Sci-Fi Film Fiesta Volume 7: The End Is Nigh! by Chris Christopoulos - HTML preview

 

 

World Without End (1956)

 

Well-paced but derivative low-budget futuristic Sci-Fi film

 

 

Directed by Edward Bernds

Produced by Richard Heermance

Screenplay by Edward Bernds

Story by Edward Bernds

Music by Leith Stevens

Cinematography: Ellsworth Fredricks

Edited by Eda Warren

Distributed by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation

Running time: 80 min.

 

Cast

 

Hugh Marlowe: John Borden

Nancy Gates: Garnet

Nelson Leigh: Dr. Eldon Galbraithe

Rod Taylor: Herbert Ellis

Shirley Patterson: Elaine

Lisa Montell: Deena

Christopher Dark: Henry 'Hank' Jaffe

Booth Colman: Mories

Everett Glass: Timmek

Stanley Fraser: Elda

 

 

What If?......in an alternate reality;

 

It’s the mid 1950’s and it’s another day at Allied Artists. We find Producer Ritchie striding down a corridor and looking forward to escaping from the endless rounds of meetings and the pressing need to come up with an idea for a new picture. Perhaps over a bite to eat and a liquid refreshment or three, he might cobble together a much-needed idea for his next film.

 

Suddenly a whirling bundle of nervous energy in the form of ideas-man and all-rounder, Eddie bears down on the hapless Ritchie. Yep, Eddie with yet another idea for yet another film for Richie to squash with a placating and patronizing pat on the shoulder......

 

 

(Spoilers Follow.......)

 

Eddie: Ritch! I got it!

 

Ritchie: Yellow fever? Dysentery?

 

Eddie: A great idea for the best film you’re ever gonna’ produce!

 

Ritchie: I don’t have time for this right now, Eddie……

 

Eddie: ….It starts off with an atomic explosion as the opening credits roll….

 

Ritchie: What does?

 

Eddie: The film you’re gonna produce. It’s a science fiction! And what better way to begin it than with what people fear the most….the fear of an atomic war!

 

Ritchie: Your sense of originality never fails to astound me. A science fiction and atomic warfare. Gee, no one has ever come up with that idea before, genius!

 

Eddie: No! No! It’s more than that. Just give me five minutes of your time and I’ll explain…..Please Ritch….You won’t regret it!

 

Ritchie: I’ll regret the five minutes of my life I’ll waste along with the indigestion you’ll end up giving me….

 

Eddie: Off to lunch are we? OK, so the film I have in mind is about a bunch of astronauts returning from the first voyage into space……….

 

[Much against Producer Ritchie’s better judgment, he along with the whirling dervish Eddie in tow, head off to lunch and what he expects to be the longest five minutes of his life.]

 

Eddie:….on the way back from Mars the astronauts are caught ………

 

Ritchie: Whoa! “Back from Mars?” You said it was supposed to be the first voyage into space and they’re coming all the way back from Mars? I could understand being in Earth orbit or even going to the moon, but Mars!

 

Eddie: Well, they did it in that science fiction film Rocketship X-M something or other several years ago, didn’t they? And then there was that other film, Flight To Mars, don’t forget!

 

Ritchie: I can see I’m going to really love this! You better back up a bit and start from the start coz’ I sure as heck don’t like the start you started with…

 

[And so Eddie eagerly begins telling Ritchie about the film’s story and is barely able to keep pace with the images that keep popping up in his mind depicting possible key scenes from this future cinematic triumph of his…..]

 

Eddie: Well, picture this: A group of military guys are huddled around a radio set trying to reestablish contact with rocket ship XRM. See, I stuck an ‘R’ between the ‘X’ and ‘M!’

 

Ritchie: Oh God!

 

Eddie: Meanwhile at the Pentagon, concern is beginning to mount over the lack of contact with a character I named as Doctor Eldon Galbraithe and his crew. The last message from the ship was abruptly cut off mid in mid-sentence and fears grow that some kind of disaster has occurred.

 

Ritchie: Not bad.

 

Eddie: A TV news presenter then informs the audience that man's first flight into space may have ended in disaster as the last message from the crew was received as the ship entered Mars orbit and nothing has been heard from them since.

 

Ritchie: OK. A bit of a mystery. Kinda gets my attention.

 

Eddie: That’s the spirit, Ritch! So, next we cut to a scene of a rocket on an approach course to the planet Mars. The radio operator called Herb Ellis who I figure could be played by Rod Taylor, reports to Dr. Galbraithe played by say, Nelson Leigh, that contact with Earth is lost. It is not the equipment that’s faulty seeing that the signal was lost as the ship entered Mars' magnetic field.

 

Ritchie: Rod Taylor? Assuming he’s available, he’s one of these up and coming hungry actors who’ll try to steal every scene. Where’s he from anyway? Austria? Australia? New Zealand? England?

Eddie: Doesn’t matter. If he hasn’t got one already, we’ll give him an English accent that’s sufficiently non-American and friendly sounding but doesn’t require subtitles. A clearly identifiable ally of the good ole’ US of A!

 

Anyway, Galbraithe gets crew member John Borden, played by none other than Hugh Marlowe to check the viewer. From orbit unidentified strange green surface markings are spotted….

 

Ritchie: Did you say, Hugh Marlowe? Look, he’s already appeared in The Day the Earth Stood Still and Earth Vs the Flying Saucers. How do you think he would feel not being a leading man as such but instead finds himself cast as just part of a crew and with the likes of Taylor prancing about all over the place?

 

Eddie: It’ll be fine. It’s work isn’t it? Anyhow, Dr. Galbraithe then orders Henry Jaffe played by I would suggest, Christopher Dark to set a course back to Earth seeing as they are not to land on Mars but only perform a recon mission involving a couple of orbits of Mars and then return to Earth with their findings.

 

Ritchie: What? No encounters with meteors as per usual?

 

Eddie: Hey, you wanted originality! Now get this: As the ship leaves Mars orbit, whammo! It’s hit by a strange time dilation effect that causes the ship to accelerate. The crew struggles to slow the ship down but is pinned by the irresistible G forces.

 

Ritchie: You know that these sorts of special effects cost money?

 

Eddie: Not a problem! We can use small models and jiggle them up and down. Heck, we can even use footage from films like Flight to Mars. Put that all together in a Technicolor and Cinemascope production and trust me, it’ll all look as good as Conquest of Space!

 

Ritchie: You’ll forgive me if I don’t quite share your optimism.

 

Eddie: How about this for a bit of mystery to keep the troops interested and you feeling optimistic: As far as anybody knows the crew has awoken to find that they have landed somewhere up on snow covered mountains on Mars near one of the planet’s poles. The problem is that the gravity feels too strong and there seems to be an atmosphere outside. However, the radiation count is about three times higher than would be expected on Earth. Herb gives the radio a try but is unable to detect any evidence of any radio broadcasts at all!

 

Ritchie: So what do they decide to do?

 

Eddie: The crew decides to head down the mountain and explore. We can have one of the crew such as Herb set up expectations in the minds of the audience by mentioning that if they're on Venus, they might run into some high domed types that might kill them with ray guns and that they only have old revolvers to stop them.

 

Ritchie: Guns? On a space recon mission?

 

Eddie: Oh, come on Ritch! You gotta have guns! It’s our constitutional right to bear arms and shoot stuff, isn’t it? What if the crew is attacked? Are they gonna throw food rations at the little green men?

 

Ritchie: You’re using up your five minutes and I’ve started on my first drink….

 

Eddie: OK. So as the crew are resting, one of them stumbles on a cave and they decide to explore it. As they delve deeper, they discover spider webs. No guesses as to what attacks Herb……a giant spider!

 

Ritchie: I’m….astounded. I hope you’re not figuring on us having a Ray Harryhausen spider! Could blow our budget. Although [hopeful expression] it would look convincing as it slowly munches on Rod Taylor and leaves a desiccated husk…..

 

Eddie: Ah, we’ll be able to knock up a giant stuffed or rubber toy spider and float it in on a wire. Trust me, it’ll look like the real thing! You’re too cynical and skeptical, Ritch. Just keep an open mind….

 

Ritchie: I’ve ordered my second drink and you only have one more minute to go before the doors of my mind shut in your face!

 

Eddie: Right. Now we see how the guns come in handy. After fighting off the giant spiders, the crew continue their hike down the mountain and later stop to make camp. While they sleep, they are ambushed by……

 

Ritchie: More giant stuffed or rubber toys?

 

Eddie: No. They’re attacked by a bunch of deformed-looking caveman creatures. The crew manages to drive the attackers off and kill one of the creatures.

 

Ritchie: Well, we’ve got lots of ugly extras we can use who’ll work for next to nothing. Anyways, where the hell is the crew supposed to be and why am I still here listening to you?

 

Eddie: Take it easy, Ritch. Third drink already? Better pace yourself! Remember you only gave me…ten minutes to explain this film idea to you and we’ve got more ground to cover.

 

At day break the crew moves further down the mountain until they come across the ruins of a graveyard. Where are they? Obviously on Earth and here’s the important bit….. the dates on the tombstones make it plain that our boys have wound up in Earth’s future!

 

At this point we can throw in some sciency-sounding gobbledygook suggesting that if you can move fast enough you can affect time, enabling you to move backwards into the past. Just have to make it sound plausible. After all, the instruments on the rocket ship failed at 100 miles per second, but they may have been traveling much faster. Hey presto! There you have it! Thank you mister Einstein or one of yous other egg-heads!

 

Ritchie: Yeah, but how far into the future have they gone and what’s happened in the meantime. The audience’ll wanna know. I wanna know!

 

Eddie: On one of the oldest gravestones they do find a date, 2188, and even the oldest of the gravestones looks old. Galbraithe conjectures that a nuclear war has resulted in the high background radiation, and it would take a couple of centuries before conditions would return to normal. It appears that they are in the Rockies in either Colorado or New Mexico, a very historically appropriate location if I do say so myself.

 

As the crew goes to investigate, a column of smoke which is obviously “man-made” is spotted. Borden is suddenly attacked by group of the human mutants. The rest of the party rescues Borden and they all manage to take shelter in a cave and take stock of their situation.

 

Ritchie: Hey! Wait a minute! Didn’t Rocketship XYZ have strange human-like caveman Martian mutants chasing the crew and chucking rocks at them?

 

Eddie: Rocketship XM did have them. But here’s where our…YOUR…film takes a far more interesting turn: Is the crew trapped or have they found a place of refuge? While exploring the cave they stumble across a steel barrier blocking access to the rest of the tunnel. As if in invitation, another barrier slides into place and the first barrier opens. The crew’s only option is to accept the invitation to enter…..

 

Ritchie: Hold that thought while I get another drink. Sure you won’t have one? No? Anyways, I been thinkin’. Where are the gals in this film? A films gotta have gals. Lots of ‘em! Not drivin’ rocketships and such in space of course or being locked away for months with a bunch of men in a tin can. But there’s gotta be gals, Eddie….

 

Eddie: Of course, Ritch. After all, what’s Rod Taylor gonna do with his time on Mars or wherever he is? Anyway, in Rocketship XM, Osa Massen held her own throughout the male-dominated film. And what about Donna Martell who played Colonel Briteis in Project Moonbase?

 

So after the crew follows a long tunnel, they enter a room where a voice instructs them to leave all their weapons and packs behind and enter into another tunnel. They are then confronted by humans who all wear futuristic-looking attire. The crew seems to be facing some kind of court, tribunal or council.

 

An elder by the name of Timmek, who should be played by none other than Everett Glass, questions the crew as to why they are here. Borden explains their circumstances and Timmek explains to them that in the intervening years there had been a civilization-destroying atomic war. Timmek also informs them that it is the year 2508AD.

 

Ritchie: Do they have dames in 2508AD?

