Your salvation doesn’t interest me; mine does.
Hello to all of the classic people that are returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors. As a technical note, references and citations are listed for each show on the site at classicmovierev.com. Today on the Classic Movie Reviews Podcast, we are taking on When Worlds Collide (1951).
This notable sci-fi film has a very low 6.7 rating on iMDB.com[1]. It doesn’t do much better on rottentomatoes.com with a 78 percent on the Tomatometer and only 64 percent audience approval[2].
On February 7, 1952, New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther said:
“After all preparations and a brief but horrendous display of terrestrial upheavals as the satellite planet brushes by— shown in “earth-shaking” Technicolor, which is the most lately advertised kind—the actual departure of the rocket and its arrival on a new and frozen world are largely anticlimactic. Except for a rustle of applause to salute a perfect pancake landing, the drowsy audience at the Globe, where the film opened yesterday, showed slight interest. It appeared skeptical and even bored. Mr. Pal barely gets us out there, but this time he doesn’t bring us back.”[3]
This movie has been one of my perennial favorites. I love the way they envisioned the future of space flight and the landing of the ship. It does fall off a bit at the end when they look at the matt painting of their new planet. I wish they had held back some funds to upgrade that. The biblical message is a little heavy-handed for modern tastes. But the damn movie has puppies. So it can’t be all bad. I look a little more at the time this movie was made in the conclusions.
Actors – When Worlds Collide (1951)
Returning
The phenomenal voice talent Paul Frees was the narrator and the voice of the American president. In this uncredited work, I thought he sounded a little like LBJ, but he may have been trying for the president at the time, Harry S. Truman. Frees was first covered in The Time Machine (1960).
John Hoyt played paraplegic and bitter millionaire Sydney Stanton. Hoyt was first covered in Film-Noir The Big Combo (1955).
Frank Cady, Sam Drucker, played Harold Ferris. Harold’s job was to push Stanton around and generally take abuse from him.
John Ridgely had a small role as the Chief Customs Inspector. Ridgely was first covered in the Film-Noir The Big Sleep (1946).
New
Richard Derr played sexpot and flyer, David Randall. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1918. I would have bet money he was English. Derr started acting when he was 23 in Charlie Chan in Rio (1941). Other films included Bs such as Man at Large (1941), Castle in the Desert (1942), Commandos Strike at Dawn (1942), and Tonight We Raid Calais (1943). He brushed the big time in The Bride Goes Wild (1948) with Van Johnson and June Allyson. His best-known role is from When Worlds Collide (1951). Later films include Invisible Avenger (1958), Terror Is a Man (1959), and the great movie Firefox (1982). During his non-acting years, he is believed to have worked in real estate. Derr died in 1992.
Barbara Rush played scientist, Dr. Joyce Hendron. Rush was born in Colorado in 1927. Rush attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, and graduated in 1948. Rush was active in the University Players and took classes at the Pasadena Playhouse School for Performing Arts. She was signed to Paramount, and her first movie was The Goldbergs (1950).
They began throwing Rush into everything they could with films like When Worlds Collide (1951), Quebec (1951), Flaming Feather (1952), It Came from Outer Space (1953), Magnificent Obsession (1954), and The Black Shield of Falworth (1954). Some of her better films are The Young Lions (1958), Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964), and Hombre (1967). She was a prolific actress on television. Rush is still alive.
Story – When Worlds Collide (1951)
The title sequence shows flames and explosions as ominous music plays. This film is clearly made for the drive-in. Following the credits, they zoom into a Bible and the passage, “And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” So unmistakably, we are playing for large stakes. The verse is from Genesis 6:12-13 in the King James Bible.
Following the verse, the screen switches to a view of bodies in space that are described as needles in a heavenly haystack. They explain that men of science constantly study the heavens for understanding.
The scene pans down to the remote Mount Kennah Observatory in South Africa. Astronomer Dr. Emery Bronson (Hayden Rorke) is tracking two objects that have moved a million miles in a week. Bronson and two others hear the landing of a plane piloted by David Randall (Richard Derr). They have plates and exhibits for him to transport to Dr. Cole Hendron (Larry Keating) at the Cosmos Observatory. Bronson reminds his colleagues not to tell Randall what he is carrying.
Randall is romancing a young lady in his single-seater. Randall is a bit of a man-whore. It took him two hours to make the short trip from the airfield to the observatory. Bronson tells him he won’t know what he is carrying. He also says that he will fly to Lisbon and take a flying clipper to America. Bronson gives Randal photos of Hendron and tells him that he is the only one that can accept the package. They handcuff a briefcase to his wrist. Randall is told that Hendron will pay him, and a time will come when money won’t mean anything.
Randall is well-liked by the stewardess on the clipper. He gets a radiogram with a $5,000 offer for the package from Donovan (James Seay) at the New York Sentinel.
Randall goes to customs with the locked box attached to his wrist. Yeah, like that’ll work. I spent two years in a Peruvian prison trying that stunt. Anyhoo, Joyce Hendron (Barbara Rush) arrives with the Chief Customs Inspector (John Ridgely). The Custom Inspector ushers Randall through customs after he IDs his passport. Randal is immediately struck by Joyce. Donovan comes running in and offers a check for $7,500. Randall refuses as Joyce tugs at his arm.
