The Night the World Exploded (1957) User Reviews

Not bad for a B minus 50's sci-fi

[captainapache · 6/10 · 14 December 2005]

If you're looking at the reviews for Night the World Exploded, you are probably already a hopeless 50's sci-fi addict. But it's OK, you're in good company.

This is actually a pretty engaging film that may hold up to some repeated viewings. Although the props and sets are not as good as they could be, they still support a very interesting story with good production values and some very good B movie acting.

I would actually recommend this film above The Unknown Terror and Flame Barrier. These two are probably better films with bigger budgets but have a very boring script with little to no action.

Also, if you're into 'End of the World' flicks, don't miss Crack In The World - one of the best!!

Minor but enjoyable sci-fi item.

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 4 September 2015]

A cutting edge scientist, Dr. David Conway (William Leslie) has developed a machine that he hopes can predict when earthquakes are going to occur. It works quite well, as we shall see, and a series of quakes happen which get progressively worse. Conway and his loyal assistant, Laura "Hutch" Hutchinson (Kathryn Grant), find that the culprit responsible is a previously unknown element with very explosive potential. The race is then on to solve the problem before the title disaster can take place.

One might say that the budget for this modestly entertaining B picture is ultimately too low for its ambitions, but director Fred F. Sears ("Earth vs. the Flying Saucers") succeeds in crafting some tension. Much use is made of what is presumably stock footage, adding to the scope of the action (not to mention the running time, which is very short anyway). The "underground" sets and props aren't exactly convincing, but they don't distract too much from the fun. The fairly neat premise is admittedly somewhat close to that in the Universal production "The Monolith Monsters".

A decent bunch of actors does help matters. Leslie isn't terribly expressive, but he's reasonably likable, and it's very easy to watch the young Ms. Grant, who's incredibly cute. Co- starring are Tristram Coffin as the dedicated Dr. Ellis Morton, Raymond Greenleaf as the governor who learns his lesson after failing to take Conway and Morton seriously, and Paul Savage as the curious and engaging Ranger Kirk.

Passable special effects, and a rather amusing problem solving finale, help this to kill 64 minutes pleasantly.

Six out of 10.

Not (quite) half bad

[ebeckstr-1 · 5/10 · 18 January 2019]

Others have compared this movie loosely with The Monolith Monsters. The latter is far better, but The Night the World Exploded is still entertaining, and perhaps especially interesting for fans of eco horror or eco scifi: it's humanity's oil drilling, mining, and other such activities that have caused the catastrophe.

The science is more ludicrous than usual, and the sexism a little more underscored, but as a product of its time it's fun enough.

amusing low budget props, but above average plot line for 50's....

[wayne.godbehere · 4/10 · 6 May 2000]

Entertaining typical 50's sci-fi low budget offering with slightly above average plot line for the time.

However, particularly amusing are scenes in the military command aircraft which used card tables and folding chairs in front of mock-up aircraft porthole windows.

I don't care what the critics say

[alltare2 · 7/10 · 19 July 2005]

Well, I like this movie, and I don't care what the critics say. It's a low-budget "Monolith Monsters" in reverse, sort of. Unlike the Monoliths that grow explosively when wet, the rocks in NTWE explode when dry.

Yes, the props and sets are cheesy sometimes (the "Pressure Photometer" could use a few squirts of oil), but it's an interesting concept that makes an attempt to offer halfway logical scientific reasons for its premise, unlike the pure nonsense of more contemporary movies like "Independence Day", in which any appearance of logical reasoning is thrown out the window.

Unfortunately, there appears to have never been a studio release of this movie, either on VHS or DVD. Currently, one can find both formats on ebay, but they all seem to be copies of the same TV broadcast.

If you agree with me that this is a movie worth watching, post a reply on the Message Board (there's a link near the bottom of the NTWE main page) and let me know that I'm not alone.

