NOTE: This eBook and its contents is freely available for personal educational, entertainment, enjoyment, reference and research purposes. You are free to use this eBook in any manner for non-commercial purposes.
Non-Commercial Use means distribution on a “free to use” basis where there is no direct payment by the consumer for access to the relevant content and where no advertising and/or sponsorship opportunities are exploited in connection with the distribution of such content to the consumer.
Any acknowledgement would be greatly appreciated when referencing or distributing material from this eBook.
Dedications
Dedicated in loving memory of my wonderful parents:-
Konstantinos (Dino) Christopoulos who took me to see my very first science fiction film in the early 1960s, The Man With The X-Ray Eyes (1963)
Rosemary Christopoulos who sat with me after school as I watched on TV episodes the first two doctors of the Doctor Who series and insisted on asking me interminable questions about who was who and what was going on! Thanks mum and dad!
The SCI-FI FILM FIESTA eBook series is intended as a salute to the pioneering work of science fiction film makers. May future generations have the privilege of enjoying your work and never stop wondering....What if?
Dedicated also to you, the reader who appreciates these classic gems from the golden age of sci-fi film-making. It is you who help to keep such films alive for future generations to enjoy
Other eBooks in the Sci-Fi Film Fiesta series:
Volume 1: “Here Be Monsters”
Volume 2: “Into Space”
Volume 3: “Other Worlds”
Volume 4: “Journeys Within”
Volume 5: “Alien Contact”
Volume 6: “Alien Invasion”
CONTENTS
The Night the World Exploded (1957)
The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959)
SCI-FI FILM FIESTA
VOLUME 7:
THE END IS NIGH!
©Chris Christopoulos 2022
Introduction
Asteroid or comet impact!
Deadly global pandemic!
X-ray or Gamma ray burst from space!
Massive solar flares!
Supernova explosion!
Re-emergence of ancient viruses and bacteria!
Alien invasion!
Nuclear and biological warfare!
Runaway global warming!
Devastating ice-age!
Global famine!
Super volcano eruptions!
World wide economic and social collapse!
The above are just some of the ways by which human civilisation could be brought to a crashing end – all of which have from time to time been the subject of science fiction films.
Human beings don’t have a particularly good track record when it comes to predicting the end of the world. Take for instance biblical predictions foretelling the end of the world which have had to be revised again and again. In our own times we seem to have managed to get through the predicted Y2K or millennium bug unscathed and the year 2012 came and went without a hitch despite our best efforts at misinterpreting the Mayan calendar.
The biggest danger posed to our own survival as a species most likely will come from ourselves and will originate from human complacency, smugness, hubris and plain stupidity.
In the 1950s and throughout the Cold War period, the threat of nuclear annihilation was a very real prospect. Unfortunately with the passage of time, collective amnesia has taken hold and it is more than likely a miscalculation will result in the unleashing of a nuclear holocaust if we are not careful. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the number of nuclear weapon (and near nuclear weapon-ready) states in a volatile Geo-political environment make such a prospect more than likely.
There are those who believe that somewhere in the depths of space there is a sizeable chunk of rock with our name on it. However, we are increasingly assured that good old science and technology will come to our rescue by ensuring we can identify any potential planet killer that may be heading towards us and that once identified measures can be taken to deflect said object before any encounter with our planet can take place. It wasn’t that long ago, however that people in a region of Russia were knocked off their feet and windows in buildings were shattered when an object rudely entered earth’s atmosphere and reminded us that perhaps we are not so much in charge of things as we think we are!
The recent Covid-19 Pandemic has provided us with some interesting lessons which with the passage of time we seem to be increasingly failing to learn from. What might have happened had no vaccine or effective anti-viral medications been developed? Even with such means at our disposal with which to fight the virus, people do continue to die from Covid or at least are falling ill and are being hospitalised. Not surprisingly political and economic considerations have taken precedence and the true extent of mortality and illness and their effect on various sectors of society tend to be somewhat “disguised” and underplayed. Also not surprising is that the seriousness of the situation is being overshadowed by a willingness on the part of most of society to ignore what is happening and to just get on with life and not think too much about it. We can only hope that our carelessness does not result in the development of a deadly new mutation of the virus with catastrophic consequences for humankind.
One thing we can be sure of is that nothing – nothing in creation or in the whole universe lasts forever, including the human race. One way or another, our planet and our species along with everything else will come to an end. Nor will the rest of the universe care one bit or even notice. It is worth considering that our species on more than one occasion in the distant past, humanity has come perilously close to extinction due to severe climactic calamities with only a few hundred or perhaps a few thousand human individuals left alive on the entire planet!
If any of the above scenarios don’t result in our demise, then our planet will cease to exist when our sun in its death throes expands to become a red giant, engulfs the earth and then eventually consumes whatever is left of itself before shrinking to a white dwarf star and puffing out of existence. Aeons from now the universe will continue to expand until the light from the myriad stars gradually extinguish and darkness and nothingness reigns supreme.
I doubt that the end of our planet or our civilization will be result of a single factor. Rather, the end will most likely result from a combination of factors with one perhaps culminating in the knock-out punch.
In the meantime, dear reader, I’d like to share with you my own enjoyment of many individual classic films from the golden age of science fiction with this 7th volume of the Sci-Fi Film Fiesta series: “The End Is Nigh,” which features sci-fi films of the 1950s that depict end of the world scenarios as well as post apocalyptic and dystopian futures.
When Worlds Collide (1951)
A Very Good Film For Its Time
Director: Rudolph Maté
Producer: George Pal (See my tribute to George Pal)
Written by: Sydney Boehm
Music: Leith Stevens
Cinematography: W. Howard Greene; John F. Seitz
Editing: Arthur P. Schmidt
Release date: August 1951
Running time: 83 minutes
Cast
Richard Derr (David Randal)
Larry Keating (Dr. Cole Hendron)
Barbara Rush (Joyce Hendron, Cole’s daughter)
John Hoyt (Sydney Stanton)
Peter Hansen (Dr. Tony Drake)
Alden Chase (Dr. George Frye, Dr Hendron's second in command)
Hayden Rorke (Dr. Emery Bronson)
Frank Cady (Harold Ferris, Stanton's assistant)
Background
“When Worlds Collide” began life as a six-part monthly serial from September 1932 to February 1933 and as a 1933 science fiction novel both co-written by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer.
Synopsis
David Randall, a skilled pilot is paid to deliver some mysterious and secret information from one esteemed astronomer to another astronomer, Dr. Hendron. Hendron confirms the sender’s shattering findings that a planet called Zyra, orbiting a sun called Bellus, will enter our solar system. The sun, Bellus will collide with the Earth and bring about human civilisation’s end.
The UN is informed that the world is about to end, and that the only hope for humanity’s survival lies with the construction of a rocket-ship to send a select few (40) to the planet Zyra as it passes. The urgent information about humanity’s fate is met with by the response that there “is no cause for alarm.”
We learn that two philanthropists pledge to help Dr. Hendron finance the building of this rocket ship that hopefully will take them to the planet Zyra, assuming that it is habitable for humans.
Sydney Stanton, a cynical and bitter wheelchair-bound old man puts up the rest of the money, provided that he is taken on board the rocket ship.
The problem is that only so many passengers and only so much cargo can be accommodated on the rocket ship, not to mention that the countdown is on for the approach of doomsday!
Will this modern-day Noah's ark save what remains of humanity from total extinction…...
When Worlds Collide?
Points Of Interest
(Some spoilers follow….)
Even though the film, “When Worlds Collide” was made about 70 years ago, it does remain relevant to the concerns about potential threats to humanity’s existence in the 21st. century such as global warming; earthquakes and tsunamis in the Indian Ocean and Japan; devastating floods in England, wild fires in Australia, California and Europe; Hurricane Sandy in the US; meteors hurtling across the sky and blasting out windows in Russia and more.
With such events seeming to occur with greater frequency and impact, our minds tend to become more focused on the rather precarious nature of our existence. Even on a more personal and individual level, as we continue on our journey through life, we eventually come to the realisation that the number of days that lie ahead of us will be far fewer than the number of days that lie behind us. The important question then for civilisation and for individuals is how do we meet the challenge presented to us by our inevitable mortality, the impermanence of any civilization and the transitory nature of our existence?
The characters in the film, “When Worlds Collide,” find that circumstances have forced them to consider such a question head on as the countdown is on to the end of the world.
In the film we see aspects of ourselves as we witness people……
At their very worst:
In the film we see people acting selfishly, not caring about anyone else's survival, and merely just looking out for Number One. For instance, Stanton bankrolls the whole rocket ship project not due to any sense of altruism on his part but rather as a means of buying his own survival. Here we see a man used to “weighing the percentages,” who doesn’t “deal in theories, only realities” and who views civilization as merely being governed by the principle of “dog eat dog” and the “law of the jungle.”
We also see reason being replaced by fear and desperation as the work crews question “Why should our lives be decided by a raffle?” and attempt to gain entry to the rocket by means of mob violence. Would we act differently if we were faced with such a threat to our very survival?
A similar scenario occurs in the film “2012” whereby a moral dilemma is faced by those on the arks containing the select few who have been chosen to survive the global flood and whether or not to admit the workers and others outside onto the arks.
At their very best:
The worst possible state of affairs can also bring out the best in people. In “When Worlds Collide” we see examples of self-sacrifice whereby characters find themselves forced to decide between saving their own lives or opting for something more ethical, moral or just more important than life itself.