Joyce takes Randall for a taxi ride in New York. Joyce spills the beans about the project and how afraid she is that the end of the world is coming. Randall plays it like he knew all the time.
At the observatory, Joyce introduces Randall to Dr. Tony Drake (Peter Hansen), her fiancé. Randall and Tony exchange cigarettes, as Tony explains that he is an MD. Randall spills the beans to Tony, who may already know. Hendron comes out, but Randall won’t give him the package until he verifies his photograph. Randall is escorted into a special meeting of the observatory’s trusties.
After opening the package, Hendron asks Randall to wait outside. Joyce pipes in that he already knows. Randall continues the lie, saying that he and Bronson have no secrets. Bronson has been working on the project for two years. Hendron has only been on board for 10-days.
The data is sent to the differential analyzer (DA), and the plates are taken to be viewed. The DA, run by Joyce, is a full room of gears and wheels. The plates show that a star named Bellus and its orbiting planet Zyra, are racing towards the solar system. Hendron says Zyra will cause tidal waves, earthquakes, volcanos, and other destruction. Belus will hit the earth, ending our world in less than a year. Joyce comes in with the results from DA and confirms that the data is accurate.
That night Joyce, Tony, and Randall go to a dance club. As Tony and Joyce dance, Randall lights cigarettes with $100 bills. Joyce is eyeballing Randall over her fiancé’s shoulder. Tony wants to get married before the world ends, but Joyce is looking at Randall like a starving dog staring at a bone. Tony is called away, and Randall starts working his magic.
Bronson, Hendron, and Dr. George Frye (Stephen Chase) take the findings to a United Nations Security Council. They tell that Bellus is 19 days behind Zyra. The politicians reject the conclusion of the scientists. How many disaster movies begin with politicians rejecting science? Hendron proposes building a ship to fly to Zyra after it passes. They have 8-months to construct the spaceship that the politicians call a modern-day Noah’s ark. The UN finally reject the idea.
The three scientists are branded as hoaxers. They go to the US Congress and get the same treatment. A couple of millionaires pledge enough money to get the project started.
Back at the observatory, Joyce comes to talk to her father. Tony is going to ask for Joyce’s hand in marriage. Joyce says she is interested in Randall. Hendron tells her to delay Tony and that he will find a way to keep Randall around.
An angry and hostile, wheelchair-bound millionaire, Sydney Stanton (John Hoyt) arrives to discuss funding the construction camp, rocket, launcher, livestock, and equipment. Stanton is being aided by Harold Ferris (Frank Cady).
Stanton says he will fund the project but wants to select who makes the trip. Hendron refuses, and Stanton accepts in exchange for a spot on the ship.
Frye selects the men from the technical school that will go to build the rocket. They plan on using a mile-long slide with a jet-powered sled to save as much fuel as possible at launch. The ship will only be 400-feet long. Randall has been kept on to help run the camp. Joyce works with the recruited ladies. They are all told that out of the over 600 people on the project, only about 40 will be selected by lots to make the trip.
All the workers are bused to the secure camp. The ramp and the shell of the ship have already been built. When they enter the bunker area, there are signs everywhere saying, “Waste anything except time. Time is our shortest material.”
Julie Cummings (Rachel Ames) and Eddie Garson (James Congdon), are in love. You know this will come back up later.
One lab scans books onto microfilm. Signs tell how many days remain until Zyra and later Bellus arrive. Another area prepares livestock. Tony runs the medical lab keeping everyone fit. Joyce is giving Tony the cold shoulder.
Stanton and his assistant Harold show up, and he is a general pain in the ass. Stanton says they will need to be armed when the panic starts. He has brought crates of rifles. All the scientists now know that Bronson and Hendron’s predictions were correct. The world is finally told that the end is coming with Zyra being about 88-days away.
Randall is flying an airplane with new scientists when Joyce comes to visit him. He says he is not going on the trip because he is not a scientist. Joyce begs him to go on the trip. He brushes her attempts away
Martial law is implemented in the US. Evacuations from the coast begin. Women and children first with a promise that families will soon be reunited. The religious gather to their holy places to worship.
Zyra is due to pass by earth a 1:00 p.m. Stanton starts showing his ass again, but then all hell breaks loose. The bunker almost shakes apart, and Joyce runs to Randall’s arms. Tony finally sees the truth. A montage of every kind of disaster created in film is shown.
The spaceship begins to break loose from the ramp. Randall and Frye lead a group of men to support the ramp with beams as others fight fires. A crane falls, killing Bronson and others.
The ship is okay, and they have 19 days until Bellus arrives. Randall and Tony load a helicopter with supplies for survivors. Tony tries to leave Randall behind, and the two men almost get into a fistfight but are stopped by the continued cries for help.
Tony flies the helicopter. New York City is shown flooded with ships in the downtown area. In the country, they see a Red Cross camp on a small rise above the water. They throw the packages down to men that use a blanket to catch them.
