakes. Although the material is not analyzed for specific atomic traits, it is named Element 112 just because so far, 111 chemical elements had been discovered. A computer determines that in approximately one month, enough of Element 112 will emerge from the deep earth to cause the entire planet to explode. A desperate operation ensues worldwide to blast and trench the ground to let water in and cover Element 112, keeping it from drying out and expanding.

Cast

Production

The Night the World Exploded went into production with shooting locations at the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico; the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California; and the ElectroData (Burroughs) Corporation Building in Pasadena, California. Principal photography took place from November 8–20, 1956. [3]

Reception

Columbia Pictures released The Night the World Exploded theatrically as a double bill with The Giant Claw (1957). Critical reception was not positive, with Hal Erickson of The New York Times later commenting, "Despite all the scientific doublespeak, 'The Night the World Exploded' is doggedly non-intellectual in its execution and appeal." [4]

Film critic Leonard Maltin noted that the film disappointed: "Scientists discover a strange, exploding mineral that threatens to bring about title catastrophe and rush to prevent it. OK idea hampered by low budget." [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Katzman</span> American film producer and director (1901–1973)

Sam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Katzman's specialty was producing low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers.

<i>The Bat</i> (1959 film) 1959 film

The Bat is a 1959 American crime-mystery thriller starring Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead. It is the fourth film adaptation of the story, which began as a 1908 novel The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart, which she later adapted into the 1920 play The Bat. The first film version of the play was the 1926 American silent film The Bat. The film version was adapted by playwright Crane Wilbur, who also directed.

<i>Invaders from Mars</i> (1953 film) 1953 film by William Cameron Menzies

Invaders from Mars is a 1953 American independent science fiction film directed by William Cameron Menzies and starring Jimmy Hunt, Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Morris Ankrum, Leif Erickson, and Hillary Brooke. It was produced by Edward L. Alperson Jr. and released by 20th Century-Fox in SuperCinecolor. The film follows David MacLean, a young boy who witnesses a flying saucer behind his home one night. When his father investigates, he returns a changed man; soon David's mother, his neighbors, and others begin to act in the same way. David's panicked story is heard by Dr. Pat Blake, who takes him to astronomer Dr. Stuart Kelston. David convinces Kelston that this is an invading vanguard from Mars.

<i>The Cave</i> (2005 film) 2005 American horror film directed by Bruce Hunt

The Cave is a 2005 American monster film, directed by Bruce Hunt and distributed by Screen Gems. It was written by Michael Steinberg and Tegan West. Its story follows a group of cave-divers and scientists who become trapped while exploring a cave system in Romania, and encounter a pack of deadly creatures. It stars Cole Hauser, Eddie Cibrian, Morris Chestnut, Marcel Iureș, Lena Headey, Rick Ravanello, Piper Perabo and Daniel Dae Kim.

<i>Night Monster</i> 1942 film by Ford Beebe

Night Monster is a 1942 American black-and-white horror film featuring Bela Lugosi and produced and distributed by Universal Pictures Company. The movie uses an original story and screenplay by Clarence Upson Young and was produced and directed by Ford Beebe. For box office value, star billing was given to Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill, but the lead roles were played by Ralph Morgan, Irene Hervey and Don Porter, with Atwill in a character role as a pompous doctor who becomes a victim to the title character, and Lugosi in a small part as a butler.

<i>The Giant Spider Invasion</i> 1975 horror/sci-fi film by Bill Rebane

The Giant Spider Invasion is a 1975 American independent science fiction action horror film produced, composed and directed by Bill Rebane. Starring Steve Brodie, Barbara Hale, Robert Easton, Leslie Parrish, and Alan Hale, it follows giant spiders that terrorize the town of Merrill, Wisconsin and its surrounding area. The film was theatrically released in 1975 by Group 1 Films and enjoyed a considerable run to become one of the 50 top-grossing films of that year.

<i>The Prowler</i> (1951 film) 1951 American film noir thriller film by Joseph Losey

The Prowler is a 1951 American film noir thriller film directed by Joseph Losey that stars Van Heflin and Evelyn Keyes. The film was produced by Sam Spiegel and was written by Dalton Trumbo. Because Trumbo was blacklisted at the time, the screenplay was credited to his friend, screenwriter Hugo Butler, as a front.

<i>Captain Clegg</i> (film) 1962 British film by Peter Graham Scott

Captain Clegg is a 1962 British adventure horror film directed by Peter Graham Scott and starring Peter Cushing, Yvonne Romain, Patrick Allen, and Oliver Reed. It produced by John Temple-Smith for Hammer Film Productions. It is loosely based on the Doctor Syn character created by Russell Thorndike.