The rather blatant but understandable attempt by Dr Hendron to rig the lottery so that his daughter and future son-in-law, David can get a seat on the ship, manages to produce a dilemma requiring an ethical and moral decision to be made by David. We know earlier that David did not succumb to the offers from “Donovan from the Sentinel.” So some kind of moral framework is being established here for which we can forgive him his obvious past philandering and womanizing ways. Hendron did “stretch the point to include” David who according to David himself would be little more than an “aerial taxi driver.” David’s sense of ethics therefore won’t allow him to go along with Hendron’s decision.
As was mentioned in the film’s synopsis, acts of selflessness were shown when the two philanthropists pledged (with no strings attached) to help Dr. Hendron finance the building of this rocket ship.
Another such act, but on a more personal and emotional level, was Doctor Drake’s convincing David to go on the flight, even resorting to deception by stating that, “if Frye doesn’t make it, you’ll be in command of the ship.” Of course, there is nothing medically wrong with Frye! Despite Drake’s involvement with Joyce Hendron, he places the happiness of the woman he loves above that of his own feelings and desires. If her happiness lies with being with David, then he’ll be the one to make it happen.
Placing their lives in perspective:
Money, material possessions and all those petty concerns and conflicts no longer seem so important when faced with the inevitability of total annihilation. For example, following from Bronson’s earlier comment that a “day will come when money won’t mean anything,” we see David Randall in a nightclub contemplating a dollar bill. Knowing that it soon will be of no use to him, he decides to light a cigarette with it. This one action demonstrates how aspects of life that were once taken for granted and were seen to have been important no longer matter when faced with a threat of such magnitude as the one being faced by the film’s characters.
The petty conflict developing between David and Dr. Drake over Joyce Hendron is soon seen by both of them for what it is. Just as they are about to come to blows, the radio operator merely has to turn up the radio’s volume where they hear an urgent plea for more penicillin. Without anyone having to say anything obvious, they both come to their senses and focus on what is important. Even a bit later when both men are rescuing a young boy from a rooftop, it seems as if Drake is about to leave David behind. However, he quickly circles back in the helicopter and picks David up. It seems that there are far more important things in life than petty jealousies and rivalries in the face of the devastation around them.
There are times when even one’s personal life and survival is a secondary concern when faced with the prospect of losing something or someone who is more important than life itself. An example of this is young Eddie deciding to stay behind with his sweetheart, Julie Cummings rather than taking his place on the ship and possibly living life without her. Fortunately, it worked out well for both of them.
Seeking spiritual strength:
When faced with the prospect of death and total loss of everything, it is no surprise that we learn in the film that never have people “felt so close to God.”
Reflecting on what one’s life has amounted to, wondering what will happen when we die, thinking about whether or not there is an afterlife and so on. Such thoughts probably occur to most of us at some stage in our lives and probably more so for many people when faced with the prospect of inevitable and imminent extinction. Only a select few in the film can be physically saved. The rest of humanity must cling to some hope of salvation after the Earth’s destruction, even if it is in the form of faith in humanity’s rebirth in both a spiritual sense and as a species.
There are of course some aspects to this film, “When Worlds Collide”, that tend to detract from its finer qualities. Among them are;
A rather ageist view that no senior citizen can possibly be useful to a new society. As Dr.Hendron stated, “This new world isn’t for us.” Have we really changed our perceptions as to the worth and value of our older citizens significantly since that time?
An awful representation of the planet Zyra. Just look at it. Words are not needed.
A mixed collection of special visual effects ranging from a convincing interior room shot during an earthquake through to disaster-type stock footage. Some scenes look convincing but others plainly do not.
Suspect science even for the times. For example, human beings and much of everything else would have been vaporized from Bellus’ heat long before being hit by it.
Overdone parallels with the biblical story of Noah and the Great Flood complete with quotes from The Book of Genesis, a craft being constructed to take the chosen few to safety, livestock being led in to the ship two by two, ethereal music and on it goes…..
Five (1951)
A historically important and visionary
sci-fi film that’s ahead of its time
Director: Arch Oboler
Producer: Arch Oboler
Screenplay: Arch Oboler
Story: Arch Oboler
Music: Henry Russell
Cinematography: Sid Lubow, Louis Clyde Stoumen
Editing: John Hoffman, Ed Spiegel, Arthur Swerdloff
Studio: Arch Oboler Productions
Distributer: Columbia Pictures
Release date: April 25, 1951 (U.S.)
Running time: 93 minutes (Black and White)
Budget: $75,000
Cast
William Phipps (Michael Rogin)
Susan Douglas Rubes (Roseanne Rogers)
James Anderson (Eric)
Charles Lampkin (Charles)
Earl Lee (Oliver P. Barnstaple)
Synopsis
(Some spoilers follow)
As stated in a newspaper headline, a warning had been issued that detonating a new type of atomic bomb could result in humanity's extinction. The film’s title, “Five,” refers to the number of survivors of this atomic bomb disaster that has wiped out the rest of the human race.
The film opens with the once invincible and dependable icons of civilization (Big Ben, Tower of London, Kremlin, Eiffel Tower) suffocating in a sea of destruction - smoke, sirens and screams. An aerial shot slowly closes in on the small isolated and exhausted rag doll figure of Roseanne Rogers as she numbly staggers in shock along the roadway in her search for another living human being. We discover that Roseanne was in a hospital's lead-lined X-ray room when disaster struck. It is almost ironic that she has been saved from death by radiation by undergoing a process that involves radiation (X-rays) which outside of controlled medical uses is deadly to humans.
Receiving no reply to her piteous plea, “Somebody please help me!” Roseanne makes her way to her aunt's isolated hillside house. Walking in upon a scene with a strangely unreal homely atmosphere, she finds that someone else is already living there. It turns out that the man, Michael, a sensitive young poet and philosopher who is glad that the “cheap honky-tonk of a world” is dead, had been in an elevator in the Empire State Building (“mighty edifice”) when the ‘end’ came. He can even recite the speech he used to give to visitors to the building which now seems utterly absurd under the circumstances. Too numb to speak, Roseanne slowly recovers. She rejects Michael's attempt to force himself onto her, stating that she is both married and pregnant.
Two more survivors eventually arrive: Oliver P. Barnstaple, an elderly assistant cashier who is in denial in that he believes he is on vacation, and Charles, an African American, who we learn wanted to be a teacher but wound up becoming a doorman. Charles has been taking care of Oliver since they were both accidentally locked in a bank vault when the disaster occurred.
Later on while at the beach, they discover a man in the water. After dragging him out, they learn that his name is Eric, a cosmopolitan Alpinist who was stranded on Mount Everest during a blizzard when disaster struck. He was making his way back to America when his plane ran out of fuel just short of land.
After seeming to recover, Barnstaple dies peacefully at the kind of place he had always wanted to be.
With Eric’s inclusion in the post-apocalypse community, the seeds of conflict and discord have been sown. Eric believes the reason that they lived was because they were immune to the radiation. He wants to search for and gather together any other survivors. Michael, however, believes that the radiation is more intense in the cities that Eric wants to search.
As can be seen from his attitude toward Charles, Eric is a racist. The fight that erupts between the two men is halted when Roseanne goes into labor. With Michael’s help she gives birth to a boy.
With hopes emerging for making a better life, it is Eric who spoils things by deliberately driving the jeep through the little community’s cultivated field, destroying a portion of their crops. Michael orders Eric to leave, but Eric resorts to a show of power and threat of violence as he brandishes a pistol and states that he will leave only when he is good and ready to.
Needing to discover what became of her husband, Roseanne accompanies Eric to the city. Eric, not surprisingly insists that Roseanne not tell Michael about this. Eric has been stealing supplies, and a fight results between him and a suspicious Charles who is stabbed in the back and killed by Eric.
In the city, while Eric is looting, Roseanne discovers her husband's skeleton in a waiting room. Eric refuses to let Roseanne return to the group and after they struggle his shirt is torn open to reveal that he has radiation poisoning.
Eric’s fate seems to be sealed.
But what of Roseanne and her baby’s fate?
What about Michael?
Will they ever be reunited?
Is there any hope left for the fledgling little community?
Or has all hope for humanity’s survival been destroyed by the fallout of its most destructive sins of violence, domination, fear, lust and greed?
Points Of Interest
“Five” is the first film to depict the aftermath of a catastrophe involving fall-out from a super-atomic bomb that, with the exception of a few survivors, wipes out humanity on earth.
Remember that this film was made just over five years after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that brought an end to World War II. While the film was being made the world was embroiled in the Korean War. General MacArthur proposed using nuclear weapons on strategic targets in China. Meanwhile, in the US, children were being taught to “Duck and Cover.” Since then we have had the Cuban Missile Crisis; Mutually Assured Destruction concepts; proliferation of nuclear weapons with politically unstable states having access to them; headlines screaming the hysterical rhetoric of nuclear retribution and retaliation from bellicose political leaders who sorely need to see what life would be like for the survivors of a nuclear holocaust.
The film makes one wonder whether anything will really change should such a calamity befall humanity. Judging from the characters’ words and actions, it seems that the failings of humanity would not magically disappear even with the prospect of being able to start afresh. Racism, lust and all the other self-destructive human failings will probably still rear their ugly heads. Take for instance, Michael’s attempt to force himself on the last woman on Earth-and this from a fairly nice, deep and introspective character. In this study in group-dynamics, this small but diverse group of survivors face, and try to overcome a great cataclysm. While doing so they are forced to face a crisis within-a crisis of their own making where prejudice, fear, intolerance, greed and other base human instincts threaten to cause an implosion of the last five surviving members of the human race.
