| The Night the World Exploded | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Fred F. Sears |
| Written by | Jack Natteford Luci Ward |
| Produced by | Sam Katzman |
| Starring | Kathryn Grant William Leslie |
| Narrated by | Gerald Mohr |
| Cinematography | Benjamin H. Kline Irving Lippman |
| Edited by | Paul Borofsky Al Clark |
| Music by | Ross DiMaggio |
| Color process | Black and white |
Production company | Clover Productions |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 64 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Night the World Exploded is a 1957 Americanscience fictiondisaster film directed byFred F. Sears. The film was written byJack Natteford andLuci Ward and produced bySam Katzman.[1] Both Katzman and Sears were known for theirB movie films.[2] The film was released in June 1957 by Columbia Pictures on adouble bill withThe Giant Claw (1957) .
The scientific team of Dr. David Conway (William Leslie), Dr. Ellis Morton (Tristram Coffin), and Laura Hutchinson (Kathryn Grant) has built a machine that can predict earthquakes. After predicting one will hitCalifornia within the next 24 hours to a uniformly skeptical Gov. Cheney (Raymond Greenleaf) and state-level political andcivil defense officials, the earthquake does materialize and does immense damage to northern parts of the state. Now with the support and funding necessary from the reformed skeptics, the team works on further predictions and comes to the conclusion that a wave of earthquakes is pending in and around the southwestern United States. They trace the epicenter of the pending disaster to an area beneath theCarlsbad Caverns and descend to a hitherto unexplored level.
Here they find a strange ore which, when removed from contact with water, becomes highly explosive, and realize that this element, somehow working its way from deep in the Earth, is responsible for the earthquakes. Although the material is not analyzed forspecific atomic traits, it is named Element 112 just because so far, 111 chemical elements had been discovered. A computer determines that in approximately one month, enough of Element 112 will emerge from the deep earth to cause the entire planet to explode. A desperate operation ensues worldwide to blast and trench the ground to let water in and cover Element 112, keeping it from drying out and expanding.
The Night the World Exploded went into production with shooting locations at theCarlsbad Caverns inNew Mexico; theIverson Movie Ranch inChatsworth, California; and the ElectroData (Burroughs) Corporation Building inPasadena, California. Principal photography took place from November 8–20, 1956.[3]
Columbia Pictures releasedThe Night the World Exploded theatrically as adouble bill withThe Giant Claw (1957) in June 1957. Critical reception was not positive, with Hal Erickson ofThe New York Times later commenting, "Despite all the scientific doublespeak, 'The Night the World Exploded' is doggedly non-intellectual in its execution and appeal."[4]
Film criticLeonard Maltin noted that the film disappointed: "Scientists discover a strange, exploding mineral that threatens to bring about title catastrophe and rush to prevent it. OK idea hampered by low budget."[5]
