|
Mass-destruction on an apocalyptic level isn’t really a laughing matter…at least not always. Driven by absurd logic, one-note performances and drive-thru fantasy, director Andrew Marton’s Crack in the World is precisely what happens when science fiction hooey meets old school B-movie hocus pocus. It isn’t a great a film by any stretch but it certainly is fun...especially in hindsight from what we now know to be true. Deadly serious in performance and woe-be-the-earth passion, this low-budget affair finds itself leaning more toward a cheesy sci-fi comedy than anything else.
Believing an atomic missile can burn through the earth’s magma core and solve energy concernse, a team of scientists, led by Dr. Stephen Sorenson (Dana Andrews), attempt to harness the “clean” energy of the earth to power man’s toys forever. Consequently, a deep fissure opens and begins to engulf the world with fire and magma. Dr. Rampion (Kieron Moore), who warned of the dangers of Sorenson’s plan and once carried on with Sorenson’s wife (Janette Scott), finds himself trying to assemble a world-renown team to relieve the pressure forcing the magma out and stop the crack for good. Meanwhile, Dr. Sorenson, humbled by his HUGE mistake in theory, discovers that he is dying (rather quickly) of cancer. Forgo any thoughts of parallels between Sorenson’s cancer and the earth’s destruction, this soap opera magnum opus was written solely to entertain the teenagers of 1965.
What is certainly amazing about Marton’s film is just how well the special effects, designed by Eugène Lourié, hold up. From submarines to deep volcanic spelunking, Crack in the World is impressive in what it does visually especially for 1965. Think Star Trek meets Planet of the Apes meets M*A*S*H and you get the idea. Essentially, Lourié’s gripping production designs help carry the weight when the acting has you clutching your sides with laughter. In one way, Crack in the World is a perfect unintended cinematic design of sorts.
The use of stock footage doesn’t always blend seamlessly and, when the classic footage of a mushroom cloud over the ocean is used followed by the team’s use of cellophane goggles to protect from the UV, the results are certainly not what the filmmakers intended. The ruin is widespread and the use of familiar destruction-themed stock footage is also widespread. In the film’s most climactic moments, the use of models overwhelms the storyline in its presentation of the disaster. A speeding jeep (in a scene not out of place in Jurassic Park) is used to warn a train full of fleeing civilians that they are heading right toward the crack. Cut to a model train gutted from its bridge by falling debris and so on. Crack in the World is filled with these moments; all B-movie schlock, shtick and passion.
Released the same year scientists accepted the theory of plate tectonics, Crack in the World’s narrative logic found little hope in survival beyond its original release. It’s that dopey. Yet, due to its passion as the little movie that could, Marton’s film continues to find fans. Now on blu-ray, courtesy of Olive Films, Crack in the World has a chance of being something a tad more than cheesy drive-in fare...maybe.
MPAA Rating: This movie has not been rated by the MPAA.
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