Decent

[SanteeFats · 5/10 · 15 September 2013]

Okay this is a fifty plus year old movie. So scientific knowledge was very lacking by today's standards. The unknown element that explodes when taken out of water is a different scenario for a movie this old. Usually it seems to be some unknown monster, parasite, or some other unknown substance or some alien presence or matter. Kathryn Grant was in a lot of early movies, as eye candy I assume since she typically plays a secretary or some other subordinate to a man's position. Of course she gets the man she has fallen for by the end.Thankfully women are much more accepted and valued in today's world, even in the movies, usually. The scene where the sample in the globe hanging on the tree shows an explosion from the ground and not from the globe. The machine that predicts an up coming earthquake is a nice touch but when the girl is trapped in the cavern the gauges do not correspond to the messages. All in all though this movie is entertaining enough to watch but not to own, art least in my opinion.

Welcome back

[keith-moyes-656-481491 · 7/10 · 26 October 2010]

As an SF nut from earliest childhood, the Fifties was a frustrating period for me. Most of the SF films released in the UK were given 'A' or 'X' certificates, so I could see the posters and the trailers, but not the pictures themselves. The Night the World Exploded was one of the few exceptions.

I saw it on its original release and I never forgot my excitement at watching an actual science fiction movie at last. The mysteriously swelling black rocks, like ticking time bombs, had me glued to my seat whenever they appeared.

Then the movie disappeared. It never showed on UK TV and the video revolution seemed to pass it by. Now, finally, it has re-emerged as part of the Columbia Classics series and another small segment of my childhood has been restored to me.

Its premise is more intriguing than most science fiction 'B' movies of the era and the scientific gobbledygook is slightly more convincing. The story is not particularly well thought-out and has some conspicuous padding but it mostly cracks along at an acceptable pace. It looks a lot more expensive than it really was, because of the judicious use of stock footage. This was unusually well-selected, with generally good print quality that blends well with the principal photography. A couple of the devastation scenes are clearly just demolition work, and the voice-over narrator has his work cut out justifying the inclusion of some WW2 bombing footage, but it impressed the hell out me when I was 9.

What didn't impress me, I am sad to report, was one of the movie's greatest assets - the ever adorable Kathryn Grant. Interestingly, she seems to get top billing, ahead of William Leslie: and why not?

However, the biggest bonus is that the DVD print is immaculate. It is probably better than the one I saw in 1957. The movie still exists in all its original glory.

Take a bow, Columbia Classics!

The Night the World Exploded is no masterpiece, but I am glad that it is finally back in my life.

The world is erupting, and this movie is influencing.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 5 August 2015]

Did Roland Emmerich, the creator of recent disaster epics such as "Independence Day", "The Day After Tomorrow" and "2012" watch this movie as a child and decide to create the ultimate version of the same tale? It appears so as this movie, in just over an hour's running time, gives the same view of the possible last days of our earth, even if it doesn't have the typical "family" atmosphere surrounding it to add to the drama. The story behind the pending disaster focuses on an ambitious scientist (Kathryn Grant) who proves her ability to work in what was then a man's field and succeed, even if climbing down 90 feet into a cavernous pit did freeze her for a bit. William Leslie's young doctor uses that moment to become manipulatingly sexist, and that gets her going even if it kills her. She will risk her life, becoming trapped in this cave by herself when a huge earthquake hits and all oxygen leaves. What is causing all the worldly explosions becomes the focus of the scientific team who longs to save the world even if local politicians don't want to believe them, at first.

A tiny black rock seems to be the cause of it all, and when it is discovered, the effects look silly and artificial. But even with some over the top dialog and dated effects, the movie does get more gripping as it continues, culminating in a scene over and inside what appears to be the Hoover Dam (given a fictional name) and is fraught with tension as the remaining characters realize what they are up against and how they must deal with it. Some of the quake scenes are obviously newsreel and stock footage, but there is some realistic destruction scenes obviously made for the film as well. The scenes in the limestone cavern are very closed in and might make anybody who suffers from claustrophobia feel a little at ease. These films are never about the acting, but making their point of what is setting the earth on a path towards doomsday and how the major characters deal with it. The script certainly could have been a lot worse, and the presentation a lot sillier, but fortunately, it manages to avoid that, making this quite a memorable second half of a double bill ("The Giant Claw", which it is a massive improvement over) as those days of movie going trends were coming to an end.

Making the impossible seem not so far-fetched.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 27 September 2013]

While "The Night the World Exploded" is a very low-budget film with no-name actors, it is enjoyable. It also manages to make a ridiculous plot seem plausible--and that is no small feat.

