Flicks of Shame: what's a nice actor like you doing in a movie like this?

The Day The Earth Caught Fire (1961)

There are two good reasons to seek out this stark sci-fi thriller. The first is that, despite the lurid title, it’s actually one of the finest British films of its era – a truly disturbing and realistic tale of the end of the world that seems horribly prescient with its themes of climate change and environmental ruin.

Our imminent doom in this instance comes as a result of simultaneous nuclear tests which knock the Earth out of orbit, setting it on an inexorable course into the sun. We view the events through the eyes of Peter Stenning, a booze-soaked hack struggling to keep a grip on his job at the Daily Express. As the disaster unfolds, from freak weather through to the complete breakdown of society as water runs out and temperatures soar, he embarks on a desperate affair with Jeannie, the young woman from the government’s Meteorological Office who confides the true scale of the problem to him.

The second good reason for tracking this film down is the tiny appearance by Michael Caine, then still three years away from Zulu and international fame. As one of the few remaining policemen keeping law and order in London as the end draws nigh, the youthful Caine helps direct Stenning through the chaos to Jeannie’s flat, warning him that “some teenage gangs are kickin’ it up a bit”. Despite this rather useless and obvious advice – the world is ending, after all - there’s some small amount of comfort in knowing that the fall of mankind, when it comes, will be policed by Michael bloody Caine.

Need to know: The Day The Earth Caught Fire was conceived and directed by Val Guest, who most famously helmed the movie versions of Nigel Kneale’s equally cerebral sci-fi series, Quatermass.
The role of Stenning was played by Edward Judd, a rugged rough diamond type who graced many early British genre flicks such as Invasion, Island of Terror, Vengeance of She and The Vault of Horror, while Jeanne was played by Janet Munro, who later put her pixie-like good looks to fine use in Disney’s live action leprechaun comedy, Darby O’Gill and the Little People (see: Sean Connery). Also co-starring in the planet’s crispy demise was Leo McKern, who blurts out “The stupid irresponsible idiots! They finally did it!” seven whole years before Charlton Heston pounded the sand and cried something remarkably similar in Planet of the Apes.

Honourable mentions: Despite his iconic turns in films like Alfie, Get Carter and The Italian Job, Caine spent a large portion of the late Seventies, Eighties and Nineties appearing in some truly awful movies, including (but not limited to) the killer bee clunker The Swarm, the soggy disaster sequel Beyond the Poseidon Adventure and, of course, the immortal crappy majesty of Jaws IV: The Revenge, in which a shark tracks Chief Brody’s family all the way to the Bahamas in order to wreak bloody vengeance. Also featuring Mario Van Peebles as the most offensively unconvincing cinematic rasta ever (at least until Jar Jar Binks came along) it was because of filming on Jaws IV that Caine was unable to collect his Oscar for Woody Allen’s Hannah and her Sisters. To make matters worse, despite the shark exploding for no apparent reason at the end, Caine doesn’t even get to make a quip about “blowing the bloody jaws off”.

Availability: The Day The Earth Caught Fire is available in a fairly robust DVD special edition in the UK.

		The Day The Earth Caught Fire (1961) There are two good reasons to seek out this stark sci-fi thriller. The first is that, despite the lurid title, it’s actually one of the finest British films of its era – a truly disturbing and realistic tale of the end of the world that seems horribly prescient with its themes of climate change and environmental ruin. Our imminent doom in this instance comes as a result of simultaneous nuclear tests which knock the Earth out of orbit, setting it on an inexorable course into the sun. We view the events through the eyes of Peter Stenning, a booze-soaked hack struggling to keep a grip on his job at the Daily Express. As the disaster unfolds, from freak weather through to the complete breakdown of society as water runs out and temperatures soar, he embarks on a desperate affair with Jeannie, the young woman from the government’s Meteorological Office who confides the true scale of the problem to him. The second good reason for tracking this film down is the tiny appearance by Michael Caine, then still three years away from Zulu and international fame. As one of the few remaining policemen keeping law and order in London as the end draws nigh, the youthful Caine helps direct Stenning through the chaos to Jeannie’s flat, warning him that “some teenage gangs are kickin’ it up a bit”. Despite this rather useless and obvious advice – the world is ending, after all - there’s some small amount of comfort in knowing that the fall of mankind, when it comes, will be policed by Michael bloody Caine. Need to know: The Day The Earth Caught Fire was conceived and directed by Val Guest, who most famously helmed the movie versions of Nigel Kneale’s equally cerebral sci-fi series, Quatermass. The role of Stenning was played by Edward Judd, a rugged rough diamond type who graced many early British genre flicks such as Invasion, Island of Terror, Vengeance of She and The Vault of Horror, while Jeanne was played by Janet Munro, who later put her pixie-like good looks to fine use in Disney’s live action leprechaun comedy, Darby O’Gill and the Little People (see: Sean Connery). Also co-starring in the planet’s crispy demise was Leo McKern, who blurts out “The stupid irresponsible idiots! They finally did it!” seven whole years before Charlton Heston pounded the sand and cried something remarkably similar in Planet of the Apes. Honourable mentions: Despite his iconic turns in films like Alfie, Get Carter and The Italian Job, Caine spent a large portion of the late Seventies, Eighties and Nineties appearing in some truly awful movies, including (but not limited to) the killer bee clunker The Swarm, the soggy disaster sequel Beyond the Poseidon Adventure and, of course, the immortal crappy majesty of Jaws IV: The Revenge, in which a shark tracks Chief Brody’s family all the way to the Bahamas in order to wreak bloody vengeance. Also featuring Mario Van Peebles as the most offensively unconvincing cinematic rasta ever (at least until Jar Jar Binks came along) it was because of filming on Jaws IV that Caine was unable to collect his Oscar for Woody Allen’s Hannah and her Sisters. To make matters worse, despite the shark exploding for no apparent reason at the end, Caine doesn’t even get to make a quip about “blowing the bloody jaws off”. Availability: The Day The Earth Caught Fire is available in a fairly robust DVD special edition in the UK.
Text © 2008 Dan Whitehead. No cut and paste, y'hear? All images remain the property of the offending studios and their reproduction is covered by Fair Use law.