 

Eddie: Well, I was thinking that we could have actress, Nancy Gates playing a character called Garnet; Shirley Patterson playing one called Elaine; and Lisa Montell playing the role of Deena. Now imagine these lovely ladies wearing outfits like the ones in Flight To Mars! Might even use the same costumes! Legs galore, Ritch!

 

Ritchie: Just like the cigar and cigarette gals in Vegas! Or them French chambermaids! I’ll drink to that Eddie! Hey, we could even use the same or similar sets from Flight to Mars too!

 

Eddie: Sure. Boy, time seems to fly by when you’re having fun. Still, you did give me only 15 to 20 minutes to explain my concept, so I’ll press on.

 

The crew learns from Garnet that all their food is produced underground due to the high levels of radiation. Also, her people have not conquered the surface due to having become tired of war and this sentiment or tradition has established itself over succeeding generations.

Garnet also explains that the servant girl, Deena is from the surface. She had been saved when she was rejected by the mutant humans on the surface.

 

Borden later conjectures that those who survived the war, turned their technology inwards, only developing what they needed to survive. They would therefore be of little assistance to the newcomers.

 

The next day Galbraithe explains to the underground survivors at a council meeting that he wants to repair the ship in order to explore the rest of the planet to see if there are other surviving colonies. His idea is rejected by the council. The underground dwellers have no weapons much less any desire to fight the surface mutants in order to retrieve the newcomers’ ship.

 

Ritchie: Gutless bastards! They’re yeller!

 

Eddie: Not so loud, Ritch. Well, the people underground seem have lost their desire to strive along with any pioneering spirit to break out of their subterranean confinement and spread further afield. In fact, the underground colony is getting smaller with fewer healthy babies being born. It is later discovered that there are only 14 children out of a population of 2000. It is felt that the colony may not even have more than more generation left to go.

 

Ritchie: We seem to have reached a dead end here. Nice story so far, Eddie but your time is up and I’m a busy, busy man in need of a big idea for a film…..

 

Eddie: Hang on. The half hour isn’t up yet and the waiter’s bringing you another drink. Finish that while I tell you what happens next.

 

It’s time to add a bit of a complicating factor to the proceedings. You see, I have this other character called Mories who would suit the likes of actor, Booth Colman to a tee. Garnet explains he will probably succeed her father as leader of the council, and it is assumed by all and sundry that Garnet would be his partner. Enter….JEALOUSY!

 

After Garnet takes Borden to a tunnel that leads outside, she comments on the beauty of the Moon and Borden suddenly grabs hold of her and kisses her. Garnet then declares her love for him but Borden says that eventually he will have to leave. Garnet won’t hear of this and pleads with him to stay with her in the colony.

 

Ritchie: Ah, a bit of mushy sentimental stuff, eh?

 

Eddie: Mories meanwhile has been doing a bit spy work and is aware of Borden’s intentions toward Garnet. He figures he could throw a spanner in the works by telling the council that the newcomers’ intentions are detrimental to the colony and that the council should ignore their requests

 

Ritchie: That could be a problem. Speakin’ of plobrems, problems….I don’t feel so great…

 

Eddie: And here’s another problem: Deena’s interest in Herb! A bit later Deena sees Herb in a clinch with another woman and becomes jealous. “Hell hath no fury!”

 

At the council meeting Galbraithe argues his case for expansion upwards to the surface and to invite anyone in the colony who wants to join them in this expansion. Mories argues that the newcomers are intent on enslaving everyone in the colony. The council finally decides to vote against Galbraithe’s proposal.

 

Ritchie: Well I’m not surprised! Who’d want to give up a safe and comfortable life with more beautiful women than you could shake a stick at and go live on the surface to be attacked by ugly mutants! I know the hell I wouldn’t.

 

Eddie: Yeah, but the point is that there should be more to life than just comfort and safety! Later that night Mories manages to steal the newcomers’ guns but accidentally kills one of the councilmen in the process. He then conceals the gun in the men's quarters and goes to inform the council about the theft of the weapons. He hasn’t figured on Deena being aware of what has taken place.

 

The council soon go to the men’s quarters and discover the hidden guns. Timmek then orders the arrest of the men who are now implicated in not just the theft of the weapons but also in the councilman’s murder. All the while this is taking place, Deena just hangs back and says nothing of what she knows about what really happened.

 

At the council chamber the men are given a guilty verdict and are sentenced to be banished from the city being permitted to take only what they came with.

 

Ritchie: Well, that’s a bit lenient! I’d have them tied to stakes and left to the mercy of the mutants! Now that’d be something you could get your teeth into.

 

Eddie: Sure Rich, great idea. Anyway, Deena understands the gravity of the situation for the men and goes to see Timmek. While she’s waiting to see him, Mories attacks her and unsuccessfully tries to kill her. After his failed attempt to murder Deena, Mories escapes and heads for the surface. Deena reveals what has happened and they follow the escaping Mories through the tunnels to the outside world only to witness him being killed by the beasts.

 

Ritchie: Ah, getting his just desserts! Gotta like that.

 

Eddie: You’ll like this part too. Lots of shooting and blowing stuff up. After the council apologizes for what has happened, some 20 men volunteer to go out to surface with the crew. But first the crew hit on the idea of building a bazooka to kill the mutants on the surface.

 

The four men go outside and unleash carnage and in the process capture a surface dweller that is not mutated like the others. The captive tells Deena that the leader of the beasts will likely take the others back to the caves in order to make it more difficult for the humans to launch an attack on them.

 

Once at the hiding place of the mutants Jaffe, while checking out the location, is speared in the back by the mutants but is rescued by Herb during the ensuing skirmish. The leader of the beasts announces that he has killed many of Deena’s people and that he is prepared to kill all of them. Deena has informed the crew that the beasts follow a leader, who is chosen for his ability to fight off any rivals. If they could kill the leader then they would have control of the rest of the mutants. Borden gets Deena to relay a message that the leader is a coward and that Borden will fight the leader ‘mano a mutanto’ using just an ax and a knife.

 

Ritchie: I bet Marlow would like that! Ida thought Taylor woulda’ done it bare-chested and all! Got a mind to stick him in a film and send him off in time in some far flung future where some mutants getta hold of him and……

 

Eddie: No, this is Marlow’s moment. Anyway, the leader accepts the challenge and after a bit of toing and froing, Borden kills the leader. Borden is now recognized as the chief of the tribe. All hail the chief!

 

Months pass and the colony has moved to live on the surface and even the former mutated surface-dwelling humans have been incorporated into the new colony.

 

This is the rebirth of human civilisation. And all it took was people from the mid- 20th century with their violence and their guns to help those who renounced violence and guns to reclaim their heritage. Ironic ain’t it, Ritch? Ritch?

 

[It appears that producer Ritchie has fallen face forward onto half a plate of uneaten spaghetti. Eddie did warn him to pace himself…….

 

It turns out that Ritchie did in fact go on to produce the film based on Eddie’s insistence that he wholeheartedly agreed to do so at their luncheon meeting prior to him losing consciousness, due obviously to something he ate – “just desserts” perhaps?

 

Amazingly enough, all the actors and actresses suggested by Eddie were available and leapt at the chance to appear in…..Ritchie’s film. Rod Taylor did the most leaping about for some reason.

 

And what of Eddie?

 

 He not only wrote the story; he not only wrote the screenplay for the film, he also directed the film. And what was the film called? It was titled…

 

WORLD WITHOUT END]

 

 

 

 

The Night the World Exploded (1957)

 

An enjoyable, entertaining and ambitious sci-fi film hampered somewhat by its low-budget constraints

 

 

1957: A Taste of the Times:

 

Social & Political Events, Movements & Reforms

 

• Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. organizes the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to fight racial segregation by means of nonviolent protests.

• The Georgia Senate approves Sen Leon Butts' bill barring blacks from playing baseball with whites.

• The US Supreme Court, in Butler v. Michigan, overturns a Michigan statute making it a misdemeanor to sell books containing obscene language that would tend to corrupt "the morals of youth."

• Mao’s policy of “Let a hundred flowers bloom, and a hundred schools of thought contend is reversed due to criticism and some 300,000 intellectuals are jailed or sent to the countryside to perform manual labor.

• South African government approves race separation in universities.

• Pope Pius XII published his encyclical ” Invicti Athletae.”

• The Tuskegee boycott begins as blacks boycott city stores.

• National Guard called out to prevent nine black students from entering Central High School in Little Rock. Pres. Eisenhower responds with Federal troops to enforce federal law for integration.

• President Eisenhower signs into law the first civil rights bill to pass Congress since Reconstruction.

• NYC is the 1st city to legislate against racial or religious discrimination in the housing market with its Fair Housing Practices Law.

• The social and literary Beat Movement is born: The Beat Generation sport beards, bongo drums and sandals. They have their own style of attire, use “hip” vocabulary and experiment with Zen and pot. Major figures of the movement are novelist Jack Kerouac and poet Allen Ginsberg. Jack Kerouac’s "On the Road" is the beatnik’s bible.

• A group of scientists and supporters from around the world gathered in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, to call attention to the risks of nuclear war.

 

What If?...........

 

Rumor has it that “The Night the World Exploded” was adapted for radio but for some reason the radio play was never put to air back in 1957 and the transcript had disappeared…. that is….until now!

 

 

(Spoilers Follow….)

 

 

Lost radio play from NBC’s “X Minus One”

science fiction radio series

 

Announcer (Fred Collins): Countdown for blast-off... X minus five, four, three, two, X minus one... Fire! [Rocket launch SFX] From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories of the future; adventures in which you'll live in a million could-be years on a thousand may-be worlds. The National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with Street and Smith, publishers of Astounding Science Fiction present... X Minus One.

 

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Tonight’s episode will be a small departure from our usual sourcing of stories for our radio plays. This episode is entitled, “The Night the World Exploded” and is an adaptation of this year’s hit film of the same title out of Columbia pictures.

 

In tonight’s presentation, we will be considering events much closer to our own time, perhaps uncomfortably close. The events themselves will be much closer to home – perhaps unnervingly close. The final countdown for humanity may be short – most decidedly disturbingly short.

 

The film itself upon which our play is based, was directed by Fred F. Sears; produced by Sam Katzman; written by Jack Natteford and Luci Ward, with music by Ross DiMaggio. Cinematography was by Benjamin H. Kline and Irving Lippman and the film was edited by Paul Borofsky and Al Clark. The Production Company was Clover Productions.

 

We are fortunate that most of the film’s original cast are going to reprise their roles from the film for tonight’s radio play presentation. All of us here at X Minus One would like to introduce and welcome;

 

Kathryn Grant as Laura Hutchinson

William Leslie as Dr. David Conway

Tristram Coffin as Dr. Ellis Morton

Raymond Greenleaf as Gov. Chaney

Frank J. Scannell as Sheriff Quinn

Fred Coby as Ranger Brown

Paul Savage as Ranger Kirk

John Zaremba as Daniel J. Winters, Assistant Secretary of Defense

Otto Waldis as Professor Hagstrom, mineralogist

 

And…

 

Director Fred F. Sears as the Narrator

 

We also have the voices of;

 

Rupert Packer as The newspaper boy

James Olsen as The Reporter

 

The following parts from the film have been omitted from tonight’s performance;

 

General Bortes played by Charles Evans

General's Aide played by Marshall Reed

Chief Rescue Worker played by Terry Frost

 

And now for tonight’s radio adaptation of “The Night the World Exploded,” brought to by the makers of “Sparkle-glo.” “Sparkle-glo” for cleaner than clean; whiter than white and more colourful colours. Your fabrics deserve nothing less than “Sparkle-glo.” And now for….

 

(Music & SFX of rock fall slowly fading)

 

Narrator: "Those who lived to tell the tale remember that the day began with fragile, breathtaking beauty. The temperature was cool, in the low 50s, the air mountain pure even downtown. It was a day unreal enough to serve as a setting for the birth of the world, or death of it.”