The film begins with a seismologist creating a new machine that would help them predict earthquakes. However, the equipment is either faulty OR the Earth is royally screwed!!! Soon, after the big quake, they discover a new element--#112. And here is where it gets crazy. There is a lot of it and the element is VERY explosive--so explosive that the planet may soon go kaboom! That is, unless they enact a crazy plan that just MIGHT work.

While this film offers few huge thrills, it works well. The miniature sets work well and the acting is good. Most importantly, the film is written well and will probably hold your attention.

Element 112

[Uriah43 · 5/10 · 2 February 2014]

Two seismologists by the name of "Dr. David Conway" (William Leslie) and "Dr. Ellis Morton" (Tristam Coffin) along with their pretty assistant "Laura 'Hutch' Hutchinson" (Kathryn Grant) have just produced a machine that can predict earthquakes. Unfortunately, the first earthquake it predicts is extremely catastrophic and it's followed by much larger ones. Soon the earth has reached a critical point and everything points to a new discovery called "Element 112" as the cause. But can anybody do anything about it? Rather than answer that question and possibly spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a satisfactory science-fiction movie for the most part. Obviously, being made in 1957 one shouldn't expect graphics quite as good as those produced today but for that particular time they weren't too bad. Likewise, the acting was adequate as well. All things considered then I suppose this movie is worth a look by fans of this genre and I rate it as average.

Element 112 Runs Wild

[bababear · 7/10 · 15 September 2013]

I remember seeing this movie at the Simon Theater in Brenham, Texas, when I was in the sixth grade, and am happy to say that it's held up very well over the years.

To start with, Turner Classic Movies got a top quality print of it that looked wonderful. There were literally a few seconds where the negative had suffered slight damage, but for that element it's solid.

The story is pretty much standard issue. A very, very dedicated scientist is so immersed in his work that he doesn't realize that he's in love with his beautiful lab assistant until the third act.

Not that he isn't busy enough. A strange rock called Element 112 has begun to cause earthquakes and worse all over the globe. Unless Steps Are Taken, it will cause the destruction of our planet.

Serious spoiler: The world doesn't explode. It does come close, but that shouldn't surprise anyone.

The acting is nothing amazing, but it's not set up as an acting lab exercise. There is a plot to be dealt with briskly. Leading lady Katherine Grant was far more impressive shortly after this in a similar role in Otto Preminger's ANATOMY OF A MURDER. Strong director plus powerful screenplay equals good results for actors.

Far more interesting than the story itself is the structure of the story and the sexual politics in play here. There wasn't sufficient budget for large scale special effects, so there's lots of stock footage of natural disasters and their aftermath. More interestingly, Ms. Grant isn't just the leading lady. For a big chunk of the running time she's the only lady.

Science fiction has always been a male dominated realm. But for the entirety of the first two acts Hutch, the lab assistant played by Ms. Grant, and the character I'd call the Civil Defense Lady are the sole female players. There's a substantial roster of supporting characters, but with the exception of stock footage everyone is White and male.

Then, in the third act, disaster is creeping up on the world. The governor's wife and young daughter come to be with him, and in a huge office area we see several women working. But it takes the approach of Armageddon to allow many women into the tree house.

One of the best things about the film is that it takes care of business in one hour and four minutes. This is a sharp contrast to this summer's earnest but plodding WORLD WAR Z which so badly needed about 45 minutes trimmed from it that my index finger ached because theaters don't offer viewers a fast forward button.

At the time this came out there were presumable 111 slots on the Periodic Table of the Elements. We are now on number 118. The honor of being number 112 (they didn't retire that jersey because of the movie) goes to Copernicum, the most stable of all the isotopes.

Parents' note: Nothing disturbing in my humble opinion. Some people would be distressed because a few characters smoked. So did both of my parents. It was 1957.

Element 112

[bensonmum2 · 5/10 · 24 September 2017]

Dr. David Conway (William Leslie), with the assistance of Laura "Hutch" Hutchinson (Kathryn Grant), is in a race to stop a series of earthquakes that threaten the entire world. It seems that a newly discovered element, Element 112, expands and explodes when dry and mixed with nitrogen. And, because of mining and oil exploration, Element 112 is making its way to the Earth's surface.