If that sounds pretty dark, well that is certainly the mood and atmosphere for much of the film. The tension and sense of dread is palpable during the shooting of the city sequence as we see the image of the buildings, abandoned cars and scattered skeletons through a shaky camera lens, as we witness the emotions register on the close-ups of Roseanne’s face and hear the constant soul-shattering wailing sound of sirens.
The film “Five” contains characters who each symbolize different elements that go to make up our modern civilization and community. There is something of each character that we recognise within most of us. For instance, we have the mountain climber, Eric (“I climbed Mt. Everest. I alone. Always alone.”) who represents the kind of politically ideological, dogmatic, racially intolerant, destructive and domineering fascism that left much of Europe in ruins a few years previously. Perhaps there is a bit of Eric buried within all of us with our need to have, possess and control things and people. For Eric, the cities are there “bursting with food” ready to be plundered. Not for him the “return to primitiveness” and living by the sweat of one’s brow. He must lead others (preferably the select few of humanity who have “special immunity’) by his strength of will toward the mountain summit no matter what the human and material cost. How many people have had to die as the “King Eric 1’s” of this world have led others in their quest to turn their “theory” into “fact” just so that they can “justify their existence?”
Then there’s the banker, Barnstaple, who represents an old-order mentality which he tries to hang on to cope with the dire circumstances. After all, “vacations are delightful, (but) one has obligations to one’s work.” It is such a mode of living that can make one want to “sleep under the stars” for “40 years” but never get to do so. It is too easy to have one’s priorities and values twisted so much that the only life that is lived is a life of lost opportunities, unrealized ambitions and unfulfilled wishes-a wasted life. For Barnstaple, and for most of us, we have always wanted to go somewhere, be something or do something but are left thinking, “I don’t remember why I didn’t.” Barnstaple is only now able to enjoy the simple pleasure of being at the beach at the last moments of his life. Only with the approach of death is he able to appreciate the value of what he has lost sight of for much of his life while dutifully fulfilling his role and function as assistant cashier.
For me, Charles represents the true heart and soul of this little community. He is like ‘one who was blind but can now see’ type of character who wanted to be a teacher, “but lost my way somewhere I guess.” Like most of us, Charles settled for a “piece of security” with the result that, “all my life in the city and I never saw the lights.” A life of security and obligation is fine but a question inevitably has to be asked; is that all there is? Looking behind and beyond the façade to really see “the lights,” to really hear the “dripping of a faucet,” or to derive satisfaction at growing something simple like corn, helps to connect one to what is truly meaningful and important in life. We never know how important and significant such things are until we are deprived of them.
Finally, there is Michael and Rosanne. In many respects they seem to represent a kind of new Adam and Eve of a new Eden. They hold out a promise of future hope and a fulfillment of a God’s hope when He “shaped a lump of clay into his own image.” Now that a breath of life has been given to a new living soul in the form of the birth of a child, we have a sense of the possibility of a new life where people “work together, live together, like friends” and never repeat the mistakes of the past. For Michael, it could be a world where a Roseanne can be seen for who she is; a Roseanne, a person with an identity instead of being objectified and seen as being “just a woman.”
The shooting location of “Five” was the remote 360-acre ranch owned by director Oboler and his wife Eleanor in the Santa Monica Mountains near Los Angeles. The cliff-side house used in the movie was designed by famed architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. A gatehouse and the hilltop retreat were the only buildings actually completed. The shooting location seems to reinforce the isolated (exterior) and cramped feel (interior) of the film itself.
You will soon notice that dialogue or talk tends to dominate the film at the expense of action. This tends to make the film rather slow-moving, especially for many of today’s audiences who might be more used to action and special-effects dictating what happens on screen. This may not be the film for you if you have a short attention span or prefer a diet of sci -fi films where one damn thing happens after another in a universe, far, far away.
There is also far too much in the way of religious messaging and Biblical imagery. One can only take so much of needing to repent ones sins along with references to Eden and quotes from the bible.
Arch Oboler’s handling of the issue of racial tolerance is interesting and is probably a product of the times. For some people, Charles seems to be there largely to assist Barnstaple or help out with tending the crops. Strangely from our perspective, Charles doesn’t seem to show the kind of sexual interest in Roseanne as the other men do. He is even killed off along with any hope of passing his heritage on to any future generations! Such a scenario would have made a reprehensible character like Eric quite happy!
The depiction of nuclear war doesn’t seem to coincide with what we know about effects of a nuclear explosion and radiation fallout. In places it almost has more in common with the aftermath of a neutron bomb explosion whereby organic material is impacted while leaving inorganic materials largely intact.
Whatever the finer points are of the film “Five,” the one inescapable fact to be derived from it is the stark and shocking manner in which it grapples with the enormity of having to face the consequences of nuclear war. It seems that we still have a lot to learn….
“1984”
(1954 BBC version starring Peter Cushing)
doubleplusgood!
What is featured here is the 1954 BBC produced made-for-TV live recording of George Orwell’s dystopian novel, “Nineteen-Eighty Four” published in 1949.
(Spoilers will follow below…..)
Cast
André Morell ... O'Brien
Yvonne Mitchell ... Julia
Donald Pleasence... Syme
Arnold Diamond\... Emmanuel Goldstein
Campbell Gray... Parsons
Hilda Fenemore... Mrs Parsons
Pamela Grant... Parsons Girl
Keth Davis ... Parsons Boy
Janet Barrow ... Woman Supervisor
Norman Osborne ... First Youth
Tony Lyons ... Second Youth
Malcolm Knight ... Third Youth
John Baker... First Man
Victor Platt... Second Man
Introduction
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever..."
I vaguely recall a speech made by the former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher back in 1984 when she gloated about how the UK had not become like the place depicted in George Orwell’s novel, “1984.” Orwell’s novel, however was not intended to be a prediction of how England or the world would become in the year 1984. Instead, it was intended to serve more as a warning of what could happen if the State is given the opportunity to acquire and exercise unbridled and unchecked power over its citizens. Thank heavens that, unlike the characters in Orwell's world of Oceania in 1984, we at least still have the capacity (should we wish to exercise such capacity) to "recall" and remember the past as we stumble forward into the future. The question is, can we learn from the past?
At the time the book was written, the blight of Nazi Germany under the dictator Hitler was fresh in peoples’ minds, along with the devastation in Europe caused by the Second World War. Britain had just stopped WWII era rationing in 1950, only four years before the BBC production and a year after Orwell’s book was published. There was also the looming Cold War between the United States and its allies on the one hand and the USSR under the Stalin and the Communist Party on the other.
The warning signs were definitely there and they provided a solid template for Orwell’s literary warning to his readers about what could happen should a society embark on a particular path that increases the power of the State at the expense of individual freedom and liberty.
Since then, we have had the advent of the Cold War between opposing global power blocks and ideologies; Mao’s China and the Cultural revolution; the totalitarian regime of North Korea; wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan; the fear of the spread of Communist ideology and the paranoid Communist witch hunts in the US during the 1950s; fear of terrorism with consequent increases in surveillance and loss of personal privacy; the all-pervasive presence of technology in the hands of governments, corporations and individuals with privacy and personal information implications; security laws and clamdown on freedom in Hong Kong by the Chinese Communist party and so on…A warning is useless if no-one takes any notice……
In the film, “1984” we see the capacity of the Party / State’s power to destroy individual autonomy, to suppress independent thought, and secure the future for itself by the indoctrination of its children. For the dictatorial Party, the system is not geared to defending the rights of the individual, but rather to maintaining and extending the power of the Party itself.
Winston Smith, played by Peter Cushing, is a bureaucrat and outer-party member who does and says what he is told to do and say. He is, however a “thought criminal” since he secretly loathes Big Brother and the Party.
PART 1: BACKGROUND & SETTING:
"This, in 1984, is London, chief city of Airstrip One, a province of the state of Oceania."
At the beginning of the film we are given a close shot of a huge circular hoarding containing the head and shoulders of a stern-faced moustachioed man (Big Brother), and the slogan;
"BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU."
Amidst a scene of ruin stands the pyramid-shaped edifice of the Ministry of Truth. It and the system it represents grew out of conditions of chaos, war and destruction. Now, like the pyramids of Egypt, it seems that the new order is destined to last for an eternity. The architecture of the Party has been designed to convey a message about the enduring and overwhelming power of the Party. Prominently emblazoned on the sides of the building are the seemingly antithetical statements:
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
This is a society in which opposing contradictory concepts can be simultaneously held in the mind and accepted because that is the kind of view of reality demanded by the Party of its citizens.
Much later in the film, Winston reads from a book that is given to him by O’Brien. The truth about the nature of the whole social and political order is laid bare;
WINSTON [reads]: 'When the United States absorbed the British Empire to form Oceania, and Russia took Europe to form Eurasia, two of the three World States were in being. Their ideologies were Ingsoc, Neo-Bolshevism, and later Death-Worship in East Asia. These three States are permanently at war.'
JULIA: Then it's not a sham?
WINSTON: Wait! [reads] 'War has changed its character. It exists only to preserve tyranny. Fighting - when there is any - takes place on vague tropical frontiers, or round the floating fortresses. The essential act of war is the destruction of human labour. A way of shattering or sinking the materials which might be used to make the masses too comfortable, in the long run, too intelligent. No invasion of enemy territory must ever take place.'
JULIA: Then the real war isn't with Eurasia at all! It's between all of us...
