Film Snail

6.8

The Day the Earth Caught Fire

NR·1961·98m

Science Fiction

Drama

Science Fiction

Drama

Summary

British reporters suspect an international cover-up of a global disaster in progress... and they're right. Hysterical panic has engulfed the world after the United States and the Soviet Union simultaneously detonate nuclear devices and have caused the orbit of the Earth to alter, sending it hurtling towards the sun.

Cast

Janet Munro

Jeannie Craig

Leo McKern

Bill Maguire

Edward Judd

Peter Stenning

Michael Goodliffe

Jacko Jackson the Night Editor

Bernard Braden

Davis the News Editor

Reginald Beckwith

Harry

Gene Anderson

May

Renée Asherson

Angela

Arthur Christiansen

'Jeff' Jefferson - Editor

Austin Trevor

Sir John Kelly (uncredited)

Ian Ellis

Michael Stenning (uncredited)

Geoffrey Chater

Pat Holroyd (uncredited)

Marianne Stone

Miss Evans (uncredited)

John Dearth

Dick (uncredited)

Edward Underdown

Dick Sanderson (uncredited)

Robin Hawdon

Ronnie (uncredited)

George Merritt

Smudge (uncredited)

Verina Greenlaw

Trixie (uncredited)

Jane Aird

Nanny (uncredited)

Timothy Bateson

Printer (uncredited)

Reginald Marsh

Picture Editor (uncredited)

Peter Blythe

Copy Desk (uncredited)

Pamela Green

Nurse at Laundrette (uncredited)

Michael Caine

Checkpoint Policeman (uncredited)

Peter Butterworth

2nd Sub-Editor (uncredited)

John Adams

Constable (uncredited)

Avril Angers

Mother (uncredited)

John Barron

1st Sub-Editor (uncredited)

William Baskiville

Policeman (uncredited)

Wallace Bosco

Copy Boy (uncredited)

Jim Brady

Man at Water Station (uncredited)

Robin Burns

Man in Crowd (uncredited)

Alf Casha

Man in Crowd (uncredited)

Norman Chappell

Hotel Receptionist (uncredited)

Richard Coleman

Partner of Stenning's Divorced Wife (uncredited)

Harold Coyne

Editor (uncredited)

Maxwell Craig

Harry's Club Patron (uncredited)

George Curtis

Man in Crowd (uncredited)

Peter Evans

Man in Pub (uncredited)

Geoffrey Frederick

Mitchell (uncredited)

Dave Griffiths

Workman (uncredited)

Aidan Harrington

Editor (uncredited)

Ruth Harrison

Woman in Crowd (uncredited)

Gordon Humphries

Man at Water Station (uncredited)

Fred Johnson

Archie (uncredited)

Gerry Judge

Man in Crowd (uncredited)

Juba Kennerley

Harry's Club Patron (uncredited)

Dan Lester

Man in Crowd (uncredited)

Aileen Lewis

Demonstrator (uncredited)

Leonard Llewellyn

Editor (uncredited)

Larry Martyn

Argumentative Man at Washing Centre (uncredited)

Jim McManus

Man at Water Station (uncredited)

Don McMurray

Man in Fight (uncredited)

Carmel McSharry

Woman Lost in Fog (uncredited)

Michael McStay

Policeman at Washing Centre (uncredited)

Robert Moore

Air Traffic Controller (uncredited)

Charles Morgan

Foreign Editor (uncredited)

Cecil Paul

Editor (uncredited)

Lisa Peake

Girl (uncredited)

Frank Phillips

Radio Announcer (uncredited)

Charles Price

Man in Crowd (uncredited)

John Rae

Sarge the Doorman (uncredited)

Edith Raye

Woman in Crowd (uncredited)

Bill Rayment

Man in Crowd (uncredited)

Julie Samuel

Young Girl (uncredited)

Frank Schock

Man in Crowd (uncredited)

Jeff Shane

Man in Crowd (uncredited)

Frank Sieman

Print Room Manager (uncredited)

Jeff Silk

Policeman (uncredited)

Graham Skidmore

Bit Part (uncredited)

Terence Soall

Bit Part (uncredited)

Guy Standeven

Man at Funfair (uncredited)

John Tatham

Policeman at Water Station (uncredited)

Joe Wadham

Man in Crowd (uncredited)

Terry Walsh

Man (uncredited)

Crew

Director, Writer

Val Guest

Writer

Wolf Mankowitz

Reviews

Geronimo1967

May 9, 2024

Newspaper editor "Bill" (Leo McKern) is trying to keep his team focused on churning out the Daily Express whilst the Russians and the Americans are detonating nuclear devices all over the shop. When two of them explode simultaneously and knock the Earth out of it's orbit, things really do start to heat up and his reporter "Stenning" (Edward Judd) and feisty switchboard worker "Jeannie" (Janet Munro) have to try to get to the bottom of things. Just imagine the red tape involved as the government officials put up all sorts of barricades to him finding out anything - possibly because they don't really know a great deal more themselves. What now ensues is a mixture of romance coupled with some increasingly exasperating investigative journalism as we appear to be heading straight into the path of the sun. Might there be a way to arrest this inevitability? More bombs perhaps? We'll have to tune into the Prime Ministerial broadcast at 9pm... Made when the cold war was alive and well, this is quite an interesting story that when you strip it back offers us quite a potent look at the futility of nuclear weapons. The drama here doesn't politicise anything, but it does use the buzzing dynamic of the newsroom to present us with a story of mankind's own stupidity and bloody-mindedness. There's a solid supporting cast and a welcome bit of sarcasm in the dialogue and it's at the better end of the apocalyptic drama genre.