By no means is The Night the World Exploded a great film, but I found it reasonably entertaining. It's slow, lacks big-budget special effects, and the lead is a bit dry, but it's got something about it that worked for me. The sci-fi elements are presented believably enough to be effective. And there's some nice slow-burn suspense that's built throughout that worked on me. Other aspects that helped the film include a perky female lead in Kathryn Grant, real life disaster footage nicely blended into the film, and a short runtime.

I called William Leslie "dry", but it's not just him, it's his character also. I know his Dr Conway is a driven professional, but come on - how could not not see Hutch has feelings for him? It's not until the world is about to end that he pays any notice to her. What a dolt!

Not Horrible For 50's But Not Good Either.

[wandernn1-81-683274 · 1 December 2022]

A 50's Sci Fi. Is it good? No. It's not good. There's far better sci fi even back in the 50's. It's a pretty short movie too. Short on length. Short on Story. Short on character development. Yeah I know I am stingy. 4/10.

And IMDB has now made it so a review has to have 600 characters before it can be entered. I really don't expect that to last very long because people are sure to complain about it. But until that happens I guess we have to expect reviews to be long winded and sometimes about absolutely nothing to do with the show in question.

It's really not even worth the time reviewing some of them.

It doesn't, so don't get your hopes up

[scsu1975 · 3/10 · 21 November 2022]

This is an unexciting world-is-in-danger flick, with William Leslie as a seismologist and Kathryn Grant as his assistant.

Earthquakes have knocked the earth 3 degrees off its axis, which means the only people who don't notice are the winos. Leslie et al descend into Carlsbad Caverns (I'm still not sure why), where they discover a mysterious mineral that grows and explodes when removed from water. This crap, dubbed "Element 112," keeps pushing to the surface, causing havoc around the globe. Leslie figures out that the only way to stop the catastrophe is to flood every area he can think of. He should have started with director Fred Sears' office. (In fairness to Sears, he did direct "Earth vs. The Flying Saucers," which is a decent film. Then again, he also directed "The Giant Claw.")

Leslie and Grant make a tepid couple, which adds to the overall dullness of the film. They both act as if they are on valium. Gerald Mohr supplies the narration, which is good since we don't have to see his face. The budget is minimal - one guy on an airplane (veteran 1940s B-movie actor Dennis Moore) is sitting on a folding metal chair. And then he suffers the further indignity of getting yanked off the plane because it was overbooked.

The only suspense occurs early on, when Grant is climbing down a ladder in the caverns and freezes up. At this point, Leslie, standing below, decides to use reverse psychology and yells at her: "Wouldn't you know a woman would pull a stunt like this? You're all scientists until there's the slightest bit of danger, then you fold up. Want your mommy and daddy?" I had no problem with this sexist dialogue, but when he accused her of having visible panty bulge, that crossed over the line.

Serviceable B Movie

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 12 April 2014]

Dr David Conway shows his assistant Laura " Hutch " Hutchinson a new machine that predicts Earthquakes . This machine predicts a large quake is about to hit California in 24 hours and it does . Things go from bad to worse as a series of violent quakes tilt the world of its axis by three degrees and Dr Conway finds its caused by a new found element called " one twelve " which is a highly unstable element that expands and explodes when it becomes dry

This is nothing more than a sci-fi B movie and viewed for what it is it isn't at all bad . It's done in a documentary type way and a massive non prize for guessing this is due to the practicalities of not having a big budget rather than any stylistic imagination of director Fred Sears who does managed to make the most of what little he's got and everything races along at a tight , brisk pace . What tends to bring things is that there is a romantic subplot between Conway and his assistant Hutch who is supposed to be a ballsy independent female but as soon as there's the slightest sign of danger turns in to a blubbering girly girl in need of rescue by the male lead . Considering the period it was made in where the world was split in to two superpower camps both of whom viewed each other with mutual suspicion it's nice to see a film where the international scientific community put aside the politics of the state and work together . Some people might be put off by the lack of outlandish plot devices like aliens and the science never seems entirely credible but I've seen a lot of SF B movies from this era and this is far from being one of the worst

Shaken but Not Stirred

[bnwfilmbuff · 2/10 · 8 April 2017]

Incredibly boring outing about a scientist that invents a device to predict earthquakes and it is anticipating the big one. Initially unable to arouse the support of the government to alert the public, he and his team are later enlisted on a mission to determine what is causing the quakes. Lots and lots of dull, redundant dialog occasionally interrupted with stock footage of earthquakes and earthquake damage. Bad science and lousy analytical technique are on display followed by the standard call to all nations to unite to save the planet. Typical 50s sexist stuff abounds as Grant tries her best to fit in. This is just a bad waste of time.