WINSTON: ...and them! [reads] 'The Party member, like the proletarian, tolerates conditions because he has nothing with which to compare his way of life. Efficiency, even military efficiency, is no longer needed. In Oceania nothing is efficient except the Thought Police. Big Brother...'
JULIA: Does he exist?
WINSTON: [reads] '...is the guise in which the Party shows itself to the world. No-one has ever seen him.'
PART 2: POWER….ABSOLUTE!
I fully recommend that the reader takes the time to read Orwell’s novel. The film itself is quite a faithful portrayal of Orwell’s original story and it effectively presents the factors that have combined to produce the kind of social and political conditions whereby the Party exercises complete, total and overwhelming power over…..
THE INDIVIDUAL
Winston Smith (Outer Party Member, KZ 6-0-9-0, Smith W) is not an individual but is instead a number, an entry, a piece of data that can be recorded, filed and referenced when necessary.
A combination of fear and constant surveillance keeps people in line. At the start of the film the camera zooms in on the pyramid and then fades to a close-up of Winston Smith peering out of a circular window out beyond the confines of the Ministry of Truth. He is then yanked back from his “aberrant” behaviour by the Voice of the Telescreen,
"KZ 6-0-9-0, Smith W, face the Telescreen. You have been standing at the window of Bay Two of the Records Department for over eighty seconds, what are you doing there?........This irregularity has been recorded," it concludes with, "Return to your cubicle, Smith."
The various characters that appear before us demonstrate clearly the types of individuals who find themselves caught within the Party’s grasp. First there is Parsons with his overly jovial attitude who believes in and toes the Party line. Second, there is Syme who appears to be intelligent, perhaps too intelligent, and who ardently wishes to be seen to be devoting his intelligence and being to his work or function in that society. Third, is Winston who, although he helps to perpetuate the system, knows and feels deep down inside that there is something definitely wrong with the current state of affairs. However, apart from initial small passive forms of resistance, Winston cannot see any way of doing anything about it for the time being. Finally, Julia, like Winston, abhors the way things are, but she is only concerned with happiness and living and loving for today instead of worrying needlessly about the future and changing the status quo.
The ultimate irony in any mention of the individual in the context of the world of 1984 is that as we shall see below, in the eyes of the Party the individual…….does not truly exist! The individual is the Party and Party is the individual.
THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE
Although it is proclaimed that the Party has supposedly done away with the inequalities of the past, it has in fact encouraged and perpetuated class / social distinctions and inequalities. Notice that at one point when Winston is walking back to his work cubicle, he passes a door marked "INNER PARTY MEMBERS ONLY." Here we see O'Brien, who wears the distinctive uniform of an Inner Party Member which immediately sets his status apart from that of Smith, a drably attired Outer party member.
Another and far larger sector of society consists of the Proles. Syme expresses the kind of prejudiced contempt with which the Party regards the bulk of the population:
“Except the Proles? They're not human. Look at that creature over there with the ladle: ‘Them stew with salt, them stew without!’ Thoughts like that don't need simplifying…….they've no minds, they live by instinct. The Proles are animals."
While in the Prole Sector, Winston comes across a pub where his presence causes the patrons who spot him to stop talking and regard him with suspicious hostility. Here he sees three prole youths fascinated by a pornographic book, two men arguing over the State Lottery and an old man trying to persuade the barman to let him have a pint. The world of this, the largest segment of society, has been reduced to porn, gambling and booze which suits the interests of the Party just fine.
THE MEDIA, INFORMATION & “TRUTH”
Winston is part of a system that deliberately lies and falsifies information. Past events are altered to fit the requirements of the present as determined by the Party. Things happened as the Party says they happened. The ironically named Ministry of Truth is the Ministry of the PARTY’s Truth.
At Winston’s Speakwrite machine, a message tube shoots out of pneumatic piping. It contains a sheet of newspaper and the Speakwrite gives Winston instructions in a bland and impersonal monotone: "Correction required as follows: The Times of 17th March 1984, copy sent herewith, contains reported speech by Big Brother. He is alleged to have predicted that Eurasian forces would launch an attack in North Africa. Please rectify in accordance with facts."
O'Brien comments a little later, “Such a careless report... must not exist.”
Winston dictates the alteration to the Speakwrite,: "Routine correction to Times of 17th March 1984 where shown. Quote, in his broadcast speech Big Brother referred in confident terms to the probability of a large-scale Eurasian offensive early next month. There is no possible doubt, he said, it will be launched in South India. Other parts are expected to remain quiet. Reprint, enter back-number, and file."
During the organised Two-Minute Hate propaganda session, attendees are presented with the figure of an oriental-looking soldier on the Telescreen who is denounced as,
"The Eurasian butcher, the reveller in atrocity, the world criminal... This is the enemy we can see, but worse than that he is the Enemy Within. The Enemy of the People - Emmanuel Goldstein."
The crowd hurl insults and chant "Hate! Hate!" “Freedom is Slavery!” “ War is Peace!” and "Ignorance is Strength!"
On screen Goldstein declares that "the dictatorship of the Party must be overthrown! I call upon the people to destroy the tyrant who calls himself Big Brother!" For the crowd the quite frank and truthful account of the state of affairs in Oceania under the Party comes from the lips of an identifiable and seemingly tangible object of treachery and a threat to their way of life who is fully deserving their frenzied screams of hatred, insults and threats. Here people’s emotions and energies are cleverly being manipulated and channelled in a direction that is useful to the interests of the Party by providing them with a target and a scapegoat - whether real or a construct - on which to unleash their pent-up feelings of anger and hatred. In fact, Goldstein was based on the historical figure Leon Trotsky, a rival and enemy of Stalin who was forced to flee Russia, but who was later assassinated.
Winston, under social / mob pressure, hysteria and influence finds himself repeating, "I hate him!" over and over again. Suddenly we hear him thinking: "I hate Big Brother!" before he recovers and begins yelling, "Down with Goldstein!"
The Telescreen then shows an Eurasian soldier firing his machine gun in the direction of the crowd, to be replaced by the reassuring face of Big Brother whose appearance provokes a chant of, "B-B! B-B! B-B!" whereby the object of hatred is now replaced by the object of unconditional love.
ARTS: LITERATURE & MUSIC
Far from enhancing and extending people’s intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual horizons, literature and music has been reduced to the lowest common denominator in order to serve the interests of the Party.
In the Ministry of Truth, within "PORNOSEC” we find Julia operating a "PORNORITE Mk VI No. 247 'JASON FLINDERS'". We are informed that "this machine can turn out twenty pornographic novels a day. All phrases and thought sequences were built in during assembly, so that it has its own distinctive style. Its products go out under the name of Jason Flinders." According to the Supervisor there are only “the six basic plots” and as O’Brien observes, “The stuff's rubbish, of course..”
PERCEIVED REALITY: SOCIAL & ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
In the canteen during lunch we see a prominent poster which reads "REGULATION MEAL 15: STEW, BREAD, CHEESE - 15 CENTS. VICTORY GIN EXTRA." Basic bland nutrition and shortages are the order of the day. While queuing up for their food, Syme asks Winston if he has any spare razor blades, but Smith says he has been using his last one for weeks and that new ones, "don't exist any longer."
When Syme asks Winston how the stew is, he replies with, "It's alright," but suddenly remembers the Telescreen and loudly proclaims: "It's very good!" Close surveillance and fear of repercussions encourage self-censorship and prevent voicing of opinions, or the expression of protest and dissent even when confronted by the reality of circumstances
An announcement from the Telescreen later on informs the population that, "over the past year, our standard of living has risen by no less than twenty percent. All over Oceania, there have been spontaneous demonstrations to thank Big Brother for our new happy life!" This is then followed by an announcement concerning the increase in the chocolate ration to 20 grams. Winston, however, knows it to be a decrease.
Earlier, just prior to the Hate session, Winston had quickly performed another correction, changing a report that pledged no decrease in the chocolate ration, to one reporting a necessary reduction to 20 grams. He then had slipped the original reports through a slot in the wall marked "FOR DESTRUCTION" before heading off to the Hate session.
Now Winston sits thinking, "The chocolate ration was reduced to 20 grams only yesterday. Yes, they believe it - Doublethink - they make themselves believe it. Our new happy life! Grease and grime, the smell of dirty clothes and synthetic gin. And, oh, that stew... Careful - Facecrime!"
Later in his flat, Winston struggles not to allow his thoughts and fears to reveal themselves in front of the Telescreen by an exercise of self-monitoring or self-censorship: "Don't let it show in your face - get rid of this thought! Rid of it, quickly, before it's too late. Doublethink - practice it! The Party says the Earth is flat - true! That's true. The Party says two and two make five... no, and not to know. Forget, and forget that you've forgotten - Doublethink.... Crimestop... Ignorance is strength..."
LANGUAGE & THOUGHT
How we think and view the world around us is largely determined by our use of language. The Party knows that if it can control how language is used, it will then be better able to control how people think. In other words, people will only be able to think in the way that the Party wants them to think. In the canteen scene this is taken up by Syme in discussion about his work on the Eleventh Edition dictionary and “Newspeak.”