 

(Sound of rhythmic mechanical / electrical device in background)

 

Narrator: At the University Seismology Laboratory in Southern California in the Lab of Dr. David Conway, Dr. Ellis Morton is greeted by Laura 'Hutch' Hutchinson. Dr Conway has just completed his Pressure Photometer, a device for measuring pressure in the earth and for predicting the occurrence of earthquakes. He has the bearing and air of one of those individuals whose entire being and sense of self-worth is wrapped up entirely in their work. Little room appears to be left for anything…or anyone else…

 

Morton: How goes your work on the Pressure Photometer?

 

Conway: Oh, hi Ellis. It’s finished and just in time too. The device is reporting an increase in pressure which suggests……the likelihood of an earthquake.

 

Morton: Let’s see now….32 units…. why, “there must be a short.” I’ll bet it’s some kind of malfunction.

 

Conway: I don’t think so Ellis. All of the components have been checked. I tell you "there's an earthquake brewing, Ellis, and a big one." The quake will be close and will strike California within 24 hours!

 

(Dramatic music to underscore Conway’s prediction)

 

Narrator: Conway and Morton, travel to the State Capitol to try and forewarn Governor Cheney and attempt to convince him to take appropriate action.

 

Cheney: “You want me to evacuate close to a million people?”

 

Conway: I’m not even sure if there’s enough time to do that but….

 

Cheney: And, “on top of that risk a panic!”

 

Morton: We know it’s a lot to ask and we’d feel the same if we were in your position, but….

 

Cheney: How can I declare an emergency when there is no proof this machine of yours works?

 

(After a moment’s reflection)

 

Look. What I can do is to notify the disaster council to be prepared. However, if your predictions turn out to be correct then I fear it's probably too late to do anything.

 

Conway: Thank you Governor. We’ll go back and monitor the situation and hope to God that you are wrong about it being too late.

 

Cheney: Goodbye to you both and keep me informed of any further developments. In the meantime, I hope you are wrong Doctor Conway.

 

Conway: I think “we better do more than hope, gentlemen. We better pray!”

 

Narrator: The two scientists return to Los Angeles and inform Hutch that they tried to convince the Governor without much success. We next see Conway and Morton in the lab checking readings on the new device.

 

Conway: “A million people face possible death once those lines converge.”

 

Morton: Well, there’s not much more you can do right now. Why don’t you go and get some rest? You look beat. Hutch and I can stick around and stay up tonight and monitor the equipment.

 

Conway: I guess you’re right. I’ll just finish up quickly and catch some shut-eye here.

 

(Morton walks over to Hutch in the adjoining room)

 

Morton: Hutch, “we don’t expect you to give your life’s blood. Why don’t go home and get some rest?”

 

Hutch: Well, you never know, I might just be going away and staying at home for a lot longer than you think, doctor!

 

Morton: How do you mean?

 

Hutch: “A girl can’t work all her life.” You see, “I’m planning to get married.” I’m planning to marry Brad. You remember him? After all, “It’s about time, isn’t it?” I can’t spend my life just waiting to be noticed by a certain somebody. Brad’s there. Brad’s willing. And Brad’s certainly noticed who I am! He wants to marry me.”

 

Morton: Hold on Hutch, “Conway isn’t made of stone,” you know.

 

Hutch: “All Dr Conway knows about is his work.” I’m tired of waiting. “If he hasn’t noticed me by now, he isn’t going to.”

 

Narrator: That evening, Hutch and Morton succumb to Sleep’s seductive enticements while Conway rejects her amorous advances in favour of restlessly smoking and pacing the lab floor. His attention is drawn to the sleeping figure of Hutch whose head is resting on her forearms on the desk she is sitting at when suddenly……….

 

(SFX: Rising rumbling accompanied by rattling of the lab’s objects, followed by shattering and crashing sounds.)

 

Hutch: David! What’s going on?

 

Conway: Just as we feared……the predicted quake has struck!

 

Morton: Look out!

 

(SFX: More rumbling rattling, shattering and crashing sounds)

 

Narrator: Meanwhile, on a city street corner further away from quake-affected area a newspaper boy selling newspapers broadcasts the day’s horror headlines.

 

Newspaper Boy: Get ya’ Daily Record. Read all about it! "Quake Stuns Southland! Thousands Dead, Damage in Billions." Read all about it!

 

Narrator: The devastating earthquake caused whole mountains and buildings to crumble. “Fire scourged the stricken areas from the mountains to the sea” and what was not immediately apparent, “the axis of the earth had shifted 3 degrees.”

 

(Dramatic music)

 

Later at the Lab:

 

Conway: Do you see that Ellis?

 

Morton: Yes. The equipment is giving us readings indicating a series of additional, impending global earthquakes.

 

Conway: Many of which are happening right now and I’m afraid to say more of them seem to be on the way.

 

Narrator: Conway has contacted Hutch and asked her to cancel her wedding plans and return immediately to the lab. He wants her to accompany him on a visit to the governor.

 

They soon arrive to be greeted by a gaggle of reporters spitting out questions as they enter a room where Governor Chaney is meeting with city officials.

 

Reporter (as door closes): “Dr Conway, how ‘bout an interview?”

 

Narrator: After the obligatory introductions, the meeting begins

 

Governor: If only I had acted sooner and ….

 

Conway: There’s probably nothing you could've done, Governor. Besides, “It’s only a taste of what’s to come.” I expect another quake will occur with twice the intensity of the first, and quakes will also happen all over the world.

 

Governor: How long do we have?

 

Conway: Three…. maybe four days.

 

Governor: What’s causing all of this?

 

Conway: “It looks like something in the earth is expanding.”

 

Hutch: “It’s as if a cake of yeast is there pushing up the crust.”

 

Conway: That’s a good analogy. Yes, the ground is expanding, bulging, and the tilt is about three degrees. Gentlemen, unless we can determine the cause and a remedy is found, the earth will indeed be destroyed.

 

Governor: So what do you propose to do?

 

Conway: I propose to undertake a descent deep into the Carlsbad Caverns to determine what might be causing the build-up of pressure.

 

Governor: I think I can speak on behalf of everyone here and guarantee that you’ll have the necessary support and funding.

 

Narrator: With that assurance, the meeting adjourned and Conway made preparations to take a team and his equipment to the deepest point of the Carlsbad Caverns, in the hope of being able to discern the cause of the earthquake menace.

 

We now join the team at the Carlsbad caverns where two rangers, Brown and Kirk escort Conway, Hutch and Morton into a large chamber in the caves.

 

Ranger Brown: This here chamber is called the Big Room, and at 1300 feet below ground is the lowest level the public is allowed to visit. The “temperature is 56 degrees’ year round” I hope you’ll find that comfortable, Miss Hutchinson. By the way, the pit you see here below us can only be accessed by a flexible rope ladder.

 

Conway: Well, all of our gear is ready for us below. Hutch and I will be taking the first shift. Not feeling scared are you, Hutch? No? OK, here I go.

 

Narrator: When Conway reaches the bottom, it is time for Hutch to start her descent

 

(Sound of Hutch’s exertions as she slowly descends the ladder. The music ominously changes to signal impending trouble.)

 

Ranger Brown: “How’s she doin’?

 

Ranger Kirk: OK….so far….Wait! She’s frozen!

 

Hutch (mental monologue): Can’t do it! Can’t go on!

 

Conway: Come on. Drop that foot!

 

Hutch (mental monologue): Can’t go back up. Won’t go down. Afraid to move. No…No…. No. Legs shaking. Hang on for dear life. Why? Why?

 

Conway: "Wouldn't you know a woman would pull a stunt like this? You're all scientists until there's the slightest bit of danger, then you fold up! Want your mommy and daddy?"

 

Narrator: Conway’s coaxing, gibing and cajoling pays off as Hutch finds herself rapidly descending the ladder with a degree of murderous intent which quickly evaporates in the face of the now jelly-like consistency of her legs. As she is resting, she makes the following observation about the predicament humanity finds itself in:

 

Hutch (To David): "It's almost as if the earth were striking back at us for the way we've robber her of her natural resources." (Mental monologue): Lately I’ve had that feeling that the earth is somehow alive, like some kind of living organism that can sense any threats to its existence and react to injuries inflicted on it. Perhaps right now the planet is retaliating against us for the kinds of assaults we have been perpetrating on it.

 

Narrator: Meanwhile in his cabin, Kirk studies a very curious rock. It was discovered earlier in the cavern and what Kirk doesn't know yet is that when it is removed from contact with water where it lies dormant deep within the earth, the element becomes highly explosive when it comes into contact with air.

 

Kirk (mental monologue): I’ll just remove it from the jar and pour the liquid out onto this potted plant on the desk. Now to dry the sample, and take a closer look with my magnifying glass. Hhhhmmmm…. Igneous in origin? I’ll leave it here on the desk for the time being and check my reference book for any further clues….

 

Narrator: As Kirk is checking his reference book, the rock begins to double in size and then double in size once more.

 

(SFX: Hissing and sizzling sound)

 

Kirk (mental monologue): What’s that? The rock…it’s starting to smoke and…. look how big it’s grown! It can’t be happening! No! It’s catching fire…. It’s going to explode for sure…….

 

(SFX: Large explosion)

 

Announcer: We will return with the 2nd act of “The Night the World Exploded” after this message from the makers of “Sparkle-glo.”

 

Yes, folks “Sparkle-glo” is the most exciting wash-day discovery in more than 100 years. It is specially made for the toughest of washing jobs. While other laundry powders shy away from exceptionally dirty, greasy, and grimy clothes,” Sparkle-glo” positively thrives on it. From greasy work overalls to grimy school shirt collars and cuffs, “Sparkle-glo’s” extra power easily washes away the dirt and grease from all of your clothes. Your white clothes will be whiter and your coloured clothes will be brighter with……”Sparkle-glo!”

 

And now for the 2nd act of…… “The Night The World Exploded!”

 

Narrator: Later at the scene of Kirk’s destroyed cabin, Hutch, Conway and Sheriff Quinn survey the devastation.

 

Hutch: Nothing left but a crater and some smoldering debris.

 

Conway: Everything has been practically reduced to dust! “Nothing down there but dust.”

 

Sheriff Quinn: Mighty strange that Kirk would keep nitro-glycerine or TNT in his cabin.

 

Conway: No Sheriff, I’m afraid that the explosion was much more powerful than what either nitro or TNT could produce.

 

Narrator: The next morning down in the pit, Conway and Morton discover the source of the geological upheavals.

 

Conway: “It’s in this area some place, close to the surface.”

 

Morton: “As if we’re sitting on top of an oil dome.”

 

Conway: I’ll head topside and send in a report on what we’ve found….Hey, Hutch! Why aren’t you asleep?

 

Hutch: I couldn’t sleep. I can’t stop thinking about Kirk and how he died.

 

Conway: Yes, I know. “Death is only a statistic until it strikes someone you know.” All those deaths in Istanbul and Canada and all those refugees fleeing death and destruction from the quakes! I wish human beings could feel the same way about millions of strangers in other countries who become causalities of war or natural disasters as we would feel about the death of a single friend or loved one.

 

Hutch: There’s more of those strange rocks in that pool. Let’s take another look at one of them. I wonder what they really are.

 

Conway: I don’t know, but “we can assume an unknown mineral has unknown properties.” Notice how heavy it is for its size. Here, let’s try to squeeze it with these pliers……No dice, it’s too hard! The pliers have left not a mark. Ah well, I’ll just put it here and examine it later.

 

Narrator: As Hutch and Conway head topside, the rock they retrieved from the pool and left aside on a bench, starts to grow, catch fire, smolder and burn through the bench and finally plops into the pool of water on the ground. Both Hutch and Conway head back down the ladder and come to the spot where the rock was only to be confronted by a cloud of vapor from the boiling and steaming rock.