Later they see a small boy on the roof of a house. He has been tied to a chimney, and water is all around. Randall jumps out and loads the boy into the hovering helicopter. Tony flies away, leaving Randall on the roof. But no, he is too good a man and returns for Randal. They are buddies now, and Tony knows he has lost Joyce.
Eleven days before Bellus, Hendron says it is time to draw lots. He lists the pre-selected people. Do you like that term? Himself, his daughter, Tony, Stanton, Frye (the pilot), and Randall. He says he also wants to bring the boy that they rescued. The winning numbers are in a sealed envelope. They will each draw a number, and shortly before launch, the winners will be posted. Stewart Whitman makes his film debut drawing a number. Harold, who is not in the drawing, looks all butt hurt.
Randall is hanging out by the ship, and Hendron talks to him about coming along. Randall insists he is not going because he can’t help in the new world. The countdown drops to eight, and people are loading supplies as a voice invokes them to hurry as they are behind schedule.
Randall helps Frye with the preflight for the ship. Joyce is lovesick, and Tony cares. When Bellus is four days away, Randall is using the ship’s view camera to stalk Joyce. Tony comes in and sees what is happening. Tony tells Randall that the pilot Frye has a heart condition and may not wake up from the blackout. He says Randall must serve as the co-pilot. Randall is over the moon. He runs to tell Joyce. Tony watches on the viewscreen as they kiss. He is not too upset. Joyce gives Tony a kiss for saving Randal. Boy, is he confused now.
The rescued boy, as boys do, finds a stray dog that he wants to bring along on the trip. Joyce and Tony weigh the female dog and say they will kick some chickens off.
With one day until Bellus, the workers check the list. Most are very unhappy. Eddie is selected by Julie is not.
Hendron wants to wait until the last minute to launch. Stanton is being a jerk again and wants to throw some people off to make sure there is enough fuel to make the trip. Hendron stands up to Stanton and asks if he wants to be left behind. Eddie comes in and returns his number, saying he will not be going along. Harold comes in with a .45 and demands that he be given Eddie’s ticket. Stanton guns him down with a gun that he has hidden. Tony says problems have started among the crew.
Randall comes in and makes the plan to load the women and lock the ramp forcing the men to wait outside until near the end. Bronson says Eddie and Julie can go along. Frye is done with Stanton complaining.
Bellus is massive in the sky, and everything is tinted red. Most of the people that are going are in the weather gear for the trip.
Everyone is on board except Herndon and Stanton. The left-behind men are planning to take the ship. They find Stanton’s guns. The armed men rush from the bunker with their weapons. Herndon activates the ramp leaving himself and Stanton behind. Stanton stands but only takes a few feeble steps.
The ship runs down the slide and rises into space. Bellus crashes into earth. Everyone on board blacks out. When Randall wakes, Frye is already awake flying the ship. He realizes what Tony has done.
They turn the ship so they can have a thruster-down orientation. The craft is down to an 1/8 of a tank of fuel. Randall turns the spaceship so it can glide in like a shuttle. Randall takes over the flying. The fuel is gone. Not hitting a mountain, they come down in a bed of snow on their new world. The ship bounces a couple of times and slides to a stop.
Randal gets ready to go outside, but Frye and Tony want an air sample first. Randall says it doesn’t matter; this is the only air they have. They open the door and lower the ramp. Randall breaths deeply and is fine.
As they look outside at a terrible matte painting, the planet is green with vegetation and has liquid water. It seems like the producer ran out of money and just had to slap this on at the end. On the left side of the picture is a structure that looks like the Temple of Aswan. Nobody sees it.
They look for the boy, and he is with the puppies that were born during the trip. The people head down the ramp with animals and angels heralding. Joyce and Randall walk down the ramp hand in hand as the sunrise. Text saying, “The first day on the new world had begun…” appears on the screen bookmarking the biblical tones of the movie.
I’ll be right back with conclusions and the World-Famous Short Summary following a word from our sponsors.
Summary – When Worlds Collide (1951)
During this movie, they spent time discussing whether it was possible to land on another planet. In order to put this film in the proper time frame, it was made during the administration of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which ran from 1915 to 1958[4]. In 1958, this agency became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Sputnik 1, the first thing shot into space, was still six years away when this movie was released[5]. Sputnik was launched by the Soviet Union, which we know now as Russia, our once and always mortal enemy.
Showing that this movie has permeated our culture, in the Genesis Cave scene of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), two cargo boxes are labeled Bellus and Zyra[6]. Kirk is the coolest in the scene.
This movie has left a legacy on more recent sci-fi with comets and meteors hitting the earth in Deep Impact (1998) and Armageddon (1998). The coast evacuation is similar in Deep Impact (1998). In The Day After Tomorrow (2004) ships floated into downtown New York City. In 2012 (2009), arks were built to save populations.
World-Famous Short Summary – Girls throws it all away for a new guy
Beware the moors
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044207/
[2] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/when_worlds_collide
[3] https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1952/02/07/93346980.html?pageNumber=30
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Advisory_Committee_for_Aeronautics
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Worlds_Collide_(1951_film)
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