“We're not only inventing words, we're destroying them - scores of them, thousands every day. It's beautiful………. “The simplicity of it, of course. For one example, just take the word 'good.' If you have that, what need is there for the word 'bad'? 'Ungood' does just as well. Then, instead of a string of vague extra words like 'excellent' and 'splendid', you have 'plusgood', or stronger still 'doubleplusgood'. In Newspeak, the whole notion of goodness and badness will be covered by six words. In reality, by only one word. Don't you see the beauty of that, Winston?........By the year 2050, the whole literature of the past will have gone. Milton, Byron, Chaucer - they'll exist only in Newspeak forms……….The whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought. In the end, we make Thought Crime literally impossible because there'll be no words to express it………….. Have you even thought, in seventy years or so, there'll be nobody alive who could possibly understand this conversation we're having?”
PERSONAL PRIVACY
In his flat in the dilapidated Victory Mansions we see Winston sitting down at a small desk set into an alcove next to the Telescreen while a production bulletin is being broadcast. It is clear that he wishes to remain out of sight of the Telescreen while he takes out a pencil and an exercise book from a drawer under the desk. He opens the exercise book to reveal a hand-written title page: "DIARY OF WINSTON SMITH - 1984." The Party has increased its power of intrusive surveillance at the expense of personal privacy, which in Winston’s case has been reduced to the pages of an exercise book in a tiny corner of his room and an equally tiny corner of his being. And it is only there that he can rail against the reality imposed on him by the Party as he writes, “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER" over and over again.
“EDUCATION”
Parson’s daughter and son wear the uniform of the "Spies" youth group which remind us of the Hitler German youth movement. From a young age children are indoctrinated to know and believe only what the Party wants them to know and believe. Parson’s son reads about the past from a textbook: "In the old days before the glorious Revolution, London was not the beautiful city we know today. It was a dark, dirty, miserable place, where scarcely anybody had enough to eat, and children had to work twelve hours a day for cruel masters who flogged them..." History has been rewritten by the Party and is presented to young impressionable minds as fact, leaving them without anything meaningful with which to compare their current circumstances. After all, in the Oceania, “Ignorance Is Strength.” A little while later the boy reads on, : "The rich men were called... ca-pital-ists. They were fat and ugly with wicked faces, like the one shown on the opposite page." He shows Winston the picture and says: "You're old - did you ever see a ca-pital-ist?" Winston says he doesn't remember. Without memory of past events, we have here a totally manufactured reality in which the Party controls the past, present and future.
His sister, meanwhile spends her time seeking out "traitors" and terrorising her parents who live in constant fear of being denounced to the Party by her. The girl even tries to denounce Winston as he kindly tries to six the Parson’s blocked sink; "Face the Telescreen, comrade. In a moment now he's going to show us what he blocked the pipe up with!"
Society’s youth is used as a tool of control by the Party whereby people are kept in line lest they be denounced as traitors by children who are rewarded for their efforts with medals and a sense of power. For instance, while on a country hike, Parson’s daughter and two other girls followed a strange man they had seen, who they were convinced was a saboteur because he was wearing, "a funny kind of shoe," she'd never seen before. They followed him and eventually told the patrols, who took the man away to the Ministry of Love. Winston’s fearful reaction to the name, the Ministry of Love highlights the irony of its name. and the true nature of that poor man’s destination.
For those brought up under the rule of the Party without a memory of anything other than life under its rule, they are encouraged to see themselves as being “ the Glorious Generation!” whose ambition in life is to “track down all the Thought Criminals and traitors!” and to “shoot them!” and “vaporise them! Whoever they are!!”
SOCIAL / HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
The Party has even managed to intrude into the personal relationships between people, the emotional bonds involved and even as far as human reproduction and child-rearing. While discussing Winston’s separation from his wife, Parsons states that "loyalty to the individual is detrimental to the Party." Winston agrees, saying he too was a member of Junior Anti-Sex League.
PARSONS: “We've come a long way since then, haven't we? Soon, the whole new glorious system in operation.”
WINSTON: “Separate the sexes... artificial insemination...”
PARSONS: “Artsem!”
WINSTON: “And institutions for the children.”
While out in the country with Julia, Winston says that his wife “was beautiful, she hadn't a thought in her head that wasn't a slogan, she submitted to marriage out of loyalty to the state. She had two names for it: making a baby...”
JULIA: "...and our duty to the Party."
WINSTON: "You know that one too?"
JULIA: "Sex talks at the Youth League for the over sixteen's. I'd say it's out of date now - they're getting techniques to replace marriage."
WINSTON: "With Katherine there wasn't anything to replace..."
Later during the Hate Week preparations and celebrations Julia observes that “all this marching up and down, and waving flags, and cheering - it's simply sex gone sour."
WINSTON: “Do you mean they depend on all that hysteria all bottled up...”
JULIA:” They can't bear you to feel anything else. When you make love, you use up a lot of energy and then you feel all warm and happy inside, and you don't give a damn for Big Brother and the Three-Years Plan.”
So even people’s emotions, desires and sexual energies need to be channelled toward the Party and the State with even “Love” being reserved solely for Big Brother. NOTHING is permitted if it detracts from the Party / Big Brother.
PART 3: RESISTANCE, DEFIANCE & THE QUEST FOR TRUTH
When the State deprives individuals of all of their freedoms and liberties, robs them of their individuality and uses force and coercion to ensure their conformity and obedience to the dictates of the State, it is of no surprise that people try to react against this using any means at their disposal.
Winston’s first act of defiance is his possession of the personal diary along with the burning realisation and knowledge of what constitutes his situation and his role in helping to perpetuate the Party’s grip on absolute power: "I sit at my desk in the Records Department helping to draw the darkness in. We help to destroy history - there is only an endless present where the Party is always right...."
Winston’s other act of defiance is to actively seek knowledge, in this case knowledge about the past and what conditions were really like before the Party came to power so that he has some basis with which to compare pre- and post-Party worlds. Inside the pub in the Prole sector Winston asks the old man about the changes he's seen since he was a boy, asking if he thinks he has more freedom now than in the past. Unfortunately, he cannot get answers to his questions as the old man is unable to focus his thoughts due to the effects of age and drink.
Physical objects and artefacts can present us with another source of valuable information and can come to represent both faith and hope. Winston visits the junk shop owned by Mr Charrington and picks up a water and chalk-filled glass snow-dome / paper-weight. Winston comments on its beauty and Charrington is surprised as few people would make such an observation. The aesthetic beauty of the object stands in sharp contrast to drab, ugly, uniform conformity of the Party’s reality.
In room with Julia above Charrington’s antique store, Winston looks at the glass paperweight and contemplates: "It's like a tiny world with its atmosphere complete. If it were possible to get inside there, to have your life there, and mine, perhaps even to find a new people again..." Like the world he has fashioned within the room with Julia, the paperweight symbolizes something other than a reality imagined and created by the party; a world sustained by beauty and love cut off from and cocooned from the ugly and grim reality of the present.
At one point Winston considers a framed photograph of a church - St Clement's Dane-above the fireplace in the room above the shop. Charrington recites a rhyme:
“Oranges and lemons, says the bells of St Clement's...” and gets as far as the second verse - "You owe me five farthings, says the bells of St Martin's" - but can't recall any more."
The act of recalling, remembering and discovering the past is an act of rebellion and defiance against the Party as it brings with it the truth, in this case, as Charrington suggests, "It wasn't always Big Brother, you know?"
Winston’s resistance is fatalistic in that he thinks he knows what the end result will be if he goes down that path. He tells Julia that “in the end we can't win, you know that?......It's just that some kinds of failure are better than other kinds, that's all.” From his point of view it is better to have tried than not to have tried at all.
Winston is determined to seek out the Brotherhood and actively do more, even if it leads to his death before achieving the overthrow of the Party. Winston states that “If little pockets of resistance can be started, just a few records left for the next generation...” He is cut short by Julia who declares; “I'm not interested in the next generation, only in us.” Julia is quite content to carry on what she and Winston are already doing.
For Julia, her act of defiance is a more clandestine and immediate pursuit of happiness in opposition to the Party’s requirements and expectations to “keep an eager face, always shout with the crowd, never shirk anything.” She then shows her disgust with this façade she is forced to maintain by pulling off her checkered waist sash and hurling it to the ground.
Political and social resistance requires some kind of an ideal that provides unity and gives hope to those struggling against oppression in the pursuit of something better. Even if he and Julia are caught by the Party authorities Winston believes “if that happens the only thing that matters is that we should not betray one another” and that “confessing isn't betrayal” since “ what you say or do doesn't matter. Only feelings matter” and that “if you can feel that staying human is worthwhile, even when it can't have any result whatever, then you've beaten them.”
Rebellion and resistance can only be a hollow exercise without a sense of hope and purpose; without understanding present political, social and economic circumstances; without unity of action or a plan for the future. For Julia, rebellion against the Party - except on an individual level such as their own - is futile. and that they must do what they are already doing; staying alive for each other. For Winston, the prole woman outside the window of their room singing a song, "the product of an electronic machine, (which) she sings it as if it means something" represents “hope for the future.” He goes on to state;
“Eighty-five percent of the population. If only they became conscious of their own strength - all they need is to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. They'd throw off the Party...”
Julia counters with the cynical observation; “Conscious? They're like a horse alright. Don't you remember the old slogan: "Proles and animals are free." Darling, they think they're free now………The Party gives them exactly what they want.”
