The Day the Earth Caught Fire

Watch: The Day the Earth Caught Fire

Unrated

3/14/19621h 38m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ The INCREDIBLE becomes Real! The IMPOSSIBLE becomes Fact! The UNBELIEVABLE becomes True! ~

Overview:

British reporters suspect an international cover-up of a global disaster in progress... and they're right. Hysterical panic has engulfed the world after the United States and the Soviet Union simultaneously detonate nuclear devices and have caused the orbit of the Earth to alter, sending it hurtling towards the sun.

Director:

Val Guest

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

newspaper
london, england
sun
heat
earth
global warming
end of the world
disaster
disaster movie

Cast

Janet Munro

~ as ~

Jeannie Craig

Leo McKern

~ as ~

Bill Maguire

Edward Judd

~ as ~

Peter Stenning

Michael Goodliffe

~ as ~

Jacko Jackson the Night Editor

Bernard Braden

~ as ~

Davis the News Editor

Reginald Beckwith

~ as ~

Harry

Gene Anderson

~ as ~

May

Renée Asherson

~ as ~

Angela

Arthur Christiansen

~ as ~

'Jeff' Jefferson - Editor

Austin Trevor

~ as ~

Sir John Kelly (uncredited)

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

CinemaSerf
Written 1 year(s) ago
7
Newspaper editor "Bill" (Leo McKern) is trying to keep his team focused on churning out the Daily Express whilst the Russians and the Americans are detonating nuclear devices all over the shop. When two of them explode simultaneously and knock the Earth out of it's orbit, things really do start to heat up and his reporter "Stenning" (Edward Judd) and feisty switchboard worker "Jeannie" (Janet Munro) have to try to get to the bottom of things. Just imagine the red tape involved as the government officials put up all sorts of barricades to him finding out anything - possibly because they don't really know a great deal more themselves. What now ensues is a mixture of romance coupled with some increasingly exasperating investigative journalism as we appear to be heading straight into the path of the sun. Might there be a way to arrest this inevitability? More bombs perhaps? We'll have to tune into the Prime Ministerial broadcast at 9pm... Made when the cold war was alive and well, this is quite an interesting story that when you strip it back offers us quite a potent look at the futility of nuclear weapons. The drama here doesn't politicise anything, but it does use the buzzing dynamic of the newsroom to present us with a story of mankind's own stupidity and bloody-mindedness. There's a solid supporting cast and a welcome bit of sarcasm in the dialogue and it's at the better end of the apocalyptic drama genre.
griggs79
Written 7 month(s) ago
6
The Day the Earth Caught Fire may be a product of the Cold War era, however, its portrayal of climate chaos and human hubris resonates with today's alarming realities. The film's depiction of the creeping disasters unfolding around us in slow motion feels less like a work of fiction and more like a stark cautionary tale we've chosen to ignore—a searing reminder of the fragility of our planet.