Neat little sci-fi disaster item

[Woodyanders · 7/10 · 10 August 2015]

Scientist Dr. David Conway (a sturdy and likable performance by William Leslie) creates a device that can predict earthquakes before they happen. After discovering a previously unknown rock element that causes explosions when hot, it's up to Conway and his plucky assistant Laura 'Hutch' Hutchinson (a winningly perky portrayal by the very fetching and appealing Kathryn Grant) to prevent this element from destroying the world.

Director Fred F. Sears, working from a compact script by Jack Nattleford and Luci Ward, relates the engrossing story at a quick pace, maintains a serious tone throughout, makes nice use of stock footage, builds a reasonable amount of tension, and keeps everything grounded on an intimate human level. Leslie and Grant make for personable leads; they receive solid support from Tristam Coffin as Conway's loyal colleague Dr. Ellis Morton and Raymond Greenleaf as the skeptical Gov. Chaney. The special effects aren't half bad. The tight 64 minute running time ensures that this movie never gets dull or overstays its welcome. Benjamin H. Kline's crisp black and white cinematography rates as another definite plus. A fun B-grade outing.

28 days to save the planet

[unbrokenmetal · 5/10 · 26 July 2015]

Dr. David Conway (William Leslie) develops a method to predict earthquakes, and promptly one occurs within 24 hours. But the worst is yet to come, he declares. A 'new element 112' is going to cause much stronger earthquakes soon, they may even make the Earth explode. 28 days are left to prevent that, therefore scientists all over the planet get to work.

It's fun to compare 50s disaster movies to the productions we get nowadays. The scientists in the 50s arrived clean shaven in the morning to continue their job of saving the world, bringing the kids into a high security area for a little play during lunch break - apparently saving the world was a much more relaxed job in those days. In the 2010s, they find hardly enough time to breathe, let alone shave. Also a sign of the times is a remarkably misogynistic scene when Laura Hutchinson (Kathryn Grant, known for 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad') climbs down into a cave and the guys ridicule her fear, being so weak like all females. They wouldn't say that to Lara Croft nowadays. Anyway, it's a mild entertaining sci-fi flick of its times, with a running time of just over an hour it doesn't have any lengths to sit through, I give it 5 of 10.

The Earth's Expiration Date

[davidcarniglia · 6/10 · 26 December 2018]

Pretty decent 50s sci-fi. No monsters, aliens, or even radiation; you might call this organic sci-fi. In fact, the appearance of that nasty 'element 112' has to do with our malevolent treatment of the earth--oil drilling and mining letting the element percolate to the surface. An advanced premise for the time, and played out with mostly good pacing, and better than average performances from the two leads, Kathryn Grant (as 'Hutch') and William Leslie (as Dr. Conway).

There's a lot going on: earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, and volcanoes. Many reviewers don't much like the stock disaster footage, but I feel it works as good background. For one thing, to sustain disbelief, the events would have to be happening world-wide; they can't be limited to the California and Carlsbad areas shown. These 'outside' events can only be experienced remotely; that also explains the need for a narrator. Actually, the scene in Greece (with the local TV guy getting wiped out by a landslide) is shown as a broadcast viewed by Dr. Conway and 'Hutch'/Laura. That serves to draw us into the world-wide disasters just as the actors see them. The effects of '112' are central to the main plot; it's discovered, starts causing havoc, and is analyzed and described locally by Conway and his crew.

It's usually a dilemma in sci-fi films of this type to keep the mayhem local, or to expand into different, broader settings. Many films stick to some isolated spot, which can work ok. In Them! a whole other story develops when the giant ants move on from the desert to L.A. Usually, though, an outlying area is just a point of origin for the monster/menace that spends most of the film thrashing a big city. In The Night the World Exploded the menace is global; so it needs this sort of dual (local and international) focus to make sense as a single story.