PART 4: BREAKING POINT
A point can be reached whereby the power and oppression of the State in its determination to maintain and increase its power over its citizens is so great and overwhelming that all immediately available forms of opposition and resistance are perceived to be futile. It is at this point when indivduals and groups may decide to pursue any means necessary to remove the jackboot from their faces and overthrow their oppressors. Unfortunately such desperation often results in people adopting militant forms of resistance involving acts of violence that are just as brutal and inhumane in their execution and end result as those sanctioned and perpetrated by the State. And so we have Winston telling O'Brien that they believe that there is some organisation working against the Party, and that he and Julia both want to join. They are asked by O’Brien if they are prepared commit acts of sabotage, murder, treachery, blackmail, through to even throwing acid into the face of a child. They acknowledge their acceptance to do so. He goes on to tell them;
“Our only true life is in the future. We shall take part in it as handfuls of dust and splinters of bone. How far away that future is there is no knowing. Perhaps a thousand years of spreading our knowledge outwards from person to person, generation to generation. In the face of the Thought Police there is no other way."
As in the case of the State / Party, adopting such a course means that the end justifies the means for those who take up the cause of such resistance and the needs and very existence of the individual is merely meant to serve, maintain and perpetuate the “Idea.” It begs the question: would that which replaces the current order be just as bad or worse?
PART 5: RESISTANCE IS FUTILE
“Here comes a chopper to chop off your head...”
The Party is able to keep tabs on and control individuals through the use of fear and by eliminating all sense of trust by having citizens willingly monitor one another. For instance, in Winston’s flat, Parsons notices the alcove with the desk and observes, "That's very peculiar.…….I could swear it's out of view of the Telescreen."
The futility of acting and thinking contrary to the dictates of the State is a fact highlighted and is there for all in Oceania to see in another sequence where Winston passes the Chestnut Tree Café and sees three elderly men sitting at a table with a chess set under a large poster of Big Brother. A voice sings from the Telescreen:
"Underneath the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you and you sold me. They lie here, and here lie we, 'neath the spreading chestnut tree.”
Winston recalls the last conspiracy trial and how all three men have changed. According to Syme, “they confessed to sabotage, embezzlement of Party funds, intrigues with Goldstein's agents. They confessed - now the Telescreen's reminding them. They were released. They come here every day; for them, the gin's free. They can play chess, if they wish.”
As in former Soviet show trials, truth involving the guilt or innocence of those accused of committing treason against the State is not important. The confession extracted by whatever means is all that matters in order to create a false sense of justice at work, to justify the actions of the Party and create a sense of eternal vigilance against real or imagined enemies. The party in this case, however, demands much more from the accused “individual” as we shall see below.
Syme informs Winston that he has received notification that he is suspended from all his duties pending investigation. He asks what it is he could have done to bring this on himself and who could have denounced him. As Winston rushes out of the cafe, the Telescreen commands: "JK 2-1-5-9 Syme B, stand where you are. All other customers in the Chestnut Tree Cafe are to leave immediately. Syme, the Thought Police are joining you...."
Later in their room above the antique shop, Winston tells Julia that he believes Syme to be dead as all trace of him has vanished from their work place, including his name on the list of the Ministry of Truth Chess Club committee members on the noticeboard. Syme is dead in the sense of him being an “unperson” in the eyes of the Party. An observation similarly made by Winston;
“We are the dead.”
Is echoed by Julia;
“We are the dead.”
And is confirmed by the Voice from the Telescreen;
“You are the dead!”
The inevitable has happened….and all that will now transpire is inevitable….
Fear and terror is one means that a totalitarian state will use to maintain its power and crush opposition. In the face of fear and violence people will behave and think irrationally to the extent of willingly implicating themselves and others if it will save them from what they fear the most. For instance, Winston is taken to a cell, where Parsons tells him that his own daughter denounced him as a thought criminal. In self-denial he does not dispute that he may be guilty - he still believes that he could be of some use, "in a Joy Camp." Just then a prisoner is dragged into the cell and when he is informed that he is going to, "Room101" he begs the guard that he will confess to anything and that they can kill him, just as long as they don't take him there. His terror is such that he indicates the man who had just before offered him some bread, telling the guard that he is the one they want: "You didn't hear what he said when he was pretending to give me that piece of bread!"
For the Party, however, the threat of fear and pain in order to extract a confession is not enough. More, much more is required of the individual…….
"Start with this thought: the rule of the Party is forever.”
We next see Winston lying in a coffin-like recessed bench with O'Brien sitting nearby. Seven weeks have passed. O'Brien tells an attendant to turn an apparatus up to "one-seventy," thereby increasing Winston's pain. O'Brien asks him if he remembers writing in his diary that, "freedom is the freedom to say that two and two make four?" O'Brien holds up four fingers to him and asks how many he can see. Winston replies, “Four.” O'Brien adds, “and if the Party says it is not four, but five, then how many?” After increasing the pain level again Winston states, “Four... five... four... anything you like... only stop the pain... stop...”
O’brien informs Winston that he has been beaten brutally every day and that he has confessed to assassination, to distribution of seditious pamphlets, to religion, to embezzlement of Party funds, sale of military secrets, sabotage, and murder. He then asks him, “why do you think we bring people to this place?” It is not merely to make them confess or punish them. O'Brien informs Winston that it is to “cure them” and that Winston has a “disease” in that he is “mentally deranged” and has “a defective memory.” He goes on to tell Winston, “you prefer to be a lunatic, a minority of one” and that “It needs an act of self-destruction - an effort of the will. You must humble yourself before you can become sane.”
For the Party it is not enough to just physically and brutally crush opposition. It is necessary to bring that opposition and all its attendant feelings out into the open so that it can be laid bare and extracted bit by bit until the complete negation of the individual is achieved. The resultant empty void that will be left will be filled by the Party and love for Big Brother. And so we have O'Brien telling Winston, “you do not exist……What happens to you here is forever…….Never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling; of love, or friendship, or joy of living; of laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow... we shall squeeze you empty... and then we shall fill you with ourselves.”
We then move onto the question of WHY? Why does the Party / State go to the trouble of robbing the individual of his humanity, individuality, autonomy, sense of self, capacity to love fellow human beings, and unique view and perspective of reality? O'Brien states that;
”The Party seeks power for its own sake, not as a means, but as an end. Power over the human mind, and power over all matter, climate, disease, the laws of gravity... because we control the mind. Reality is inside the skull, Winston. We control the laws of nature.”
O’Brien points out to Winston, "if you are a man, …….you are the last man." He then orders Winston to look at himself in the mirror in which he beholds the reflection of a haggard and broken shadow of his former self. "If you are human," O'Brien declares, "then that is humanity."
All Winston has left, it seems, is his love for Julia, but the Party will even rob him of this last shred of his humanity.
Remember previously in the room above the antique shop how Winston reacted when he saw the rat? We learned that Winston is terrified of rats after a childhood experience. His mother had been taken away for "questioning," and he had stolen his baby sister's pitiful bread ration before running away from their house. Upon his return in the morning, he found his mother had not yet returned, and that the rats had eaten his sister. For Winston the memory and the associated fear always comes back to him in moments of terror, such as when he met Syme in the Chestnut Tree Cafe.
O'Brien points out to Winston that Room 101 is where they “have the means to root out the last lingering deception...,,,,What happens in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world. It varies from individual to individual…….In your case, we both know - of course - that the worst thing in the world happens to be..."
The camera cuts to two rats in a plastic cage. Terror forces Winston to plead with O'Brien to tell him what he wants him to do. O'Brien says that pain by itself is not always enough, and that in Room 101 the prisoner faces the unendurable: "Courage and cowardice are not involved. You will do what is required of you." A mask is attached by a tube to the cage which fits over the prisoner’s head. When the door of the cage is raised the rats…… The mere demonstration, suggestion, anticipation and idea of its inevitability is enough to cause Winston to frantically scream out, "Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia, not me! Julia! I don't care what you do to her! It's Julia! Julia! Not me! Not me!"
The last tattered shred of Winston’s humanity torn to bits, tossed in the dust and stamped on by the Party’s jackboot…
Three months later in the Chestnut Tree cafe.
"Underneath the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you and you sold me. They lie here, and here lie we, 'neath the spreading chestnut tree."
Here we once again see Winston and Julia, but this time we are witness to two husks emptied of life, vitality and humanity;
JULIA: “I betrayed you.”
WINSTON: “I betrayed you.
As the Telescreen presents a bulletin from the Ministry of Peace announcing victory, whereby “our brave troops have utterly routed vastly superior Eurasian forces” solely as a result of Big Brother’s “military genius” we understand the true, ultimate and complete nature of the Party’s victory with Winston’s thoughts:
\
"Love... suddenly... so suddenly.
My victory. Love, love, love...
......I love Big Brother..."
Points Of Interest
A Warning
As we have seen, the Party in “Nineteen Eighty-Four” has manoeuvred Winston Smith into agreeing to commit atrocious acts, captured him, tortured him, and has removed every aspect of his individuality. The bleak ending of the original story and marvellously conveyed by the BBC production of 1984, serves to highlight the fact that hope does in fact exist if we are aware and wary of power being placed in the hands of the State with that power being wielded with the intention to oppress. Even if one lives under a system of government with a long tradition of democratic values and sufficient checks and balances to keep in check the excesses of legislative and judicial powers, it cannot be assumed that it guarantees a country complete immunity from the threat of the expansion of the power of the State at the expense of individual freedom and liberty for all time.
The kind of vigilance that is required on the part of each individual might involve taking time out to consider whether or not the following conditions are beginning to assume greater significance in the national ( and indeed corporate and workplace) and international landscape and are becoming stepping stones toward a more ”Orwellian” destination where awaits the open arms of a…….Big Brother.
• Censorship of ideas that are in opposition to the Establishment, often on the grounds of being in the “national interest.”