 

Hutch: What does this mean, David?

 

Conway: It means that we have found the cause of Ranger Kirk's death. It means that we’ve come across another unknown element….”Element 112”….”Safe when wet but has unusual properties when dry.” I believe that “for some reason it’s pushing its way to the surface.” Somehow this volatile element which must be common underground is expanding and working its way from deep in the Earth and is responsible for the earthquakes.

 

Narrator: Conway later flies to Washington, D.C. and meets with Daniel J. Winters, Assistant Secretary of Defense. Conway wants Winters to help in calling “a meeting of every top scientist in the world.” Winters gives Conway access to the Smokeridge Proving Grounds for this meeting.

 

(City street sounds: cars, pedestrian footsteps, voices)

 

Newspaper boy: Get ya’ Daily Sentinel! Read all ‘bout it! “Summon World’s leading Scientists!” Read all ‘bout it! Get ya’ Star Dispatch! “Scientists Hold Emergency meeting!” Read all ‘bout it!

 

Narrator: At the Smokeridge Proving Grounds facility, Conway opens a box to demonstrate the nature of the newly discovered element.

 

Conway: Here Professor Hagstrom, take the rock and hold it and tell us what you make of it.

 

Hagstrom: Why, ”It’s warm…getting hot.” (He places the rock on the table) Look, "it grows!….What’s the explanation?”

 

Conway: As the rock grows in size, it increases in temperature. This element 112 as I call it, adds to its mass by combining with the nitrogen in the air and forms an explosive nitrogen compound. It gets to the temperature of melting steel two stages before exploding.

 

(Sound of hissing and sizzling)

 

See how it melts through the table and falls into that tub of water below. Using these tongs, I’ll take the rock out of the water. See, no explosion. It is the hydrogen in the water that reverses the process. This very element has sufficient “expanding power capable of tilting anything!” Our little demonstration serves to show how “hydrogen controls element 112.”

 

Narrator: Conway continues with the demonstration outdoors in order to emphasize the kind of danger the earth faces.

 

Conway: Now gentlemen, I’ll be using this globe of the earth hanging from this tree and placing a small piece of the element inside. Now let’s move a safe distance away.

 

(Sound of jeeps’ engines and doors slamming)

 

Conway: Now watch carefully gentlemen and see what happens.

 

(Sound of big explosion followed by lots of coughing and harrumphing)

 

Conway: Sorry about that gentlemen. But you can see the urgency of the situation. Our Earth’s crust has been weakened by such activities as oil and coal mining and it is as if the Earth is striking back at the way we have robbed it of its resources.

 

Hagstrom: What would you like us to do?

 

Conway: You scientists are to take samples of element 112 to your own countries and your own councils…….

 

Narrator: At that moment Conway receives a message from Dr. Morton who has called to inform him that there has been a cave-in and that Hutch is trapped in the underground lab.

 

A rescue crew has begun to dig out the cave-in.

 

Hutch (voice on the radio receiver): I’m Ok and can still provide you with readouts from the machine. ….”32 on the quartz tube” …..

 

(Rumbling sound as tremor shakes loose more earth)

 

The pressure is increasing….”64 on the quartz tube” ….

 

(Sound of Hutch coughing)

 

Morton: “The centre of this quake is practically under our feet!”

 

Narrator: The chief rescue worker reports it may take until morning to break through. The crew does manage to break into the underground lab, resulting in a minor rock fall. Hutch is injured and is removed using a sling device. The scientists and rescue workers manage to escape just as an earthquake starts.

 

We now take up the story at the Carlsbad Hospital where Hutch has been recovering….

 

Conway: Hey Hutch, the doc just told me you’ve recovered from your ordeal and will be discharged.

 

Hutch: That’s right. I’m feeling much better, David. Though… recent events and being here have got me thinking and wondering if there’s ever going to be a future for….

 

Conway: Well, let me tell you right now, “the future young lady is yours. “By the way, kiddo, this’ll make you feel a lot better.

 

Hutch: Oh David. You shouldn't have! How did you know that this is my favourite perfume?

 

Conway: Look Hutch, I've been wanting to tell you something but I've always been “too busy concentrating on the future while ignoring the present.”

 

Hutch: Then you’d better hurry up and tell me David. After all “it’s only a matter of time” …… until….

 

Conway: Look Hutch, as to how long we might have, we’ll making use of the Datatron computer at Electrodata to calculate how long until……

 

Hutch: Until?

 

Conway: The Earth explodes.

 

(Sombre dramatic music)

 

Radio news bulletin: This is radio station KNX broadcasting on 1070 kHz. At this moment at the Electrodata facility, the Datatron computer “a device almost as complicated as the human brain” has just provided an expectant world with the answer to the one question that matters. The answer to that question is……28 days, 4 hours before the explosion that will signal the end of our planet and with it the end of the entire human race! So soon. Too soon. In a last ditch but hopeful effort, scientists have proposed that all areas where the newly discovered element 112 is exposed be flooded with water in order to render it inactive. Cloud seeding is also resorted to in the hope of generating rain. The hopes and prayers of the entire planet will depend on such efforts to rescue us from extinction……

 

Narrator: We now find Conway busily monitoring and coordinating the information on progress that is coming in from all over the world. Morton arrives with his wife and two children and is soon followed by Hutch.

 

Conway: Hutch, what are you doing here?

 

Hutch: “I wanted to pray….be with other people” but with all the rioting and…. besides, David, “in the rule book it says you’re supposed to be with the one you love.”

 

Conway: I wouldn't have it any other way, Hutch.

 

Hutch: Is there any hope at all David?

 

Conway: The flooding strategy appears to be paying off with reports from around the world indicating that the overall situation is improving. Just a moment Hutch.

 

(Sound of phone ringing)

 

Conway: Conway here.

 

Sheriff Quinn: Oh, hi David. Look, it seems that here in Nevada we’ve got a volcano developing from that Element 112 of yours.

 

Conway: Are you sure Sheriff?

 

Sheriff Quinn: Sure I’m sure. It’s pushing to the surface right now. I can see it from my window. I also got a disturbing report that personnel at the nearby Horseshoe Dam were reporting dangerous levels of sulfur gas and that most of the staff there are either dead or dying and……

 

(Sound of phone connection being broken and dial tone)

 

Conway: Sheriff! Sheriff! Hello!

 

Morton: David, what’s going on?

 

Conway: Problem out at Horseshoe Dam. We’ll have to go out there and destroy the dam and flood the area. We’ll take a helicopter out there and I want all the Element 112 samples sent to me at the dam. Hutch, you organize that part of it.

 

(Sound of helicopter rotor blades and jeep pulling up)

 

Conway: Glad to see you’re alright sheriff….Hutch! I didn't mean for you bring the samples personally. This is extremely dangerous!

 

Hutch: Which is all the more reason that I go with you to the dam.

 

Conway: But you couldn’t even lift one side of that container….

 

Hutch: The sheriff can take care of that. Besides, I was with you at the start and I’ll be with you right till the end. After all, I am a woman, a darn good scientist and will be your wife. So get in the helicopter and don’t argue!

 

Narrator: The samples are loaded onto the helicopter and Sheriff Quinn, Conway and Hutch fly to the dam.

 

Conway: Ok, we’ve made it to the generators. These bottles of nitric acid will help increase the level of nitrogen available for the explosion. Quinn, help me place these samples into this wooden box.

 

(Sound of Hutch screaming and a loud crash)

 

Hutch: David! One of the dying Dam workers has just come out here and knocked over the bottles of nitric acid.

 

Conway: Hold on Hutch, we’re coming. Quinn, watch out for the acid! Let’s get out of here!

 

(SFX: running feet, physical exertions, increasing noise of copter rotor blades, followed by loud explosion and sound of flooding water)

 

(Dramatic music tapering off to silence)

 

Hutch: So peaceful here up on this hill. Hard to believe we were so close to losing it all. Are we really safe? Will this ever happen again?

 

David: We’re Ok for now. Perhaps hundreds of years from now it might but by then we’ll have figured out what to do to avoid it ever happening again.

 

Hutch: Perhaps we can start by treating the Earth with a bit more respect and not make it so angry with us!

 

(sound of kissing)

 

Hutch: "Maybe I spoke too soon. The earth just started trembling again."

 

THE END

 

We hope you all enjoyed tonight's radio adaptation of “The Night The World Exploded,” brought to you by the makers of "Sparkle-glo." Remember, this is theatre for the mind and the imagination! Until this time next week, all of us from X Minus One wish you all a good night.

 

 

["X Minus One" was an actual radio science fiction program from the 1950s and can easily be found on YouTube along with others like it. Why not check them out? A lot more interesting than most of the rubbish on TV & Streaming services!

 

Quotation marks have been used above whenever lines have been taken directly from the film itself]

 

 

Points of Interest

 

In 1957, Columbia Pictures theatrically distributed this film on a double bill with “The Giant Claw.”

 

The film’s shooting locations included the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico; the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California; and the Databton Corporation Building in Pasadena, California.

 

“The Night the World Exploded” shares some similar concepts with the “Monolith Monsters” (1957) except that unlike the latter film in which rocks grow when wet, the rocks in “The Night the World Exploded” grow and explode when dry.

 

As in the film, “Magnetic Monster,” we once again have an element being cast as a dangerous villain. Instead of a radioactive substance, it is this time a rare and dangerous element called, E112 which of course was not known to science.

 

The low budget features of the film do detract from its positive aspects. Take for instance, the military command aircraft interior which consisted of card tables and folding chairs in front of mock-up aircraft porthole windows!

 

Despite its low-budget drawbacks, “The Night the World Exploded” does have a number of positive features. For instance, there is excellent use of stock footage of disasters that are integrated very well into the film. Events also move along at quite a tight and brisk pace while incorporating a romantic subplot between Conway and Hutch.

 

The issue of gender is yet again handled in a rather typical ‘50s ham-fisted manner as can be seen when Hutch is frozen with fear on the rope ladder. Here we have the character, Hutch who comes across as being a rather independent female but who winds up behaving as expected when placed in danger and who needs to be rescued by the male lead. Of course, Hutch is talented enough to be a scientist in her own right and is quite able to venture into dangerous situations with the men, but her ultimate destiny seems to be one of marriage and domestic bliss. At least the door was opening up just a crack but would take nigh on 60+ years to be edged open a little bit wider!

 

Films such as “Kronos” along with “The Night the World Exploded,” seem to have signaled a shift away from the usual fare of giant bugs, over-sized monsters and alien invaders in flying saucers. There’s a bit more of an environmental message coming through which is best summed up by Hutch: "It's almost as if the earth was striking back at us for the way we robbed her of resources." It’s certainly a message that resonates even with modern audiences over 60 years later!

 

 

 

 

The Monolith Monsters (1957)

 

A low-budget well-paced sci-fi film with an interesting concept but doesn’t quite meet expectations

 

 

Directed by John Sherwood

Produced by Howard Christie

Screenplay by Norman Jolley, Robert M. Fresco

Story by Jack Arnold, Robert M. Fresco

Music by Henry Mancini, Irving Getz, Herman Stein

Cinematography: Ellis W. Carter

Edited by Patrick McCormack

Production company: Universal-International

Distributed by Universal Pictures

Running time: 77 minutes

 

 

Cast

 

Grant Williams: Dave Miller

Lola Albright: Cathy Barrett

Les Tremayne: Martin Cochrane

Trevor Bardette: Professor Arthur Flanders

Phil Harvey as Ben Gilbert

William Flaherty: Police Chief Dan Corey

Harry Jackson: Dr. Steve Hendricks

Richard H. Cutting: Dr. E. J. Reynolds

Linda Scheley : Ginny Simpson

Claudia Bryar: Mrs. Simpson

Dean Cromer: Lead Highway Patrolman

Steve Darrell: Rancher Joe Higgins

William Schallert: Meteorologist

Troy Donahue! : Hank Jackson the Dynamite Expert

Paul Petersen: Bobby the Newsboy

Opening narration: Paul Frees

 

SAN FRANCISCO CALL-BULLETIN

 

             10 cents                                                               November 10, 1957

 

This feature report is reproduced here with kind permission from Martin Cochrane, reporter and publisher of the San Angelo Sentinel.

