Day the World Ended

Day the World Ended is a 1955 independently made black-and-white post-apocalyptic science fiction film, produced and directed by Roger Corman, that stars Richard Denning, Lori Nelson, Adele Jergens, and Mike Connors. Chet Huntley of NBC, later of The Huntley-Brinkley Report, served as the film's narrator. Day the World Ended was released by American International Pictures on a double bill with The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues.
The film's storyline centers on a heroic scientist who, with a small band of other survivors, must face off against a mutant monster following an atomic war that has destroyed human civilization.

Plot

An atomic war has seemingly destroyed most, if not all, of human civilization, leaving the Earth contaminated with radioactive fallout. The apparent single exception is an isolated box canyon, surrounded by lead-bearing cliffs, in which former U.S. Navy Commander Jim Maddison (Paul Birch) lives with his daughter Louise (Lori Nelson) in a home that he has stockpiled with supplies in anticipation of such an apocalypse. Louise is engaged to be married, but her fiancé is missing.
Into this natural bomb shelter stumble survivors, who by chance were inside the canyon when the atomic war occurred. After initially refusing to admit them, Jim relents when his daughter appeals to his humanity. Among the survivors are a geologist, Rick (Richard Denning), who happens to specialize in uranium mining, and a small-time hood, Tony (Mike Connors with his "moll" Ruby (Adele Jergens), who were on their way to San Francisco.
There are two struggles for survival: the first is a simple question of whether the radioactive fallout will dissipate, and if so, if it will do so before the rain comes to wash out what is in the atmosphere to fall to Earth, contaminating the shelter. The second threat comes in the form of a hideous atomic mutated monster (Paul Blaisdell), which seems bent on killing anything it comes across, but only consuming those creatures contaminated by fallout.
A less obvious but no less dangerous threat is the hidden menace of Tony. Although seemingly charming and helpful, his true character and intentions are that he wants the other men out of the way, so that he can have both women for himself.
All three dangers coincide as the mutated monster kidnaps Louise. It then releases her into a small lake, where it is obviously afraid to enter. Rick appears and attacks the creature, but it runs away as it begins to rain. Following the creature as it is being destroyed by the rain, they come to realize that the creature is Louise's missing fiancé. Tony, having stabbed Ruby to death after she realized that he wants to be with the younger Louise, then steals Jim's pistol. He quietly waits to ambush Rick when he returns with Louise. As Tony takes aim, Jim produces a second pistol and shoots Tony dead.
Jim has been slowly expiring from radiation poisoning. He reveals that the rain is radiation-free and will wash away all of the remaining contamination, making the world safe to venture out into again. As he dies, Jim also reveals that he has heard voices of other survivors on the radio. After the rain, Rick and Louise, now the final two survivors, walk hand-in-hand out of the canyon (as the end card "The Beginning" appears on screen).

Cast

Richard Denning as Rick
Lori Nelson as Louise Maddison
Adele Jergens as Ruby
Mike Connors (credited as Touch Connors) as Tony Lamont
Paul Birch as Jim Maddison
Raymond Hatton as Pete
Paul Dubov as Radek
Jonathan Haze as Contaminated Man
Paul Blaisdell as Mutant
Roger Corman as Nelson, Louise's fiancé in framed photograph (uncredited)
Chet Huntley as Narrator (uncredited)

Production

James H. Nicholson of AIP thought up the title, then commissioned Lou Rusoff to write a script. It was the second film by Golden State for the American Releasing Corp. The film's monster was made from foam rubber, claws from a magic shop and toe nails carved from white pine.
Paul Blaisdell created and portrayed the monster in the film. Due to Blaisdell's height, he had limited visibility while in the costume. This caused problems when he had to carry Nelson, and almost caused Blaisdell to drown when the costume began to fill with water.
Day the World Ended was the fourth film directed by Corman, and his first in the science fiction/horror genre. The film was shot over 10 days on a budget of $96,234.49. Denning was paid $7,500 plus a percentage.

Release

The film was released in December 1955 on a double bill with The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues. The pairing proved popular, due in part to some savvy marketing by Nicholson. Within two months of release, both films had earned $400,000.

Reception

At the film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 3 out of 5 critics gave the film a positive review, but it only holds an audience approval score of 40%. It holds a low 5.4 out of 10 at the Internet Movie Database, based on reviews by 1,200 users.
TV Guide gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, finding it "silly but fun".

Remake

The film was remade in 1967 by Larry Buchanan, under the title In the Year 2889, with the dialogue repeated almost entirely verbatim.

In popular culture

The film was referenced in a 2001 horror film of a similar title, The Day the World Ended.

Il mostro del pianeta perduto

Il mostro del pianeta perduto (Day the World Ended) è un film horror fantascientifico statunitense del 1955 diretto da Roger Corman.

Trama

In un'epoca successiva ad una guerra atomica che ha annientato buona parte degli esseri umani e ha provocato la nascita di uomini e animali mutanti affetti dalle radiazioni, un gruppo di persone, tra cui un geologo, il criminale Tony e la sua fidanzata ex spogliarellista Ruby, cercano di sopravvivere tra le montagne al riparo delle stesse radiazioni in un rifugio costruito da Jim, un ex militare. Le difficoltà non sono poche anche tra gli stessi sopravvissuti a causa del cibo che manca e a causa di Tony che continua a creare problemi con il suo comportamento bullesco e irresponsabile.
Ad un certo punto si troveranno ad affrontare un essere mostruoso che riesce ad entrare in contatto telepatico con Louise, una sopravvissuta del gruppo.

Distribuzione

Alcune delle uscite internazionali sono state:

dicembre 1955 negli Stati Uniti (Day the World Ended)
21 febbraio 1958 in Germania Ovest (Die letzten Sieben)
in Francia (Day the World Ended, uscita DVD)
in Venezuela (El monstruo del planeta perdido)
in Italia (Il mostro del pianeta perduto)
in Grecia (To teras tis mavris koilados)

Produzione

Il film è stato prodotto dalla Golden State Productions e girato nelle Bronson Caves (per la maggior parte delle riprese esterne), una zona desolata e brulla denominata anche Bronson Canyon, e nelle proprietà dello Sportsmen's Lodge, un hotel ristorante vicino ad un lago (per le sequenze nei pressi del lago), Los Angeles, California.
Il mostro è stato creato ed interpretato dall'esperto di effetti speciali e make-up Paul Blaisdell.

Remake

Nel 1967 è stato realizzato un remake per la TV intitolato In the Year 2889. Nel 2001 è stato realizzato il film TV di fantascienza dal titolo originale molto simile, Il giorno in cui il mondo finì (The Day the World Ended) che non è un remake ma un omaggio della Cinemax al film del 1955.

Il mostro del pianeta perduto - 1955 - YouTube

▶ 1:14:18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4gxrbyjNYI

Mar 23, 2018 - Uploaded by Vecchi Classici

In un'epoca successiva ad una guerra atomica che ha annientato buona parte degli esseri umani e ha ...