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Greetings, and welcome to VIEWING THE CLASSICS. Here you'll find capsule reviews of vintage movies from the early days of cinema through the 1970s, with a special emphasis on sci-fi, horror, and mystery movies. Be sure to check out the Pages links, where you can find a Film Index of all my reviews, links to the reviews organized by cast members, directors, and other contributors, and links to my reviews of the films of talented young director Joshua Kennedy.

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Friday, December 18, 2020

The Day The Earth Caught Fire (1961)

Starring Janet Munro, Leo McKern, Edward Judd, Michael Goodliffe, Bernard Braden
Directed by Val Guest

(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)


After nations set off two atomic tests simultaneously, weather patterns change and London is beset by extreme temperatures, leading the reporters of the Daily Express to discover a new global threat.


We have here a landmark science fiction drama which has the feel of realism due to a large amount of documentary-like footage, and its emphasis on the newspaper reporters searching for the truth at the center of it all.  Judd plays a hard-drinking writer at the Express who has lax work habits and is more interested in pursuing Munro, a secretary at the Medical Center that employs scientists that give him the runaround.  Leo McKern is excellent as the veteran reporter working alongside Judd, with scientific expertise of his own that keeps their investigations on target.   Another strong asset to the film is its script, giving the reporters snappy dialogue and retorts which really make the picture move, written by director Guest and Wolf Mankowitz.  Although the documentary footage is the primary device used to show the danger London is in, a special effects sequence in which the city is covered by a giant misting fog, is well done at further illustrating the threat.

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