 

Martin Cochrane tells the story of how a strange meteorite crashed into the Southern California desert in July of this year and exploded into a multitude of black fragments.

 

The strange part of this story is how those fragments when exposed to water, grew to gigantic proportions. Not only that, but the fragments caused some of the inhabitants of a small town to gradually petrify and die.

 

The story that you are about to read will show just how close humanity came to having its very existence threatened by a seemingly unstoppable malevolent monstrous monolithic force visited upon our planet from the mysterious limitless reaches of outer space……

 

 

(Spoilers follow below…..) 

 

 

March of The Monolith Monsters!

 

By Martin Cochrane

 

“From time immemorial the Earth has been bombarded by objects from outer space; bits and pieces of the universe piercing our atmosphere in an invasion that never ends.

 

“Meteors, the shooting stars on which so many earthly wishes have been born - of the thousands that plummet toward us, the greater part are destroyed in a fiery flash as they strike the layers of air that encircle us. Only a small percentage survives. Most of these fall into the water which covers two-thirds of our world, but from time to time, from the beginning of time, a very few meteors have struck the crust of the Earth and formed craters - craters of all sizes, sought after and poured over by scientists of all nations for the priceless knowledge buried within them.

 

“In every moment of every day they come from planets belonging to stars whose dying light is too far away to be seen. From infinity they come - Meteors!”

 

For it was on one fateful night in July of this year that a “ strange calling card from the limitless reaches of space; Its substance unknown, its secrets unexplored,” lay “dormant in the night - waiting!”

 

The calamity that befell our own small corner of the world is by now all too well known to most of you. What may not be known are the details that combined to make up a disaster that we could well have been unable to prevent from spreading uncontrollably across the entire face of the earth!

 

These details have been pieced together from my own personal observations and experiences, as well as from numerous eye-witness accounts.

 

“It's been gathering the secrets of time and space for billions of years.”

 

In the desert region of San Angelo, California, a huge meteorite crashed and exploded, peppering a wide area with hundreds of black fragments. Soon after, Federal geologist Ben Gilbert brought a strange black rock from the area back to his office, where he and yours truly examined it but were unable to determine the origin of this mysterious celestial material that had been sprinkled on to the earth from above.

 

It turned out that later that night a strong wind must have blown a bottle of water onto the rock, causing it to bubble and smolder in some kind of chemical reaction, the results of which were soon to become all too apparent.

 

The next day, the head of San Angelo's district geological office, Dave Miller returned to town from a business trip only to discover that the office had been destroyed by large black rock fragments. Tragically, he also found Ben dead, in a rock-hard, petrified sculptured statue-like state.

 

At the time, Dave's girlfriend, schoolteacher Cathy Barrett had taken her students on a desert field trip where one of the youngsters, Ginny Simpson found a piece of the black rock which she took home and washed in a large tub outside her family's farmhouse. It would prove to be a fateful act with dire consequences for the little girl and her family.

 

Later back in town, Doctor E. J. Reynolds performed an autopsy on Ben, but he was unable to explain Ben's condition. He then informed Dave and Police Chief Dan Corey that the body would be shipped to a specialist.

 

When I returned to the demolished office with Dave, he noticed that the large rock fragments were of the same kind as the piece of black rock Ben had been examining. Cathy also recognized the rock fragments and joined Dave and I as we headed out to the Simpson farm.

 

When we got to the farmhouse, we were confronted by a shocking scene of destruction, with the farmhouse in ruins under a pile of the black rocks. Even worse than that, we came across the dead bodies of young Ginny's parents and the poor girl herself enveloped in a psychological protective catatonic cocoon.

 

We quickly rushed Ginny to Dr. Steve Hendricks at the California Medical Research Institute in Los Angeles. We soon learned that the girl was gradually turning to stone and that any chance of her surviving would depend on having the black rock identified within eight hours. It was heartbreaking seeing Ginny placed in the iron lung machine in order to keep her alive and breathing. She didn’t ask for any of this to happen.

 

As for identifying the black rock, Dave brought a fragment of it to his old college professor, Arthur Flanders, who identified it as having likely come from a meteorite.

 

Dave and Prof Flanders headed out to the Simpson farm, where Flanders noticed a discoloration in the ground which lead him to conclude that the black rock was draining silicon from whatever it came into contact with, including human beings!

 

Tests performed on the substance determined that it was silicon which is present in humans only as a trace element. It is thought that silicon in the human body helps to maintain flexibility of human tissue. In an interview after the events described in this article, Dave Miller elaborated on the makeup of the substance:

 

“With the exception of a trace of iron-phosphate - not enough to mention - they're all silicates… feldspar, pyroxene, almost all the olivine group, flint - almost solid silica, little bits of it slapped together in such a way that it shouldn't even exist.”

 

This piece of knowledge about the meteorite's absorption of silicon flicked on a switch that helped to shed light on the cause of Ben’s and Ginny’s parents’ deaths, as well as Ginny’s catatonic state and the creeping petrification of her body.

 

Knowledge of the likely cause also gave some hope as to determining the likely cure. With this end in view, Dr. Steve Hendricks managed to prepare a silicon solution injection which was soon administered to the young patient before she could succumb to her final fossilized fate.

Dave and Prof Flanders headed out to the desert, where a breadcrumb trail of black rock fragments led them to a huge meteorite. Flanders theorized that the meteorite's atomic structure had been drastically altered by the intense heat of friction as it entered the earth’s atmosphere. In the words of the professor during an interview I conducted with him:

 

 “You've got to remember….when this hit our atmosphere, it burned at such a fantastic temperature, that its metal-bearing compounds could have been altered - left ready to activate, to grow!”

 

Later back at the lab, with a storm gradually building in intensity, Dave and Arthur Flanders tried to figure out what caused the rock to grow. Suddenly, a piece of rock fell into the sink and began to react by bubbling when hot coffee was poured onto it. This led Dave and Flanders to determine that it was in fact water that was the cause of the rock’s growth.

 

“Each one that shatters will make a hundred more.”

 

With rain falling outside, Dave and Flanders headed out to the desert yet again, and were confronted by the sight of small fragments of black rock being pelted with rain water causing them to form into massive black malevolent monoliths that rose from the earth before crashing back onto the ground and shattering into hundreds of pieces. Each new fragment then repeated the process becoming yet another monolith. Together, the Monoliths march would’ve taken them right through San Angelo and from there, who would know?

 

 

“Evacuate? The entire town?”

There was nothing left to do but make preparations to evacuate San Angelo. Once notified of the emergency, the governor declared a state of emergency in the San Angelo area.

 

Meanwhile at the hospital, Ginny seemed to be recovering which led Dave to believe that there was something in the silicon solution that would stop the rock fragments' growth.

 

Tragically, more locals suffering the effects of petrification were being rushed to hospital. With time running out and the telephone and electricity cut off, the monster rocks continued to grow and advance inexorably by soaking up water from the saturated soil.

 

With the normal lines of communication cut, Dave and Dan made good use of me to gather up as many paperboys as possible to let the town’s residents know what was going on.

 

A eureka moment suddenly arrived when Dave and Arthur Flanders realized that the monoliths’ growth and progress could be checked with a simple saline solution, which formed a part of Steve's silicon formula that was used on Ginny. Good old salt! And who said it was bad for you?

 

With that in mind, Dave hit on the idea of dynamiting the local dam to release huge quantities of water that would flood the salt flats, thereby creating an enormous amount of the required saline solution.

 

“Unless we can stop them, they'll spread over the whole countryside.”

 

As it was imperative that the monoliths be halted at the canyon edge or all would have been lost, Dave chose to disregard the governor’s concerns about dynamiting the dam and proceeded to set up dynamite charges around the dam itself.

 

There were doubts as to the plan’s likelihood of succeeding, but I knew the figures were right. After all, “if it's dull or statistical, I've written about it!”

 

With so little time left, the dynamite was detonated. We all stood there awestruck and with some fear and trepidation as a huge inundation of water washed over the salt deposits at the canyon's edge and finally came into contact with the monoliths.

 

Still rooted to the spot, we watched as the Monoliths’ growth was finally brought to a halt and the last of the mysterious marauding megaliths succumbed to a final salty saturation.

 

Those salt flats, were once considered to be "Mother Nature's worst mistake.” We knew it “used to be an ocean bed. Now, that ocean knew that the middle of a desert was a pretty silly place for it to be, so it just dried up and went away.” Could there have been some kind of an intelligence at work that knew that something we believed didn’t belong would turn out to be our salvation?

 

 

 

 

Points of Interest

 

The “Monolith Monsters” is one of the few classic sci-fi movies that has stayed vividly in my memory since I first saw it almost 60 years ago. I must admit though that time has altered my view of the film. As a kid, I was absolutely awestruck by what I saw on the screen. As an adult, I feel somewhat disappointed at seeing a film hampered by stilted characters, ordinary dialogue and enormous plot holes.

 

What I do still find impressive about the “Monolith Monsters” is the film’s interesting premise in which we have giant crystalline rocks that multiply when in contact with water, which cause people to turn to stone and which can potentially threaten the entire world.

 

What is also impressive about the film is its brisk and efficient pace which manages to sustain the audience’s interest throughout.

 

Of particular note were the special effects created under the supervision of Clifford Stine. Despite the film’s modest budget, some of the effects were impressive for the time.

 

Grant Williams, star of “The Incredible Shrinking Man,” didn’t seem to have as much to work with in this film as a leading male actor. In terms of on-screen presence, it was hard to believe it was the same actor.

 

Lola Albright of Peyton Place fame seemed to spend a lot of her time wondering (as many of us probably did) why she was there, apart from functioning as love-interest and eye-candy.

 

Les Tremayne who plays Martin Cochrane also had the role of the general in “War of the Worlds” (1953) and was the opening narrator of “Forbidden Planet” (1956)

 

The movie was adapted from a story called "Monolith" co-written by Robert Fresco and Jack Arnold. who also directed its lead actor, Grant Williams, in “The Incredible Shrinking Man.”

 

Many of the exterior scenes were filmed in the Alabama Hills in Lone Pine, California, while most of the exteriors of downtown San Angelo were shot on Universal's back lot.

 

The “California Medical Research Institute" facility also featured in Universal's classic sci fi film, “The Incredible Shrinking Man” (1957).

 

The meteor crash in the film's opening sequence consisted of alternate takes from Universal's sci-fi classic, “It Came from Outer Space” (1953).

 

End Note

 

The premise of the “Monolith Monsters” has led me to wonder about the many seemingly monolithic structures and processes that individual human beings and communities are confronted with. There are certain ideologies, aspects of technology, intrusions into people’s privacy, governance by centralized bureaucracies, movements toward globalization, influence of powerful multinational corporations and so on which tend to dwarf and dominate the lives of individuals and communities.

 

It is no wonder that under the perceived crushing weight of such modern-day monolithic monsters, people and communities will try to react to, push back and halt the inexorable encroachment into their lives. For better or (far too often) for worse this why we end up with the allure of far right wing and so-called anti-Establishment populist political movements and leaders along with much of the world retreating back into tribal nation-states and a yearning to hide behind impenetrable walls safe from the big black monsters crashing down on our heads. But just watch out for those little fragments that with a bit of watering will assuredly grow into a new set of Monolithic Monsters!

 

This is also why it might be a good idea for a remake of “Monolith Monsters” which if handled well could be of relevance to modern day audiences. What do you think?

