The Night the World Exploded * (1957, Kathryn Grant, William Leslie, Tristram Coffin) – Classic Movie Review 6109

‘Super-quake tilts the earth!’ Director Fred F Sears’s silly and not much fun 1957 science fiction film stars Kathryn Grant as Laura Hutchinson, William Leslie as Dr David Conway, Tristram Coffin as Dr Ellis Morton, Raymond Greenleaf as Governor Chaney and Charles Evans as General Bortes.

The ridiculous story is about scientists discovering a new mineral that lies dormant in watery pools in the Carlsbad Caverns but becomes violently explosive when in contact with air, then trying to stop the mineral when it threatens to explode the world. Though having the virtue of some originality, it proves a fairly useless and unworkable premise for the film.

The film is written by Jack Natteford and Luci Ward for producer Sam Katzman. They are the ones responsible for the almost total failure here, because the script’s lack of intelligence and the production’s lack of budget combine to sink it. On the other hand, it is short, at just 64 minutes, and easy to watch as an amusing curiosity.

Also in the cast are Frank J Scannell as Sheriff Quinn, Marshall Reed as the General’s aide, Fred Coby as Ranger Brown, Paul Savage as Ranger Gold, and Terry Frost as the chief rescue worker.

It was shot at the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California and the Databton Corporation Building in Pasadena from 8–20 November 1956.

Katzman and Sears were of course famous for their Fifties low-budget B-movies.

It was released by Columbia Pictures in a double bill with The Giant Claw.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6109

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