• Legislative and “extraordinary” diminution of individual rights and freedoms.
• A state of constant fear of “enemies” from within and without.
Suppression of peaceful means of protest and assembly.
Lack of judicial process.
Increased power and influence of corporate and financial institutions and their bearing on the political sphere.
Use of violence and intimidation as a means of forcing compliance.
Increasing use of surveillance and monitoring of people and groups under the guise of “national security.”
Scapegoating, demonizing and targeting of particular individuals and groups for largely political reasons and as a tool of control.
Sloganeering, propaganda and purely emotive language replacing rational and reasoned debate.
Judgments being formed about individuals and detrimental action being taken against them on the basis of “information” from informants.
A widening gulf between those who exercise political, informational and economic power and control and the bulk of the population who do not.
Relevance & Questions Raised
With our greater reliance on technology in the 21st. Century such as Facebook, Twitter, smartphones and surveillance technologies, we can begin to see the relevance that a story like “1984” has to the modern world.
Technology and its uses have had an enormous impact on our culture and it has raised concerns about privacy and freedom. In fact, we must wonder if there is such a thing as privacy in a world where such technologies are ubiquitous. We have seen examples of how technology has enabled people to violate others’ privacy and freedoms. Perhaps this very technology can also serve to protect our privacy and freedoms. Take for instance the revelations concerning certain nations’ spying and data collection activities coming from whistle-blowers and investigative journalists and the fact that much of what goes on these days can be captured by our smartphone cameras.
In the Orwell’s story and the BBC production, we saw how technology was used to ensure the dominance of the state with sinister “telescreens” placed in people’s homes spewing propaganda and conducting surveillance, keeping the population passive and the leadership firmly in control. Such constant monitoring forced people to sterilize their behaviour and conceal their thoughts. Keep in mind that television in Britain was still a novelty in 1954 and many people had just purchased their first television a few months earlier to watch Queen Elizabeth's coronation. After watching the BBC production they may have looked askance at their new TV sets for a while. At any rate, the Queen and Prince Philip made it known that they had watched and enjoyed the play.
The technology of the 21st. Century certainly has the potential to bring about a Big Brother aspect to our daily lives. Consider how much information we willingly volunteer for others’ perusal and how much information is stored about us and shared by various organizations. But who would have forseen the invasion of our own and of others’ privacy as we turn our lenses on each other and on ourselves in our thirst for attention and recognition? We can in effect all become Big Brothers!
Production
“Nineteen Eighty-Four” was to be a live production, with a budget of about £3,000.
John Hodgkis was commissioned to compose and conduct the music score during the performance from a second studio.
“Nineteen Eighty-Four” had twenty-eight sets and made use of five or six film sequences coming between the main sequences allowing time to move the artists and cameras from one set to another. The play was to be performed live twice, first on Sunday 12 December 1954, and then again the following Thursday, this being telerecorded and the one being the subject of this review.
It was Nigel Kneale who adapted Orwell's novel for television. The previous year he had created the character of Professor Bernard Quatermass for the popular science-fiction serial, “The Quatermass Experiment.”
The 1954 adaptation of “1984” was produced and directed Rudolph Cartier, a veteran of the UFA film studios in 1930s Germany who had fled the Nazi regime for Britain in 1936, and had worked with Kneale the previous year on “The Quatermass Experiment.”
Impact
Complaints were received about the "horrific" content such as the infamous Room 101 scene where Smith is threatened with torture by rats. Concerns were also expressed about the depiction of a totalitarian regime controlling the population's freedom of thought.
A Daily Express newspaper report "Wife dies as she watches", involved a 42-year-old lady named Beryl Merfin of Herne Bay who collapsed and died allegedly from the shock of what she had seen.
One motion in Parliament, signed by five MPs, deplored "the tendency, evident in recent British Broadcasting Corporation television programmes, notably on Sunday evenings, to pander to sexual and sadistic tastes". Another motion signed by six MPs, called attention to the fact that "many of the inhuman practices depicted in the play Nineteen Eighty-Four are already in common use under totalitarian régimes."
The seven million viewers who watched the Thursday performance was the largest television audience in the UK since the Coronation the previous year.
Videotape recording was still in development and television images could only be preserved on film by using a special recording apparatus ("telerecording") but was used sparingly in Britain for preservation and not for pre-recording. This second performance is one of the earliest surviving British television dramas, and is preserved in the archives so that we after all these year can appreciate its worth.
It would also be worth watching a 1965 film, "It Happened Here" which depicts a German invasion and occupation of Britain and how the Nazis and Fascist forces set about reorganising and maintaining control of society.
In March of 2017 there were reports of the CIA’s malware targeting of iPhone, Android and smart TVs as revealed in WikiLeaks' publication of confidential documents on the CIA. The CIA's global covert hacking program could be compared to elements of George Orwell's 1984, particularly in relation to the so-called "Weeping Angel", developed by the CIA's Embedded Devices Branch (EDB), which reportedly infested smart TVs, transforming them into covert microphones!
Several years ago a report from the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea laid bare how a state even in the 21st Century can operate using methods that are chillingly reminiscent of what was presented in Orwell's novel and brilliantly conveyed by the 1954 film version.
Let’s not forget China’s Orwellian journey with its one party rule and the maintenance of its over-arching power via mass surveillance and suppression of free thought and speech. We may well ask the Uighurs, the citizens of Hong Kong and dissident groups what it is like living through a modern day Orwellian nightmare!
Day the World Ended (1955)
Low budget, atmospheric film driven by character conflict and tension within the context of a desperate struggle for survival
Directed by Roger Corman
Produced by Roger Corman
Executive Alex Gordon
Written by Lou Rusoff
Music by Ronald Stein
Cinematography: Jockey Arthur Feindel
Edited by Ronald Sinclair
Production company: Golden State Productions
Distributed by American Releasing Corporation (ARC)
Running time: 79 min
Budget: $96,234.49
Box office: $400,000 (part of double bill with The Beast with a Million Eyes)
Cast
Richard Denning as Rick
Lori Nelson as Louise Maddison
Adele Jergens as Ruby
Mike Connors as Tony Lamont
Paul Birch as Jim Maddison
Raymond Hatton as Pete
Paul Dubov as Radek
Jonathan Haze as the Contaminated Man
Paul Blaisdell as the Mutant
Chet Huntley (of NBC and later of The Huntley-Brinkley Report )as Narrator (voice)
Diablo, the burro.
“Day the World Ended” (1955) was the fourth film directed by Roger Corman. The events take place after an atomic war has destroyed human civilization. A scientist named Rick, along with a small group of survivors find themselves in a desperate battle for survival against a mutant monster, along with monsters of their own making!
Prepping For The Day When The World Ends
In our own anxious age some 70 years after the making of this film, we may not be so worried about our civilization being destroyed by global nuclear war. However, in the face of nuclear proliferation combined with unstable regimes possessing nuclear weaponry and the shifting sands of global conflict, only a fool would think that this form of potential global destruction no longer exists.
Doomsday Preppers devote a great deal of time and resources in preparation for such an eventuality as global nuclear war. Not only that, other doomsday scenarios are considered by various preppers such as giant tsunamis; solar flares taking out power grids; super volcanic eruptions; super storms and tornadoes; massive earthquakes; global climate change catastrophe; asteroid and comet impact; food, fuel and other resource depletion; global pandemics akin to the early 20th Century Spanish influenza, the 2003 SARS virus, Ebola and the Covid-19 virus.
And they say the 1950s was an anxious age??!!!
(Warning! Spoilers Follow!)
Prepare for today, be ready for tomorrow
“What if “tomorrow heralds an all-out atomic war, which destroys most of human civilization, and leaves the Earth contaminated with radioactive fallout or the “atomic haze of death?” Just such a scenario had occurred to former Navy Commander, Jim Maddison who lives with his daughter, Louise in a natural box canyon, surrounded by lead-bearing cliffs. His home is stocked with supplies in preparation for just such a nuclear holocaust – “TD Day”, total destruction day: The day the world is destroyed by nuclear war. It turns out that Jim had “spent ten years getting ready for it.”
Moral dilemmas
(When survival dictates the choices that need to be made even if they conflict with our sense of morality)
By chance, (or by a “force greater than man”) several survivors stumble Into Jim’s natural bomb shelter refuge. Jim initially refuses to admit these seekers of refuge as he only has supplies for three people, “I can’t let them in, I’ve only got provisions for three…..It’s their lives or ours.” However, he relents when his daughter pleads with him indicating that her conscience will not let her abandon them.
The survivors consist of geologist, Rick who also happens to specialize in uranium mining; small-time hood, Tony; Tony’s ‘companion’ Ruby who is a stripper (always handy to have in any post-apocalypse colony!); Radek, a victim of radiation sickness; Pete, an old prospector and his burro, Diablo.
Assessing Threats To Survival
(The need to plan for and deal with likely external and internal threats to survival)
Threats From Without
Our survivors are forced to contend with;
Uncertainty as to whether the radioactive fallout will dissipate.
The possibility of rain washing what's in the atmosphere down to Earth, contaminating the shelter and the surrounding area.
A hideous mutant monster that will kill anything it comes across, but will only eat those creatures which are contaminated by fallout.
Threats From Within
The introduction of more people into the safe haven of Jim’s shelter has also introduced a new dangerous dynamic involving clashes of character, personality and competing interests inimical to the group’s survival.