 

 

Meteor Fact-File

 

“Dave, if it is a meteorite, chances are it's been hurtling around our universe for a good many centuries.”

 

• The word “meteor” comes from a Greek word that means suspended in the air.

• If you look up at the sky at night and see a streak of light or ‘shooting star’ what you’ll be witnessing is a meteor.

• Meteoroids are small rocks or bits of debris in our solar system that may be ejected from comets as they move in their orbits about the sun.

• They can be the size of dust particles through to rocky objects 10 meters in diameter. If they are any larger, they are called asteroids.

• The shooting star you might see in the night sky is a meteoroid that burns up as it passes through the Earth’s atmosphere.

•  The Earth’s atmosphere experiences millions of such objects every day.

• If that meteoroid happens to survive falling through the Earth’s atmosphere and collides with the Earth’s surface it is known as a meteorite.

• Around 500 meteorites reach the Earth’s surface every year.

• It has been estimated that perhaps up to 10,000 tons of meteors fall on the Earth each day, most no bigger than a speck of dust.

• The fastest meteoroids travel through the solar system at a speed of around 42 kilometers (26 miles) per second.

• Some meteoroids fly on a path that goes into the Earth’s atmosphere and then back out again. These are called Earth-grazing fireballs.

• Sometimes many meteors occur in a relatively short space of time in the same part of the sky when the Earth passes through the trail of debris left by a comet or asteroid. This is called a meteor shower.

• Roughly 30 meteor showers occur each year that are visible to observers on Earth.

• The Perseid meteor shower, which occurs each year in August, was first observed about 2000 years ago and recorded by the ancient Chinese.

• Meteors can be hazardous to spacecraft. The International Space Station has shielding up to an inch thick to protect it from meteors.

• Earth's moon, Mercury and even Mars are covered with impact craters as (unlike our planet) they don't have enough atmosphere to protect them against meteor and asteroid impacts.

• It is believed that about 65 million years ago Dinosaurs became extinct due to an 8 mile long meteor striking the Earth.

 

 

 

The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959)

 

A very thought provoking end-of-the-world tale dealing with matters that are more than just black and white or merely skin deep.

 

Directed by Ranald MacDougall

Produced by Sol C. Siegel, George Englund, Harry Belafonte (uncredited)

Written by Ranald MacDougall

Screenplay by Ranald MacDougall

Based on novel The Purple Cloud by M. P. Shiel and

story End of the World by Ferdinand Reyher

Music by Miklós Rózsa

Cinematography: Harold J. Marzorati

Edited by Harold F. Kress

Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Running time: 95 minutes

Budget: $1,659,000

Box office: $1,085,000

 

 

Cast

 

Harry Belafonte as Ralph Burton

Inger Stevens as Sarah Crandall

Mel Ferrer as Benson Thacke

 

 

The title of the film comes from the Litany in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer: "From all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil, spare us, good Lord." In Christian theology, the world, the flesh, and the devil has been viewed as being the three enemies of the soul, the sources of temptation, and as standing in opposition to the Trinity.

 

*************

 

(Spoilers follow below..…)

 

As the end of one decade and the beginning of the next approaches, “negro” coal mine inspector Ralph Burton finds himself in the bowels of the earth conducting a preliminary structural inspection of a disused section of 3rd level, tunnel 8.

 

Now, words like ‘negro’ and ‘colored’ to describe African-American or black people would cause a lot of folks these days to feel pretty uncomfortable and downright offended. Remember though that we are dealing with a time in history when such references including the highly offensive ‘N’ word were employed without a second thought by many sections of the community. It was a decade in which the early struggles against the practice of racial segregation in such places as schools in the South were taking place. It was also a time in which hooded pointy-headed lunatic Klansmen strutted about spewing their venomous racially-based rubbish and where racial discrimination and inequality flourished.

 

Even after a period of seeming dormancy and remission, the cancer of bigotry can once again erupt and infect civilisation decades later. License is then given to weak-willed and weak-minded white supremacists to hail the deeds of long dead dictators; antisemitism once again rears its ugly head; anti-Muslim hatred and xenophobia capture the airwaves, social media and the deplorably uncritical minds of the gullible; voices are raised to let all know that black lives do matter; statistics speak volumes about race and the justice system, crime, incarceration, education, social and economic inequality….What really lies buried under the surface of our civilisation today?

 

While Burton is making his own way deep under the feet of his own civilisation of the late 1950s, a sudden cruel stroke of irony in the form of a cave-in causes rubble and timber beams to rain down on top of him straight after he declares to those listening topside, “man if anything was to go wrong down here….”

 

Having sustained only minor injuries, Burton takes stock of his situation and concludes, “pumps working. No trouble about drowning.” Even though he cannot use the telephone’s receiver to listen to those topside, he believes that they can hear him via the transmitter.

 

Communication is established by means of banging out a code on the water pipes (“Three, three and then two”) and it isn’t long before Burton can hear the sounds of digging heralding the hope of possible rescue. In the meantime, he employs the use of black humor to sustain himself and cope with this stressful ordeal.

 

“Five days I been down here...”

 

Ominously, Burton seems to think that his would-be rescuers are “not digging as hard as they did.” As a way of managing the stress of his burden, Burton tries to find solace in song: “I don’t like it here….Nobody likes it here.”

 

Just as it appears as though the rescue operation might be nearing its conclusion, the sounds of digging suddenly halt. This is followed by the cessation of the coded banging on the pipes and the stuttering imminent failure of the lights. Fearing abandonment, Burton shouts out, “You didn’t give up on me did ya? I’m alive!”

 

 

“I’m out. Coming out!”

 

In a panic, Burton has only one remaining course of action, to take matters into his own hands by digging himself out from certain death entombed in isolation and make his own way back to the surface and civilisation.

 

 

ng at last made his way through the fallen rubble and back to the surface, he discovers that the whole mine site is devoid of people. He is greeted only by man-made tumble weeds and detritus blown about by the wind across a now desolate landscape that had days ago been the fuel source that powered civilization.

 

A coal fire appears to have started which would normally be viewed as being a calamity, by why is nobody responding to Burton’s calls of alarm, “Coal’s burning!”?

 

Will perhaps the foreman’s office hold the answers to Burton’s questions? It certainly wont be found via the radio’s dead cold tubes and mute speaker. There the answers lie, screaming from the front pages of newspapers on a desk

 

Too much information for one man’s mind to process! The enormity of the situation begins to find expression via the brief verbal incoherent squeaking utterances that issue forth from his mouth as his brain’s synapses begin to fire and join the dots of his predicament.

 

The gods seem to be having a good laugh at Burton as they fill in the canvas of his fate with thick deft brushstrokes of irony. On the one hand, he has managed to escape imprisonment and a lonely death trapped in the mine. On the other, it seems that his underground prison may have spared him the fate that seems to have befallen the rest of civilization. The question remains: what has Burton exactly escaped to?

 

“Mrs Crawford, I’m home!”

 

Having failed to find anyone at his lodgings in town, Burton spots a sign on the outside of a shop he had entered and it reads: CD EMERGENCY HDQTS with an indication as to its location. It’s all a part of a collective reflex action in which citizens are told to continually watch the skies, to beware of Reds under the bed and duck and cover ‘coz them damn Commies are more than likely to launch a nuclear attack our way. It seems, however that of late the world has grown complacent about the possibility of atomic and nuclear Armageddon! There does seem to be a lot of equipment left lying about the emergency headquarters….

 

Armed with a Geiger counter, pistol and ammo, Burton fires off a few rounds while shouting out, “anybody there?” in the hope of attracting someone’s attention. However, it soon becomes obvious that there’s simply no one around but him.

 

Burton then decides on a course of action that not long before he may never have entertained. Or if he had, he may have had to face the consequences of breaking the law! But under the changed circumstances, what meaning does “the law” have for anyone? The answer to that question comes in the form of Burton deciding to hot-wire and steal a Chrysler convertible from a showroom after smashing the front window with a tire. The veneer of civilisation may only be as thick as a pane of glass!

 

Burton soon hits upon an idea: to find a destination, the course of which he traces with a pencil on a map. He will head for New York City - the good ‘ole Big Apple, pinnacle of everything that shouts out what it is to be living in the US of A. Besides, there’s bound to be other survivors in such a big city, right?

ght that greets Burton at the city limits suggests that something terminal has befallen the metropolis whose arteries are blocked by a solid cholesterol-like metal mass of abandoned vehicles. All access points, including bridges and the Lincoln Tunnel leading into Manhattan are chocked off, impeding Burton’s progress.

 

Does Burton notice the Civil Defense sign as he tries to navigate his way through the insane obstacle course? In an instance (one of many in this film) of perfect irony it reads,

 

“Alert Today – Alive tomorrow.

Support National Civil Defence.”

 

Yeah, right! That worked out well!

 

What he does notice from the waterfront is a view of NYC standing eerily silent and shrouded in haze. So too stands the Statue of Liberty and all she was supposed to have represented framed for Burton by rotting timbers. Not long ago she stood as a beacon for liberty and a symbol for the huddled masses seeking freedom from tyranny and a new start in life. Now the sentinel stands silent for there are no more masses huddled or otherwise to be welcomed.

 

The only refugee seems to be the solitary Burton who has commandeered a boat which he uses to cross the water into NYC.

 

“Hello, It’s me, Ralph Burton. I’m alive!”

 

So shouts the diminutive solitary figure of Burton as he stumbles, staggers and weaves his way along the empty canyons and chasms of the city, his only company the echoing replies of his footfalls. The gods look down on him from above and note his pathetic skittering wanderings as if he were a little ant cut off from the collective life of the colony. Burton’s upward gaze also only serves to highlight his own individual insignificance and sense of isolation amid the brooding and looming man-made monoliths. Surprising how a deserted city can feel dizzyingly oppressive as if it were closing and pressing in on one.

 

rs a church but with caution as he approaches the door to the one-time sanctuary armed with a Geiger counter. The church bell he rings summons no-one and is heard only by mute statues depicting creatures representing hubris, power and pride. Inside the church, Burton’s outstretched arm signifies a silent appeal to the All-mighty asking Him why this has happened. Having received no answer, no explanation and no solace, Burton breaks down in tears of despair.

 

“Out!….Why are you hiding?”

 

Burton fires the last of his bullets and shouts out, “I can feel you all staring at me!” as he forlornly tows a wheeled cart carrying his belongings behind him. He later sits down to prepare and eat a meal while perched on a white line in the middle of the road. Despite the refuse and disorder surrounding him, Burton crosses to the other side of the street to dispose of his rubbish. It is as if there were a fine line that divides civilization from chaos. It all depends on which side of that line we decide to step that will determine the outcome. The world Burton knew took that step to one side of the line and paid the price, but he is determined to step onto the other side of that line and retain some semblance of a civilised life.

 

3.28

 

Burton’s next stop is at radio station WKYI. The electric wall clock had stopped at 3.28, presumably the time at which the catastrophe struck. Burton activates a recording which contains information about what happened. On the tape it is announced that the station had “lost London an hour ago” and that “San Francisco went off last night.” It appears that an unidentified nation had unleashed a vast cloud of radioactive sodium dust into the atmosphere as part of an attack on an enemy nation. The sodium dust cloud got out of control and within days the fallout had spread all over the entire world with lethal consequences for every living creature in its path. In just three years’ time the real world will experience a scenario that would come uncomfortably close to achieving such an outcome!

 

The voice on the tape suggests that the announcer’s co-worker Frank had just died, that it was all “too late” and that there was “no place to go.” He makes a last pathetic appeal to anyone who may be listening by asking if there’s “anybody there….anybody?” There is and he replies too late, “Just me...I’m here.”

 

Burton exits the radio station and tosses a coin into the air. Will it matter which side it lands? Will Burton just have to rely on Fate to decide the path he will take? As he moves off, the feet of a stranger (a female) suddenly appears, walks over the discarded coin and follows closely behind him. It seems there’s a new twist of Fate in the offing.

