IMDb > The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
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The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.2/10   1,485 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 7% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Val Guest
Writers:
Wolf Mankowitz (written for the screen by) &
Val Guest (written for the screen by)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Day the Earth Caught Fire on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
May 1962 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Sci-Fi | Romance more
Tagline:
THE PICTURE THAT GIVES YOU A FRONT SEAT TO THE MOST JOLTING EVENTS OF TOMORROW...TODAY! (original U.S. print ad - all caps)
Plot:
British reporters suspect an international cover-up of a global disaster in progress... and they're right. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
Sci-Fi Guru Val Guest Dead at 94
 (From WENN. 23 May 2006)

User Comments:
An all-time classic more (46 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Janet Munro ... Jeannie Craig
Leo McKern ... Bill Maguire
Edward Judd ... Peter Stenning

Michael Goodliffe ... 'Jacko', Night editor
Bernard Braden ... News editor
Reginald Beckwith ... Harry
Gene Anderson ... May
Renée Asherson ... Angela
Arthur Christiansen ... Editor
Austin Trevor ... Sir John Kelly
Edward Underdown ... Sanderson
Ian Ellis ... Michael Stenning
more
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Day the Sky Caught Fire
more
Runtime:
98 min
Country:
UK
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White (with tinted sequences)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Company:
Pax Films more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
As the earth heats up Bill McGuire asks for information on the melting point of "everything from steel to my glass eye". Leo McKern did in fact have a glass eye. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: In the movie, several people in North London contract "typhus" from contaminated water. Evidently the script confused "typhus" and "typhoid fever." Typhus is spread by parasites, such as fleas or mites; not contaminated water. Typhoid fever can be spread by contaminated food or water. more
Quotes:
Night Editor: ...it caused a twelve degree shift in the earth's orbit... and we're moving toward the sun. more
Movie Connections:
References Annie Get Your Gun (1950) more
Soundtrack:
Light Cavalry Overture more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
16 out of 17 people found the following comment useful.
An all-time classic, 30 November 2000
9/10
Author: Alex Williams (nightchild@nme.com) from Bristol, UK

This has got to be one of the best sci-fi films ever made. Great plot, snappy and witty script, characters with real depth and histories, and a (debatably) great ending. What more could you ask for?

Although the plot is quite similar to that of 'When Worlds Collide', the realism of the characters and setting really lift the whole film far above its contemporaries. Its use of journalists to tell the story is similar to that of many of the classic works of literary science fiction (HG Wells' War Of The Worlds or John Wyndham's Kraken Wakes for example) and it follows a similar apocalyptic template as well.

The theme of mankind's actions causing havoc for the globe, which was originally a criticism of the cold war, is still very relevant today for quite different reasons. The parallel with global warming is obvious, and the graphic depiction of the effects of this are all the more disturbing because we see similar effects, on a smaller scale, around the world on a day to day basis. The film is shocking in its bleak vision of the havoc that mankind has brought upon himself.

Basically, this is the benchmark for all serious science-fiction, and makes a perfect partner for the other great of the cold war era, "The Day the Earth Stood Still".

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