Another device that works well here is Dr. Conway as the take-charge character who moves the plot along. He meets skepticism along the way, but he's convincing and authoritative enough. His background having been established early on, he's not dismissed as a nutcase. He does seem to be everywhere, he's always the smartest guy in the room; everyone ultimately defers to him. The 'demonstration' where he blows up the worldglobe is dumb--he's already done a much more convincing demonstration for the 'world scientists.' The 'infallible' computer also makes Conway look impressive, even if he's using it like a Ouija board or 8-Ball. Given these conceits, his character helps posit the film's question: what would it be like if world leaders, and their specialists, did agree on something of vital importance? I guess there could be a dystopian version where disagreement led to the actual exploding world, but this film tries to show a more hopeful future.

What doesn't work very well is all the time spent at Carlsbad. I remember giving up on this movie when it bogged down in the endless 'lab' scenes down there. Not to mention 'Hutch' freaking out with vertigo...It's a cool setting in itself, but just have the crew find '112' and get on with it. On the other hand, the volcano jumping up just behind the sheriff's window was a bit abrupt. And bombing to create canals is a wild way to irrigate the right spots.

The Night the World Exploded is very original and very ambitious in scope. Its attempt to portray all of these 'elements' was fairly successful; it's flawed and uneven in places, but worth a watch or two. 6/10.

"Once those lines began to jump, a million people face possible death."

[classicsoncall · 4/10 · 7 January 2023]

A little bit of thought to what's going on in the story would convince most that the plot was pretty illogical, but then again, logic was never a strong point for science fiction movies of the Forties and Fifties. If 'element 12' was so unstable, why did it take all this time (1957) for it to suddenly start expanding worldwide, causing earthquakes of mass destruction? I'll tell you why. Because the script writers needed the plot for another schlock sci-fi flick to serve on a double bill, in this case, "The Giant Claw", also directed by Fred Sears the same year. I didn't keep track specifically, but almost half the picture is taken up by stock footage, which if not included, would have reduced the run time to quite a bit less than the mere hour it actually did. What made my viewing of it today quite more enjoyable than it would have been ordinarily, was the humorous captioning that accompanied the dialog. I don't know if it was done on purpose or was the result of some ineffective translating equipment, but I had to commit some of the lines to writing so I could share them in this review. In no particular order, don't even try to make sense out of the following quotes in the story - "So we got the Hugo" - "Why stay with only with one postpone?" - and here's a beaut - "I'm the sling. All rock. Good." But my favorite, and this was either strangely prophetic, or someone's idea of goofing on a modern day audience - "Covid when you see a light train". I'm not making any of this up folks, you can check it out for yourself if you've got Amazon Prime where I caught this movie. In fact, if any of this was intentional, the person in charge of captioning was so enamored of the term that the word 'Covid' came up three separate times!

Copernicium

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 6 September 2017]

I'll start with the spoilers: there are no night scenes in this film and the catastrophe promised by the title is averted. Dr Laura 'Hutch' Hutchinson (Kathryn Grant) at one point suggests that the fissures appearing in the Earth's crust are "almost as if the Earth were striking back at us for the way we've robbed her of her natural resources"; making this an early "green" film. Eight years later in 'Crack in the World' (1965) a mining project results in the Earth splitting into two, but 'The Night the World Exploded' knows its limits (Miss Grant's stylish outfits look like the most expensive items in the budget) and most of the destruction is confined to stock footage (which includes film of the bombing of Pearl Harbor).

Fortunately it has a fairly intelligent script and a capable and sincere cast to do it justice; and director Fred Sears again creates bricks without straw. The film probably cost what 'The Day After Tomorrow' spent on catering, but what little money that actually went on special effects has been judiciously spent, and the genuine generator room used for the climax is quite impressive. I'm sure the script is full of scientific clunkers, but most of the talk sounds intelligent enough. I personally know a bit about the Periodic Table, so I'll confine myself to pointing out that in 1957 the total number of known chemical elements then stood at 101. That the next element in line to be discovered is #112 (which was named Copernicium) would mean that this film is set in 1996.

