Review of The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) by Alun W — 17 Nov 2013

This is a wonderful film. The low budget and the technical limitations of the period mean that the director was forced to rely on the strength of his script and cast instead of the special effects that would probably ruin any remake.

This is a very intimate apocalypse, and the dialog sizzles even more than the weather as the earth spirals towards the sun. The tension between the Edward Judd and Leo McKern is very well done, as is the developing relationship between Judd and Munro.

The film is dated of course, but there are ample compensations: the theme chimes well with present day concerns over climate change, and I loved the period detail, with much of the film appearing to have been shot in the Daily Express building, and there are plenty of outdoor scenes with a lot of visual interest too (such as shots of Battersea Park and the power station).

The DVD has a 15 certificate, and it probably still deserves it, as the dialog is unusually frank for the period, and we see as much of Janet Munro as the director could possibly have hoped to sneak past the censors at the time.

Yes, some of the minor characters are a bit one dimensional, and the themes of official complacency and cover-up are common currency now, but this film has a wonderful freshness and deserves to be better known.