1961 British science fiction disaster film directed by Val Guest
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Val Guest
Written by
Wolf Mankowitz Val Guest
Produced by
Val Guest Frank Sherwin Green
Starring
Janet Munro Leo McKern Edward Judd
Cinematography
Harry Waxman
Edited by
Bill Lenny
Music by
Stanley Black Monty Norman
Production companies
Val Guest Productions Pax Films
Distributed by
British Lion Films
Release date
23 November 1961 (1961-11-23) (London)
Running time
98 minutes
Country
United Kingdom
Budget
£190,000[1][2] or £213,581[3]
The Day the Earth Caught Fire is a 1961 British science fiction disaster film directed by Val Guest and starring Edward Judd, Leo McKern and Janet Munro.[4] It is one of the classic apocalyptic films of its era.[5][6][7] The film opened at the Odeon Marble Arch in London on 23 November 1961. In August 2014 a restored version was screened at the British Museum's summer open air cinema.[8]
The film, which was partly made on location in London and Brighton, used matte painting to create images of abandoned cities and desolate landscapes. The production also featured the real Daily Express, even using the paper's own headquarters, the Daily Express Building in Fleet Street and featuring Arthur Christiansen as the Express editor, a job he had held in real life.
^Tom Weaver, "Val Guest", Double Feature Creature Attack: A Monster Merger of Two More Volumes of Classic Interviews McFarland, 2003 p. 114
^Petrie, Duncan James (2017). "Bryanston Films : An Experiment in Cooperative Independent Production and Distribution" (PDF). Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television: 12. ISSN 1465-3451.
^Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 360
^"The Day the Earth Caught Fire". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
^Variety film review; 22 November 1961
^Harrison's Reports review; 13 January 1962, page 2.
^Dirks, Tim.filmsite.org
^Andrew Simms (1 September 2014). "A doomed Earth of science fiction may well become a reality" (blog). The Guardian. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
and 24 Related for: The Day the Earth Caught Fire information
"DaytheEarthCaughtFire" is a song by the Japanese horror punk band Balzac from their 1995 album The Last Men on Earth. In 2002 it was covered by the...
followed this with a thriller for Hammer, The Full Treatment (1960). Guest's next film, TheDaytheEarthCaughtFire (1961), won Guest and Wolf Mankowitz...
Street-based sci-fi thriller The DaytheEarthCaughtFire, directed by Val Guest. He also played a news editor in the 1963 medical thriller 80,000 Suspects...
parts in TheDaytheEarthCaughtFire (1961), 80,000 Suspects (1963) and The Leather Boys (1964). Other television work includes roles in The Liver Birds...
Ramone) on which the Misfits covered Balzac's "TheDaytheEarthCaughtFire". The single was released under the title "DaytheEarthCaughtFire" in North America...
the 1950s, when he was cast in many small, often uncredited roles in British films. Caine gained recognition as one of the most famous actors of the 1960s...
Parker The Day the Earth CaughtFire (1961) - Man at Water Station (uncredited) The Damned (1962) - Teddy Boy (uncredited) On the Beat (1962) - Yob in Cafe...
notable film appearances included the science-fiction classics X the Unknown (1956), TheDaytheEarthCaughtFire (1961), the World War I drama King and Country...
surrounding area. TheDaytheEarthCaughtFire (1961) – a drama about nuclear tests that throw theEarth off its course around the Sun, dooming it unless...
(1960) Last Woman on Earth (1960) Battle of the Worlds (1961) The Last War (1961) TheDaytheEarthCaughtFire (1961) The Creation of the Humanoids (1962)...
Track 5, recorded live, at The World in NYC Bonus material DaytheEarthCaughtFire: Live in NYC- Misfits with Balzac The Haunting/Don't Open 'Till Doomsday:...
Priestley for Out of the Unknown On the Beach (Showtime, 2000) Planet Earth (ABC, 1974) Special Bulletin (NBC, 1983) Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles...
film work included music for the Hammer movie The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960), TheDaytheEarthCaughtFire (1961), the Bob Hope Eon Productions movie...
Edmunds; harmonica 1979: TheDaytheEarthCaughtFire City Boy; harmonica 1980: Solo in Soho, Phil Lynott; harmonica 1985: Back to the Future Soundtrack; producer...
starring Clifford Evans and Oliver Reed – (U.K.) TheDaytheEarthCaughtFire, starring Edward Judd – (U.K.) The Deadly Companions, directed by Sam Peckinpah...
calculated from the Julian day according to IAU 2000B methodology. In the 1961 disaster film TheDaytheEarthCaughtFire, the near-simultaneous detonation...
Alfred Douglas The Chairman (Globe Theatre, 1976): Peter Frame (Clarence Derwent Award) Sextet (Criterion Theatre, 1976): Roger Caught in the Act (Garrick...
(1960) as Charles Gill No Love for Johnnie (1961) as Dr. West TheDaytheEarthCaughtFire (1961) as 'Jacko' Jackson - Night Editor Jigsaw (1962) as Clyde...
Global Information