The Night the World Exploded

[CinemaSerf · 5/10 · 16 April 2023]

This benefits, if that's the right word, from a mediocre cast of C-listers and some truly amazing papier-mâché special effects that can really only make you smile rather than recoil behind the sofa in terror! William Leslie is the scientist "Conway" who has designed a machine that he thinks can predict earthquakes. Now that could be quite useful in California but he can't get the Governor to believe an evacuation is essential when it starts to ring alarm bells. What's strange is that his gizmo seems to be telling him that the whole world is about to suffer a catastrophic sequence of quakes so together with his glamorous assistant "Hutch" (Kathryn Grant) he sets off into some very deep caverns where they discover a molten rock that is heading to the surface - and if it gets there, well it's goodnight Vienna. Can they concoct a plan to stop it in it's tracks? The story isn't so bad, but the execution is "Outer Limits" standard. There is far too much dialogue and but for the last ten minutes when the faux-rocks starts a-tumbling, there is precious little action in this studio bound and rather dry sci-fi drama. It's only an hour, and doubtless filled the drive-ins in 1957, but it's all just a bit too rudimentary on just about every level - including the underpinning science - to be of much interest now.

Uninteresting other than as an early enviro-disaster film

[jamesrupert2014 · 5/10 · 13 February 2023]

Dr. Conroy (William Leslie), an intrepid geologist and his comely assistant 'Hutch' (future Bing-bride Kathryn Grant) discover a new element (#112) that expands on contact with nitrogen and ultimately explodes violently (a process conveniently reversed by submersion in water). Mining has exposed this element to the nitrogen in Earth's atmosphere, causing devastating earthquakes that will ultimately destroy the planet. The premise, acting, special effects and Fred F. Sear's direction are decidedly nondescript, but the film is interesting as an early example of an 'environmental disaster' film, as the threat to the Earth is the result if mankind's exploitation of her resources (the characters muse that our imminent extinction might be the planet's revenge for our thoughtless avarice). Grant's 'woman scientist' character is a typical of the era: she is competent but is feeling the need to get married (to her second choice) and is paralysed with fear at inopportune times (the scene where she is shamed into descending a swaying ladder is an amusing example of the genre's straw-feminism). Needless to say, the titular event does not occur and the disasters resulting from E-112 (earthquakes, volcanoes and apparently changes in the in Earth's tilt and gravity that are never explained) are all blatantly stock footage (the climatic destruction scene is lifted from 1938's 'Born to be Wild'). All-in-all, a dull, predictable, low-budget 'sciencey' adventure film released on a double-feature with Sears' splendidly awful 'The Giant Claw'. For a more entertaining and imaginative 'growing rocks' opus, consider watching 1957's 'The Monolith Monsters'.

"The centre of this is practically under her feet!"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 5 June 2020]

An early 'end of the world but not quite' low budget film that is scientifically absurd with lots of stock footage and a needless romantic sub-plot and a dull male lead but I quite enjoyed it.

It has momentum, speedily moving along from the lone scientist and his invention to the whole world getting together to solve the problem and it holds together dramatically. It has the contemporary theme of the world having revenge for what people have done to it. It also has the cute and clever Kathryn Grant as the most interesting character 'Hutch'. Not an epic but better than I expected.

An enjoyable, entertaining and ambitious sci-fi film hampered somewhat by its low-budget constraints

[christopouloschris-58388 · 7/10 · 4 September 2019]

The Night the World Exploded (1957) shares some similar concepts with the Monolith Monsters (1957) except that unlike the latter film in which rocks grow when wet, the rocks in The Night the World Exploded grow and explode when dry.

As in the film, Magnetic Monster, we once again have an element being cast as a dangerous villain. Instead of a radioactive substance, it is this time a rare and dangerous element called, E112 which of course was not known to science.

The low budget features of the film do detract from its positive aspects. Take for instance, the military command aircraft interior which consisted of card tables and folding chairs in front of mock-up aircraft porthole windows.

Despite its low-budget drawbacks, The Night the World Exploded does have a number of positive features including excellent use of stock footage of disasters that are integrated very well into the film, and events that move along at quite a tight and brisk pace while incorporating a romantic subplot between Conway and Hutch.

This film along with sci-fi films like Kronos (1957), seemed to have signaled a shift away from the usual fare of giant bugs and over-sized monsters and alien invaders in flying saucers. There's a bit more of an environmental message coming through which is best summed up by Hutch: "It's almost as if the earth was striking back at us for the way we robbed her of resources." It's certainly a message that resonates even with modern audiences more than 60 years later!