 

How many of us have from time to time fantasized about what it would be like if everyone else in the world would just disappear. There are times when the prospect of us being the only one left in the world would seem like paradise. After all, people can be so damn annoying. The world would be a great place if it wasn’t for human beings! Take people out of the equation and you would remove all the hustle and bustle of life, the pressures that are imposed on each of us, the pettiness and stupidity, the pointless divisions, the endless round and hassles of the rat race and so on and so on.

 

Then again, even while being surrounded by people in a densely populated city it is possible for an individual to feel terribly lonely, isolated, marginalized and alienated – quite often based on ethnicity, skin color, age, socio-economic status and so on.

 

For Ralph Burton, having suddenly found himself in a vacant New York City, living a life without human physical, intellectual and emotional contact is about to become a grim reality……

 

1: The Loneliest Number

 

The incessant rain and whipping wind seem delighted to be liberated to do their work of cleansing the deserted streets of the city. Little does Burton know that he is being observed as his heart skips a beat upon seeing a baby’s pram being almost mockingly blown past him by the wicked wind. What need is there for him to be standing outside and mercilessly assaulted by the elements? His place of residence is suddenly proclaimed by a sign advertising, “Two bedroom apartments – Vacancy.” I wonder if the irony of that last word has escaped his attention?

 

And so our hero begins his life of solitude by keeping mind and body active, lest his spirit succumb to the ravages of isolation and solitude. A practical man he is too for he employs his welding and electrical skills to good effect by restoring light and power to his apartment block.

 

Burton has also begun transferring books from the nearby library with the leaking roof to the floor below his flat as a means of preserving part of the learning and culture of his civilization. Some might ask, why bother? Why indeed. Burton’s actions suggests some kind of purpose and optimism on his part in that he hasn’t entirely given up on civilization or the future. There is still some importance and value he attaches to mankind's artistic endeavors which he wants to preserve, despite the fact that he might be the last person on Earth.

 

Alas, our social creature has only two store mannequins for company: the mockingly smiling Snodgrass and the elegantly aloof Betsy. Cold, emotionless, unresponsive, inanimate and quite dead relics from the cult of consumerism.

 

As the lights come on in Burton’s corner of the world, we see the watching woman turn to face a shop window behind which a small mechanical man goes through its pre-programmed routine and which seems to turn its head to briefly face her. What she wants, however is a man of flesh and blood for company and not just some mechanical mockery of humanity.

 

Barton, obviously pleased with his achievements, notices his shadow being cast on a wall by the artificial lights. With a feeling of joie de vivre, he performs a bit of jig and pantomime as his shadow grows larger. It’s as if his body has been vaporized by an atomic blast leaving only a shadow-like representation of what he was on the wall. Despite the joy he feels, is there a kind of pathos involved here in the form of a symbolic representation of his fate should he be destined to live all alone? Will he in effect become little more than a shadow - a parody of his former self – a black man in a white man’s world but not seen as having substance as a man?

 

Burton decides to survey his little kingdom from on high - one single glimmer of hope amid the dark stony silence of a dead city.

 

“I've laid around and played around this old town too long, And I feel like I gotta travel on”

 

With his train set set up and running in his apartment, our multi-talented hero strums a tune on his guitar and sings about the need to travel on, having been in this town too long. With only his two eternally frozen mannequins as his audience, Burton suddenly turns on the grinning Snodgrass and challenges it: “What’s so funny? I’m lonely and you’re laughin’...You don’t care, do you? No sadness, no feeling!” Expressing what many who are part of any marginalized minority group, Burton lashes out at Snodgrass by stating, “you look at me but you don’t see me!” before casting him out of the third story window.

 

 

 

Sunday April 9

 

As Snodgrass crashes on to the pavement, the watching woman is close-by and screams in shock thinking that it must have been the man she had been observing for so long who had thrown himself out of the window in a desperate act of suicide.

 

Her screams attract the attention of Burton and immediately brings the realization that he is no longer alone. One would expect that two such lonely and desperate people would fly towards each other in their craving for human contact like a couple of magnets. And yet their speech comes across like lines of written dialogue being read with caution and in a stilted manner. The watching woman even shies away from Burton as he physically draws closer to her which causes him to observe, “we’re probably the only two people in the world and all you can say is ‘don’t touch me.’” He follows this up with...”look I live here. Drop me a postcard some time.”

 

Is the woman responding to an acquired or learned fear of strange men and what could be on their minds in such a situation of being alone with a vulnerable woman? Or is it perhaps a socially learned taboo of a white girl being alone with a “colored” man whose intentions are probably assumed to be evil.

 

After mutually deciding to start over again with proper introductions, Burton learns that the woman’s name is Sarah Crandall and that she had been in a decompression chamber with two others when disaster struck. The other two she was with left the chamber too early and had died.

 

Burton then asks Sarah where she lives and asks her if she’ll be coming back. Her body language gives away her desire and longing to be with and stay with Burton which she expresses out loud stating, “I need you Ralph Burton.” Instead of acting on this understandable and purely human need, he simply replies, “I’m here.” It seems that he too is feeling the weight of society’s baggage despite the wiping away of the old civilization and its conventions and morays. An ominous rumble of thunder foreshadows trouble ahead.

 

Burton suddenly asks Sarah what day it is and the date. The fact that she knows suggests that Sarah has indeed been keeping track of the passage of time and that is all she has had to do so far. What a reminder it must have been of her lonely despairing predicament and what would be in front of her for the rest of her days!

 

[Side Note: On April 9 1914 a film called, "World, the Flesh & the Devil" was one of the first full color feature films, shown in London where it premiered at the Holborn Empire, High Holborn.

 

This (now lost) British silent film was made using the additive color ‘Kinemacolor’ process. The film’s plot involved babies being switched at birth and the results of mistaken identity. Coincidence?]

 

“This is New York calling the world. There are two of us alive in New York City.”

 

So how goes things for these two people who are left alive in New York City…..?

 

Ralph has opened a line of communication with Sarah by getting the phone to work and has also begun regular broadcasts on the radio, hoping to contact other survivors.

 

While having lunch together, Sarah asks Ralph, “Ralph, wouldn’t it be easier if I moved into this building?” “No,” Ralph replies curtly. “Why not?” Sarah asks him. “People might talk.” Ralph replies.

 

Sarah seems to be unconcerned about their racial differences, but Ralph is still hamstrung by the prohibitions that had existed over such matters within a racist society. Even the sight of his dark-skinned hand against the whiteness of Sarah’s dress as he reaches to take away her white plate seems to reinforce this fact for him.

 

Sarah and Ralph quarrel, each of them slicing at each other through the emotional and sexual tension with knives of misplaced anger. Sarah a young and vital woman, declares that along with everything else, “everything is getting rusty, including me.”

 

Without even thinking Sarah then blurts out, “I’m free, white and 21 and I’m going to do what I please.” It’s a kind of statement that although laden with social meaning and significance, is often non-nonchalantly made without a second thought. It is one of the many small conduits by which the cancer of a civilization can spread and do it’s damaging and destructive work.

 

It is this cancer that has also invaded and infected Ralph that causes him to feel that he is unable to bring himself to acknowledge the feelings that are building up within himself and Sarah, as well as the changed circumstances they both find themselves in. As a consequence, Sarah comes to the realization that, “no matter what happens I’ll never get married….There’s nobody left to marry anybody.” Incredibly, Ralph seems to jump at this opportunity to justify his sheer idiocy by telling Sarah that he’ll find somebody for her to marry and that he’ll perform the marriage himself. He then states, “you can’t be too particular, you’ll have to take what you can get.” Does he get the irony of that statement as it applies to their own situation?

 

When Ralph reluctantly agrees to cut Sarah’s hair, he makes a mess of it and the whole scene seems to highlight the predicament of their situation. Ralph eventually blurts out in frustration, “don’t look at me, you make me nervous” and tells Sarah to do it herself. On the surface it appears that Ralph is out of his depth, but his anger has a deeper cause – a fear of doing it all wrong if he becomes involved with Sarah. And so the clippings of Sarah’s soft blonde colored cut hair are quickly blown away by Ralph as soon as they fall and caress the back of his dark-skinned hand.

 

Sarah points out to Ralph that, he’s “taking too long to accept things. This is the world we live in. We’re alone and we have to go on from there.”

 

Ralph finally comes to the crux of the matter when he is forced point blank to acknowledge to Sarah that, “if you’re squeamish about words, I’m colored and if you face facts I’m a negro. If you’re a polite southerner I’m a negre and I’m a nigger if you’re not.”

 

He then goes on to point out to Sarah the power to wound that words have when he alludes to her earlier reference to being young, white and free and how it was like an arrow in his guts, even though she had probably heard and used it a thousand times before.

 

“Civilisation's back”

 

Ralph finally establishes contact with someone who appears to be located in Paris, France. He at first excitedly goes to ring Sarah to tell her there are other people alive but then hesitates and pensively considers this fact. Why? On the one hand, the end of civilization as he and Sarah had known it ought to have brought with it the elimination of all the pointless prejudices and bigotry that Ralph had to live through and that had divided groups of human beings based solely on their race and the color of their skin. On the other hand, now that contact has been made with other survivors, would they see the world in a changed light or would they just bring the cancer of civilization along with them?

 

After a few days’ disappearance, Ralph has returned and has organized a birthday celebration for Sarah. It almost seems that Sarah finally has the chance to be a woman and that perhaps she and Ralph could establish a romantic intimate relationship.

 

Ralph plays all the roles at the hotel restaurant from singer to waiter: all the roles except one! When Sarah inquires if Mr Burton might join her, Ralph pulls out a verbal knife and inserts it into her heart by stating that “Mr. Burton isn’t permitted to sit with the customers.”

 

As a song plays in the background with the lyrics, “I kissed from a distance,” Ralph reveals to Sarah, “That’s right, you and I are not alone in the world anymore – Civilization’s back.” Sarah then asks him, “would it really make that much of a difference?” Ralph replies, “You know it makes a difference, Miss Crandall.”

 

Maintaining her dignity, but obviously cut to the quick, Sarah states before exiting,“I have pride too, you know. Good night Ralph.” Ralph is then left alone with the ironic sound of recorded applause, a sarcastic rebuttal of his cruel denial. Had civilization ever really departed?

 

“A boat in the river under its own power”

 

A few days later, an added complication sails into Sarah and Ralph’s world in the form of an old boat chugging its way towards them in the harbor. Its pilot is a man by the name of Benson Thacker who introduces himself as “the total population of the southern hemisphere.”

 

Ben is clearly ill and Ralph and Sarah take him off to Ralph’s place to nurse him back to health. Ralph is quite aware of the implications of Ben’s arrival when he tells Sarah that in Ben’s case “dying’s nothing. Maybe I’m worried about what will happen if he lives.”

 

The ramifications of Ben’s arrival upon the stuttering and staggering developing relationship between Ralph and Sarah become apparent almost immediately after Ben regains consciousness.

 

“Which floor do you live on?” Ben asks of Sarah.

 

“I don’t live here. I have a place of my own,” replies Sarah to which Ben meaningfully responds with, “I see...”

 

Feeling the need to explain the situation, Sarah informs Ben that “I’d rather live here but he wont let me.” Saying quite a lot without saying much, Ben then comments that Ralph must be “quite a guy.”

 

The expression on Ralph’s face as he enters the room while the other two joke around as Sarah prepares and threatens to cut Ben’s beard, doesn’t require dialogue to convey what he is thinking and feeling.

 

The situation involving Ralph and Sarah is summed up neatly in Ben’s mind when Sarah asks Ralph if he wants to stay for lunch and he merely responds that he would…..if she doesn’t mind. The scene is set for a rather interesting, volatile and pathetic love triangle.