Frederick Francis Sears was an American film actor and director.

<i>The Werewolf</i> (1956 film) 1956 film by Fred F. Sears

The Werewolf is a 1956 American horror science fiction film directed by Fred F. Sears and starring Don Megowan and Joyce Holden.

<i>The Giant Claw</i> 1957 film by Fred F. Sears

The Giant Claw is a 1957 American monster film from Columbia Pictures, produced by Sam Katzman, directed by Fred F. Sears, that stars Jeff Morrow and Mara Corday. Both Sears and Katzman were well known as low-budget B film genre filmmakers. The film was released as a double feature with The Night the World Exploded.

<i>Sundown</i> (1941 film) 1941 film

Sundown is a 1941 American war drama film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Gene Tierney, Bruce Cabot and George Sanders. It was produced by Jack Moss and Walter Wanger, written by Charles G. Booth and Barré Lyndon, and released by United Artists. Set in British East Africa, the film's adventure story was well received by critics, earning three Academy Award nominations, but it was a failure at the box office.

<i>Too Young to Kiss</i> 1951 film

Too Young to Kiss is a 1951 American comedy film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Van Johnson and June Allyson. The film, in which the 34-year-old Allyson's Cynthia Potter masquerades as a 14-year-old child prodigy, was directed by Robert Z. Leonard.

<i>Creature with the Atom Brain</i> (film) 1955 film by Edward L. Cahn

Creature with the Atom Brain is a 1955 American zombie horror science fiction film directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Richard Denning.

<i>Zombies of Mora Tau</i> 1957 film by Edward L. Cahn

Zombies of Mora Tau is a 1957 black-and-white zombie horror film directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Gregg Palmer, Allison Hayes and Autumn Russel. Distributed by Columbia Pictures, it was produced by Sam Katzman. The screenplay was written by George H. Plympton and Bernard Gordon. Zombies of Mora Tau was released on a double bill with another Katzman-produced film, The Man Who Turned to Stone (1957).

<i>The Magic Carpet</i> (film) 1951 film by Lew Landers

The Magic Carpet is a 1951 American adventure film directed by Lew Landers and written by David Mathews. The film, shot in SuperCinecolor, stars Lucille Ball, John Agar, Patricia Medina, George Tobias, Raymond Burr, Gregory Gaye, Rick Vallin and Gary Klein. It was released on October 18, 1951 by Columbia Pictures, three days after Ball's I Love Lucy premiered.

<i>While the Patient Slept</i> (film) 1935 film by Ray Enright

While the Patient Slept is a 1935 comedy murder mystery film directed by Ray Enright starring Aline MacMahon as a nurse/crime sleuth and Guy Kibbee as her boyfriend and police detective. It is based on the novel of the same name written by Mignon G. Eberhart.

<i>The Mysterious Doctor</i> 1943 film by Benjamin Stoloff

The Mysterious Doctor is a 1943 American horror film directed by Benjamin Stoloff and written by Richard Weil. The film stars John Loder, Eleanor Parker, Bruce Lester, Lester Matthews and Forrester Harvey. The film was released by Warner Bros. on March 3, 1943.

<i>Rodeo King and the Senorita</i> 1951 film by Philip Ford

Rodeo King and the Senorita is a 1951 American Western film directed by Philip Ford and written by John K. Butler. The film stars Rex Allen, Mary Ellen Kay, Buddy Ebsen, Roy Barcroft, Tristram Coffin and Bonnie DeSimone. The film was released on July 15, 1951, by Republic Pictures.

<i>Man Beast</i> (film) 1956 film directed by Jerry Warren

Man Beast is a 1956 American horror film directed and produced by Jerry Warren. It was Warren's first directorial effort and the first film distributed by his Associated Producers, Inc. The film is about a young woman who persuades some mountain climbers to trek up to the Himalayas to attempt to find her missing brother, who hasn't been heard from since he went there on an earlier expedition to find the Abominable Snowman. A mysterious guide befriends them, but winds up actually in league with the Yetis who inhabit the mountains, and he secretly works against the explorers behind their backs, killing them off one by one.

References

  1. The Night the World Exploded at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films .
  2. Walker 1997, pp. 241, 393.
  3. "Original print information: 'The Night the World Exploded'." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: April 8, 2015.
  4. Erickson, Hal. "Overview: 'The Night the World Exploded'." The New York Times . Retrieved: April 8, 2015.
  5. Maltin, Leonard. "Leonard Maltin Movie Review: 'The Night the World Exploded'." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: April 8, 2015.

Bibliography

  • Walker, John, ed. Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies (14th ed.). New York: HarperResource, 1997. ISBN   0-06-093507-3.