Day the World Ended ** (1955, Richard Denning, Lori Nelson, Paul Birch, Adele Jergens, Mike Connors) – Classic Movie Review 7729

Producer-director Roger Corman’s 1955 independently made black-and-white post-apocalyptic science fiction film Day the World Ended is his vision of the devastation that follows an atomic war that has destroyed human civilisation: ridiculous rubber-suited mutants with three eyes, four arms, and for no particular good reason, numerous horns.

Meanwhile the heroes (Richard Denning, Lori Nelson and Paul Birch) battle with the nasty villains (Mike Connors and Paul Dubov) for their mountain cabin sanctuary and face off against a mutant monster for their survival.

The main cast are Richard Denning as Rick, Lori Nelson as Louise Maddison, Adele Jergens as Ruby, Mike Connors (aka Touch Connors) as Tony Lamont, Paul Birch as Jim Maddison, Raymond Hatton as Pete, Paul Dubov as Radek, and Jonathan Haze as contaminated man.

Special effects man Paul Blaisdell creates and plays the mutant monster, made from foam rubber, claws from a magic shop and toe nails carved from white pine. Roger Corman appears in a framed photograph as Louise’s fiancé Nelson. Chet Huntley of NBC, later of The Huntley-Brinkley Report, is the film’s narrator.

Day the World Ended is American Releasing Corporation’s and Corman’s first sci-fi adventure as director after two Westerns – Five Guns West (1955) and Apache Woman (1955)  – and it was a hit. The film was shot in 10 days on a budget of $96,234 and earned $400,000 within two months of release, in a double bill with The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues. Denning earned $7,500 plus a percentage of the profits. Corman followed it with Swamp Women (1956).

James H Nicholson, co-founder of American Releasing Corporation (later American International Pictures) dreamt up the title and then commissioned Lou Rusoff to write the screenplay.

‘It was a pretty smooth movie,’ recalls Corman.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7729

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