When Worlds Collide (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| When Worlds Collide | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Rudolph Maté |
| Produced by | George Pál |
| Written by | Edwin Balmer (novel) Philip Wylie (novel) Sydney Boehm |
| Starring | Richard Derr Barbara Rush Peter Hansen John Hoyt |
| Music by | Leith Stevens |
| Cinematography | W. Howard Greene John F. Seitz |
| Editing by | Arthur P. Schmidt |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August, 1951 |
| Running time | 83 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
When Worlds Collide is a 1951 science fiction film based on the 1932 novel co-written by Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer. The movie was filmed in Technicolor, directed by Rudolph Maté and was the winner of the 1951 Academy Award for special effects.
Producer George Pál considered making a sequel based on the novel After Worlds Collide, but the box office failure of his 1955 Conquest of Space made it impossible.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Pilot David Randall (Richard Derr) is paid to fly mysterious photographs from South African astronomer Dr. Emery Bronson (Hayden Rorke) to Dr. Cole Hendron (Larry Keating) in America. Hendron, with the assistance of his daughter Joyce (Barbara Rush), confirms their worst fears—that a gas giant rogue planet named Bellus is on a collision course with Earth. However, they believe that its Earth-sized companion, Zyra, could support human life. Hendron warns the delegates of the United Nations that the end of the world is little more than eight months away and pleads for the construction of spaceships to transport a lucky few to Zyra in the faint hope of saving the human race from extinction. However, other, equally distinguished scientists scoff at his claims, and he is not believed.
Hendron's group is forced to turn to wealthy, self-centered, wheelchair-bound industrialist Sidney Stanton (John Hoyt) to finance the private construction of an ark, in exchange for taking him along. The ark is a rocket designed to take off along a mile-long track built on a mountainside and land as a glider.
Joyce becomes attracted to Randall and prods her father into finding reasons to keep him around, much to the annoyance of her boyfriend, medical doctor Tony Drake (Peter Hansen).
The ship's construction is a race against time. Groups in other nations also begin building ships. As time begins running out, formerly-skeptical scientists admit that Hendron was right, and governments prepare for the inevitable.
Zyra first makes a close approach, its gravitational attraction causing massive earthquakes and tidal waves that wreak havoc. In the aftermath, Drake and Randall travel in a helicopter on a mission of mercy to provide assistance to survivors. When Randall alights to rescue a little boy, Drake has to resist a strong temptation to strand him.
As the day of doom approaches, the ship is loaded with food, microfiche copies of books, equipment, and animals. Finally, most of the passengers are selected by lottery, though Hendron exempts a handful of people: himself, Stanton, Joyce, Drake, pilot Dr. George Fry (Alden Chase), and Randall, for his daughter's sake. Randall refuses his seat and only pretends to participate in the lottery, believing that he has no useful skills. For Joyce's happiness, Drake deceives Randall by fabricating a "heart condition" for Fry, making a backup pilot necessary. Randall is the obvious choice.
The cynical Stanton becomes more anxious as time passes. Knowing human nature, he fears what the desperate lottery losers might do. As a precaution, he has stockpiled weapons. Stanton's fears prove accurate after the results are posted. First, his much-abused lackey, Ferris (Frank Cady), tries to get himself included in the crew at gunpoint, only to be shot dead by Stanton. Then, in the final hour, many of the those to be left behind riot, taking up Stanton's weapons to try and force their way aboard.
Hendron stays behind at the last moment, forcibly keeping the crippled Stanton and his wheelchair from boarding as well in order to lighten the spaceship. His sacrifice proves to be crucial as the fuel runs out too soon and the ship barely manages to glide to a rough landing on Zyra. The passengers debark and find the new planet to be (miraculously) hospitable. David Randall and Joyce Hendron walk hand-in-hand to explore their new home.
[edit] Cast
- Richard Derr as David Randall
- Larry Keating as Dr. Cole Hendron
- Barbara Rush as Joyce Hendron, his daughter
- John Hoyt as Sydney Stanton
- Peter Hansen as Dr. Tony Drake
- Alden Chase as Dr. George Frye, Dr Hendron's second in command
- Hayden Rorke as Dr. Emery Bronson
- Frank Cady as Harold Ferris, Stanton's assistant. He is better known for his roles in the TV series Green Acres and Petticoat Junction.
[edit] Planned remake
Steven Spielberg has announced that he will be the executive producer of a new version of When Worlds Collide to be released sometime in 2010 with director Stephen Sommers at the helm. The film is currently listed as being in the pre-production stages, and will be a co-production of Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks.[1]
[edit] Cultural references
The name When worlds collide was used in a Far Side cartoon, portraying aliens resembling giant buttocks with eye stalks on top landing on Earth, and seeing a goat.
The Iron Maiden song "When Two Worlds Collide" is apparently based on the novel.
The band Powerman 5000 has a song called "When Worlds Collide".
When Worlds Collide is the title of a 1975 album (the related single is "Did Worlds Collide?") by Richard Hudson and John Ford, their third release after leaving the Strawbs.
When Worlds Collide is one of the many classic movies referenced in the opening theme ("Science Fiction/Double Feature") of both the stage musical The Rocky Horror Show and its cinematic counterpart, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The film's producer, George Pál, is also mentioned.
When Worlds Collide is the title of an episode of the acclaimed TV show Numb3rs. The episode, number 418, aired on May 16, 2008. The Math Behind Numb3rs has an interesting page detailing the math in the episode. In this case the worlds that collide are the beliefs of the shows two Eppes brothers, Charlie and Don.
[edit] References
- ^ The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-02-26.
