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The Day the Earth Caught Fire

Play trailer Poster for The Day the Earth Caught Fire 1961 1h 39m Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 84% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Peter Stenning (Edward Judd) is a depressed British reporter who gets by with the help of his friend, veteran journalist Bill Maguire (Leo McKern). Along with weather forecaster Jeannie Craig (Janet Munro), Peter and Bill discover that simultaneous U.S. and Russian nuclear explosions have drastically altered the earth's rotation. Fires and earthquakes ravage cities all over the world, and chaos and sickness descend upon the frightened survivors as they try to put the planet back on its axis.
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The Day the Earth Caught Fire

Critics Reviews

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Joe Clay The Times (UK) 01/29/2024
Told through two reporters, played by Edward Judd and Leo McKern, it’s a gripping mix of thriller and science fiction. Go to Full Review Times (UK) Staff The Times (UK) 07/14/2020
Script and direction combine to make the film a good example of its kind. Go to Full Review James Kendrick Q Network Film Desk 07/28/2020
3.5/4
uncommonly intelligent in its treatment of a truly horrific doomsday scenario Go to Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 07/11/2020
3.5/4
End-of-the-world sagas are a dime-a-dozen, but here's one that's worth at least a few bills. Go to Full Review Jennie Kermode Eye for Film 02/24/2020
4.5/5
It may be fantastic in theme but it's journalistic in form and this makes it easy to accept. Go to Full Review Clyde Gilmour Maclean's Magazine 10/11/2019
A compelling science-fiction opus from Britain - less hypnotic, perhaps, than last year's Village of the Damned but superior to most of its competitors. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Shaun B 07/03/2024 Top notch B/W British sci-fi.Engrossing and pretty scary. See more 08/26/2021 They should have shown this film as part of my journalism degree. See more Bradley H 12/12/2020 Exceptionally well written and fast paced drama that's especially prescient after covid19 and our approaching climate meltdown. Great acting from the likes of Leo McKean best known from Rumpole of the Bailey and others, you feel, having great fun with the smart dialogue. One interesting note is the disproportionate number of rather stunning and well endowed actresses for the era. A possible predilection of the director? See more delysid d 03/14/2019 Oh No! It's the End of the World! See more 10/15/2018 A cracking British film. Low budget but high on good old-fashioned character acting. Yes it teeters towards cliche now and then but overall it delivers a message without preaching. See more 11/08/2017 Only in the final three minutes does Val Guest's dull and talky Armageddon movie achieve poetry. Which is a real shame, given the subject matter's potential: the end of the world as seen from a Fleet Street press room. Here, everyone talks at each other without listening, and Edward Judd bulldozes his way charmlessly. Writer-director Guest films everything flatly and even the inserted library shots of firefights and ice storms fail to arouse much interest. And I haven't even touched on the dreadful performance by real-life Express editor, Arthur Christiansen. See more Read all reviews
The Day the Earth Caught Fire

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Cast & Crew

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Val Guest

Director

Janet Munro

Jeannie Craig

Leo McKern

Bill Maguire

Edward Judd

Peter Stenning

Michael Goodliffe

Jacko Jackson the Night Editor

Bernard Braden

Davis the News Editor

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The Day the Earth Caught Fire

The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Peter Stenning (Edward Judd) is a depressed British reporter who gets by with the help of his friend, veteran journalist Bill Maguire (Leo McKern). Along with weather forecaster Jeannie Craig (Janet Munro), Peter and Bill discover that simultaneous U.S. and Russian nuclear explosions have drastically altered the earth's rotation. Fires and earthquakes ravage cities all over the world, and chaos and sickness descend upon the frightened survivors as they try to put the planet back on its axis.
Director
Val Guest
Producer
Val Guest
Screenwriter
Wolf Mankowitz, Val Guest
Production Co
Pax Films
Genre
Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 6, 2016
Runtime
1h 39m
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