 

“You and I and Ralph”

 

Not surprisingly, we discover that Ralph has been avoiding Sarah and Ben for a week.

 

In the meantime, Sarah and Ben have organized a picnic and Sarah asks Ralph with a rather meaningful look, “come with us, there’s enough for three.” Half-heartedly, Ben chimes in with, “Yeah, come with us.” Later on Ben surmises that Ralph is deliberately leaving him and Sarah alone together and wonders why.

 

Meanwhile, in quite a symbolic scene, we see Ralph holding a picture of a black man who is alone in a boat at sea and is struggling against a tempest. Ralph looks in the mirror and comments, “Poor slob. All alone in the world,” and crashes the edge of the picture frame into the mirror on the wall, breaking the mirror’s glass.

 

Sure, Ralph appears to be unable to shake off civilization’s finger-wagging admonishing taboos and morays. Unfortunately, he comes off as being like a confused teenager who is obviously in love but feels both unwilling and unable to show his love or do anything about it. This is made even more plain considering the circumstances they have found themselves to be in. Instead, all he can do is adopt the stance of a long suffering and self-sacrificing martyr who is willing to let the one he loves fall into another’s embraces. Ralph cannot even bring himself to pack up and leave the scene of his obvious distress. It’s as if he is wallowing in his own suffering and self-pity.

 

At the picnic we gain some insight into Ben’s character. He sarcastically tells Sarah that “somebody somewhere pushed a button” causing him to become “an ex-idealist.”

 

Sarah, however sees through him and replies that no one who says that is an “ex” anything.

 

We also learn that Ben had been married with two children. Sarah on the other hand, admits that she has never been married …….or “anything.” Ben then observes that “sooner or later you and I are going to have to discuss that.” Sarah qualifies that observation by correcting him, “you and I and Ralph.”

 

Not all the sides of this love-triangle seem to fit all that well. It seems though that with the law of supply and demand being what it is, Sarah is the one with the real bargaining power and she is in a sense quite right with her observation above. Conditions have changed and so must their expectations of the kind of arrangement or relationship that is to form between the three of them.

 

We next see the trio watching a news reel movie with the title, ‘Faulty wire trips the Vanguard and World lovelies take Ferris ride.’ Ralph rather sardonically tells the other two, “this is what I found, everyone having a good time.” With this clever juxtaposition of items, we are presented with a scenario in which people are depicted as blissfully enjoying the fruits of civilization while having failed (perhaps despite the earlier warnings) to notice the seeds of their own destruction being sown in the form of fallible destructive human technology placed at the disposal of fallible human beings giving vent to their destructive impulses. The result? The end of civilisation. Sound at all familiar?

 

When Sarah suggests they have drinks, Ralph simply requests a beer. As if rubbing salt into Ralph’s wounds, Ben asks for the usual and adds, “you know what I like.” The message is delivered loud and clear to Ralph.

 

“Something’s got to give.”

 

Ralph tells Ben that he reminds him of a fellow called Snodgrass and how he couldn’t tell what was on his mind as well. We all know what happened to good old Snodgrass!

 

Ben says to Ralph, “nice of you to give me a clear field” which stings all the more since it implies that Ralph was doing him some kind of favour. Ben by this stage is reaching boiling point and he points out to Ralph that “something’s got to give.” Ralph replies, “I already have. More than I have to. More than I want to. As much as I’m going to.”

 

After telling Ralph it might’ve been better to have let him die and tritely pointing out that “some things work out and some things don’t,” Ben pokes Ralph with his walking stick, not once but twice. One couldn’t think of a more disrespectful thing for an adult to do to another adult in order to get that person’s attention. You would have to wonder whether he would have done that if Ralph was a white man.

 

Hold that thought, because Ben says to Ralph “I have nothing against Negroes,” to which Ralph sarcastically replies, “that’s white of you.” Ben sounds like one of those radio talk-back listeners who ring up during hysterical tirades against minority ethnic and racial groups and begins with the statement, “I’m not a racist, but…..” Then why bring it up? Scratch the surface of many of us (irrespective of so-called race, or ethnicity, nationality, etc) and we’d be surprised at what we’d uncover about ourselves despite our protestations to the contrary.

 

Sarah re-enters the room while the two men quarrel over her and she asks them why they don’t just toss a coin to decide.

 

After Sarah rushes out into the street, Ben takes off after her. Sarah finds out that Ralph had sent him after her which as far as she is concerned amounts to a kind of last straw. In a fit of emotional desperation she clings to Ben in a passionate embrace and pleads with him to make her forget. Suddenly, Sarah runs off from Ben which almost sends him into an emotional tail-spin. He then makes for the nearest gun shop (no background checks needed!) to obtain the means to wipe out one side of this unhinged triangle. Fortunately, the civilized man in Ben re-asserts himself and he changes his mind.

 

After a two weeks’ absence. Sarah calls in on Ralph with some flowers that are in bloom. Adding to the sense of new-found hope, Ralph has received a signal from Europe.

 

Any hope involving their relationship however, appears to be dashed as Ralph feigns being busy and simply tells Sarah, “you know how it is.” After further discussion between the two, Ralph finally declares his love for Sarah. However, he tells her that he wants Ben to have her! Quite rightly, Sarah points out that “sooner or later someone’s going to have to ask me what I want,” to which Ralph replies, “it wont be me that asks.”

 

Considering how Sarah and Ralph feel about each other, Ralph’s almost incomprehensible attitude, his decision to remain close-by and Ben’s obvious frustration, the emotional magma is set to rise up from a subterranean chamber of turmoil, discontent and frustration before exploding in a final dramatic fiery eruption.

 

We next see Ben playing the piano at Sarah’s place. On the surface it seems as if Ralph’s attitude has decided matters as far as Ben and Sarah are concerned. The sudden flickering of the lights serve as a reminder of Ralph’s presence both in a physical sense as well as his presence in Sarah’s heart. It’s not something one can wipe away with sex or the tyranny of distance.

 

We now see another side of Ben, more determined to get what he wants. Sensing this, Sarah comments to Ben, “Ralph says you are good man. Are you?” For Ben the whole situation has simply narrowed down the topics of conversation and requires no need for “parlour games….Meanwhile, me man, you girl.”

 

Ben believes that when he had earlier kissed Sarah, she had finally come alive, but that now he’s sick of just talking. He even tells Sarah, “I could force you...no-one to hear you scream….Shall I force you?”

 

For Sarah, such a brutal and ugly course of action would be “a way of getting me to make up my mind.” In frustration she says to Ben, “I’m sick of you both.” She’s sick of Ralph who doesn’t know what he wants, whereas all Ben can think of is what he wants.

 

“World War Four”

 

Ben finally decides to settle matters with Ralph by confronting him face-to-face. He accuses Ralph of being “everywhere, that’s the trouble. Plotting and scheming like some fancy spider.” He wants him just to “move on. See how things are like in Chicago or San Francisco.”

 

Ralph tells him, “running away isn’t my style.” This is unacceptable to Ben who says to Ralph, “I’d keep watching for you every day, around every corner…...Well it’s you or me.”

 

Ralph pointedly says to Ben, “make no mistake. I’ll kill you if you push me to it.” Ralph even has a chance to shoot him in the back but Ben knows him well enough to take a chance that he wont do it and walks out of room all the time with his back to Ralph. Before Ben departs, Ralph is put on notice by him that the next time he sees Ralph, he will try to kill him.

 

We next see the two armed men hunting each other through the empty streets. The implications contained in the course of action they have embarked on seem to be remarked on by a sign warning to ‘Watch Your Step’ located at a subway entrance. As if anyone would need reminding considering the course of action that was decided and embarked upon by their civilisation which led to its demise! And yet, here we go again….

 

Another sign attached to a pole above where Ralph pauses brandishing his rifle stands as an ironic comment on the nature of the two men’s actions. It warns of a “Fine” that would’ve in the past been imposed for a minor civic violation which is in stark contrast to the kinds of crimes against humanity that have already been committed and that are now about to be committed by the remaining remnants of humanity hell bent on killing each other!

 

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

 

During the pursuit through the streets of the city, Burton stops to read the sign outside UN building:

 

“They shall beat their swords into plow shares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

(Book of Isaiah 2:4)

 

The full import of the words leads to Ralph throwing down his gun and heading off to face Ben unarmed. As soon as the two men come face-to-face, Ben challenges Ralph, “Why wont you fight?”

 

Two signs in background indicate “One Way,” as if silently hinting at the only possible direction or path for the two men to proceed along in order to avoid repeating the mistakes made by and ultimate fate of their civilisation. Ben finds himself unable to shoot Ralph and defeated, he starts walking away.

 

As Sarah approaches, Ralph tells her that the reason he’s alive is to save things where ever he can. Sarah, however tells him that he can’t go and holds out her hand and he takes it: Black and white joined together. After calling Ben back to join them, all three walk onward hand-in-hand toward a new future with the (now rather cliched) closing words, “The Beginning’’ instead of the conventional “The End” appearing on the screen.  

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this volume of “Sci-Fi Film Fiesta.”

Keep an eye out for Volume 8: Big Bugs & Crazy Critters 

 

 

Useful Resources

 

Atkinson, Barry., Atomic Age Cinema The Offbeat, the Classic and the Obscure, Midnight Marquee Press, Inc.; 2013

 

Bliss, Michael., Invasions USA The Essential Science Fiction Films of the 1950s, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2014.

 

 

Chambers, Jim., Recollections: A Baby Boomer's Memories of the Fabulous Fifties,    Lulu.com, 2009

 

Fischer, Dennis., Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998, McFarland, 2011

 

Geraghty, Lincoln., American Science Fiction Film and Television, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009

 

Hendershot, Cyndy., Paranoia, The Bomb, And 1950s Science Fiction Films, University of Wisconsin Press, 1999

 

Hogan, David J. (Editor)., Invasion USA: Essays on Anti-Communist Movies of the 1950s and 1960s, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2017

 

Koca, Gary., Good and Bad Sci-Fi/Horror Movies of the 1950s: And the Stars Who Were in Those Films, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017

 

Moore, Theresa M., & Carlyle, Patrick C., Science Fiction Films of The 20th Century 1950-1954,  Antellus, 2019 

 

Moore, Theresa M., Science Fiction Films of The 20th Century 1955-1956, Antellus, 2019 

 

Moore, Theresa M., Science Fiction Films of The 20th Century 1958 Anrellus, 2019 

 

Seed, David., Science Fiction: A Very Short Introduction., Oxford University Press, 2011 

  

Warren, Bill., Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Films of the Fifties:  McFarland; 21st Century Edition, 2016

 

Wylie, Philip. & Balmer, Edwin., WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE,  Warner Books, Canada, 1975

 

 

Useful Links To On-Line Resources

 

When Worlds Collide (1951)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDB 

 

at scifist.net 

 

 

Five (1951)  

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDB 

 

 

1984 (1954)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDB 

 

 

Day the World Ended (1955)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDB 

 

at 1000misspenthours.com 

 

 

World Without End (1956)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDB 

 

at manapop.com 

 

at scifist.net 

 

 

The Night the World Exploded (1957)

 

at IMDB 

 

at manapop.com 

 

 

The Monolith Monsters (1957)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDB 

 

at manapop.com 

 

 

The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDB 

 

at cinemaretro.com 

 

at 1000misspenthours.com 

 

 

 

DVD / Streaming:  

 

• A Century of Science Fiction, 1996 Directed by Ted Newsom., American Documentary, narrated by Christopher Lee (available free on Tubitv and showing on other streaming services)

•  

• Hollywood in the Atomic Age: Monsters! Martians! Mad Scientists! Marshall Publishing & Promotions, Inc. 2021 (Stream on Tubi tv for free)  

   

• 100 Seconds To Midnight: Doomsday Clock (tubitv) 

   

• Doomsday: 10 Ways the World Will End., TV Series, 2016–