Tony’s callous and selfish character: He only looks after his own interests and wants the other men out of the way, so that he can have the two women, especially Louise, to himself. The potential for conflict is established early when Tony says to Jim, “you sound like you’re used to giving orders. That makes two of us.” Later, after a physical confrontation with Rick, Tony declares, “I ain’t gonna’ like you mister!”
Leadership & Organisation
(The need to establish who is in charge of organizing and directing people and resources)
At several points during the film, Jim establishes and asserts his overall authority over the others. When Rick offers his expert opinion concerning radiation, Jim cuts him short with, “when I want an opinion, I’ll ask for it!” His authority seems to extend to the point of deciding matters of life and death: “I and only I will decide how much we’ll eat!” Faced with a fight for survival, cooperative democratic decision-making processes seem to give way to arbitrary rule by one person.
Knowledge & understanding
(The importance of making use of experience, needing to observe carefully and the ability to reflect on and learn from experience and observation)
Rick and Jim take a series of readings around the house using a Geiger counter. Rick being a geologist understands the true nature of their situation. Jim also makes reference to his previous experience of the H bomb tests involving an animal ship at target zero which leads him to consider what might occur as a result of the radiation on the wild life.
During the night Radek wakes and while talking with Rick expresses a strong desire for raw red meat, “Man needs meat!.......I need some red meat-- nearly raw; I don’t know why, but it would do me good,” Later on, Jim declares to Rick that Radek is a “mutation…a freak of this atomic world.” For Rick “it’s important to us that he should live.”
Post-apocalypse World
(What shape will the post-apocalypse world take in terms of potential dangers; how life may have to be lived in a totally new world order; psychological and physical effects on people; long-term planning for survival of the species; re-evaluation of long-cherished values and morality)
Weeks later Jim and Rick come across the remains of a freshly killed rabbit which Radek abandoned when confronted by a large mutant creature. They conjecture that Radek has been exposed to so much radiation that he may be beginning to mutate.
Jim later explains to the group that the approaching rain could very well be saturated with “nuclear death” and that their chances of surviving will depend on how intense the radiation absorbed by the water is. If they make it then they will set about planting crops and planning for their long term survival.
After a few weeks, Louise is beginning to feel optimistic when she declares that “I think I’m beginning to want to live again.” Jim and Rick on the other hand are preoccupied with the nature of a post-apocalypse world whereby the possible “leap in evolution” may result in the “laws of Man and God” transforming into a set of “entirely new laws.”
One day as Louise and Ruby bathe at a waterfall, Louise hears the strange high-pitched sound and is convinced they are being watched. On their way back to the house they discover a set of strange tracks.
After Jim and Rick examine the tracks they realize that there are more mutants around than just Radek. Jim believes that he will eventually have to kill Radek. Rick, however, would prefer to study Radek so he can better understand the threat the mutants represent. Rick believes that they should have a sense of responsibility to the future and not just aim purely for survival. Jim then highlights how imperative it is for the females to bear children as soon as possible.
(Preparing for a battle for survival including group conflict, dissension, lack of cohesion and the development of competing interests)
One night after Tony tries to unsuccessfully force his affections on Louise, he tells Ruby about his plan to kill the other four along with Radek. With only about a month’s worth of food left, killing the others would enable them to survive for up to three months.
Rick meanwhile conjectures from Jim’s experience with the H bomb tests and the resultant animal mutations that a similar situation is developing in the valley. He believes a battle will be fought in the valley between the life of the old world, and the life of the new order.
Tony tries to steal Jim’s gun while Jim is asleep but is spotted by Rick resulting in another fight breaking out with Rick emerging victorious.
Later on while exploring, Rick and Jim encounter a man who is partially mutated. Before he dies, the man informs them that there are more of his kind up the hill but that they are much stronger. Added to this, Radek informs Rick one night that the only reason he came back to the house was to shelter from the other mutant in the valley. He then warns Rick that they will all be dead in a couple of weeks.
(The importance of maintaining vigilance and security)
After finding the mutant creature’s tracks close to the house. Jim decides they need to start standing night watches.
(Factoring in the difficulty of maintaining morale and hope. Depression and despondency are never far away)
Over time Ruby finds solace in Pete’s moonshine. One night while intoxicated she performs one of her striptease routines. She breaks down crying as she reminisces about her club days and how the male audience would respond to her. Her sense of grief for a past life lost is compounded by her crushed hopes of a future with Tony who continues to spurn her.
(A crisis can often mean the need being felt for decisive action to be taken: sometimes rash, impetuous and even in other circumstances inhumane and criminal)
While searching for Pete’s missing burro, Rick and the others find the cannibalized remains of the stranger who had died the night before. Later, Radek is caught and killed by the mutant. It is then decided that the mutant has to be stopped by whatever means necessary.
Old Pete whose life revolves around the other kind of diablo he has been towing along with him, gold and moonshine, decides to walk out of the valley. Jim tries to stop Pete who enters the vapour cloud at the top of the ridge. After Pete strikes Jim, he is overcome by the radioactive vapor.
Tony soon decides to force himself on Louise by threatening her with a knife. He states, ‘All my life I had to claw for things….I haven’t had time for your kind of woman.” Ruby overhears what has been going on and confronts Tony, “Tony, let the little girl go!” After Tony calls Ruby “dime-store stuff” she tries to stab him. In the brief struggle, Tony stabs Ruby killing her. Tony then callously dumps her lifeless body over a cliff, his last words to her being, “Happy landings sweetheart.”
One night Louise awakens from sleep but seems to be under some hypnotic spell. She then leaves the house until she encounters the mutant. Upon finding Louise missing, Jim arms Rick with a rifle and sends him to find Louise. He instructs Rick, “if there’s no way out, be ready to use it (on Louise)”
(Survival can be a precarious thing by its nature. It can often depend on many factors: action, preparedness, planning, decisiveness, ruthlessness, luck. However, survival in and of itself has little meaning without a measure of hope, love, positive values, self-sacrifice, selflessness and a willingness to believe in something greater that gives one strength to continue and make sense of everything.)
Tony eventually gets the gun from a sick and couch-bound Jim, and is intent on taking control. Jim merely informs Tony he will be dead soon enough.
Meanwhile in the final climactic scene of the film, the mutant drops Louise in the waterhole as Rick arrives on the scene and begins shooting at the monster, but without any effect. It suddenly dawns on Louise that the creature is afraid of water as it is obviously afraid to enter the water hole. As luck (or God) would have it, it begins to rain and the mutant runs away. Rick and Louise follow the creature, only to find it has been destroyed by the “pure” rain. It turns out that the mutant was Louise's missing fiance.
Tony, having already taken Jim's pistol, waits to ambush Rick when he returns to the house with Louise. As he takes aim at the approaching Rick, Jim produces a second pistol and kills Tony.
Before Jim succumbs to radiation sickness, he explains how the rain is radiation-free, how it will wash away all of the remaining contamination and that it has destroyed the mutants. He also tells Rick and Louise that (as a result of his attempts to establish communication with the outside world) he heard voices of other survivors on the radio. Jim’s last words concern his conviction that “there is a future out there for you two,” but not for him.
The film ends with the final two survivors, Rick and Louise, walking hand in hand out of the canyon to begin a new life in a new world, highlighted by the end-card,
"The Beginning."
Points Of Interest
“Day The World Ended” was director Roger Corman's first foray into science fiction. If you look closely at Louise's Fiancée, Nelson in the framed photograph, who do you see? Why, none other than Roger Corman himself! Too bad he didn’t make that a regular trademark such as Hitchcock’s making regular walk-through appearances in his films. We could have had spot the Corman in random pictures hanging on walls and on mantle-pieces! Read more about Roger Corman in the “Tribute to Roger Corman” chapter in this book series.
“Day The World Ended” was shot over ten days and was released by American Releasing Corporation, which later became American International Pictures. It was released on a double bill with “The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues” and within two months of release the films had earned $400,000. Denning himself was paid $7,500 plus a percentage.
In 1967 there was a remake of “Day The World Ended” with the title “In the Year 2889”. It was little more than a clone with almost the same dialogue being used.
Some of the acting performances were excellent such as Lori Nelson (also “Revenge of the Creature”) playing the part of Louise. Her facial expressions convey very well the different emotions her character experiences.
Adele Jergens who plays Ruby gives a standout performance as a burlesque / striptease performer who is a bit past her prime and who is rejected by her companion Tony, the small time hood. She’s rough around the edges but her heart is in the right place and we feel for her in her drunken grief. (Note at the end of her dancing performance scene the appropriateness of the proximity of the theatrical mask on the wall to her as her face reveals her emotional state!)
Richard Denning (“Target Earth,” “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” & “Creature with the Atom Brain”) plays the rational scientist hero effortlessly in this and other films. See the entry featuring Richard Denning in the “Tribute to…” volume of this eBook series for further information about him.
Mike Connors (TV's Mannix) is perfect as the ruthless uncaring and completely unsympathetic small – time hood, Tony who is only interested in satisfying his own selfish desires.
Convincing performances are also given by Paul Birch (“Beast with a Million Eyes” & “Not of This Earth”) who plays Jim Maddison, the decisive authority figure, as well as by Raymond Hatton, the old timer gold prospector, Pete who seems to have ambled onto the set with his mule fresh from a western movie!
Apart from the good acting performances, the film’s main strength lies in its portrayal of the interactions, conflicts and emotions of the characters as they try to survive within the limited confines of their post-atomic world. The film uses the same kind of device that the ancient Greek tragedians such as Sophocles would have been familiar with: namely, the throwing together of people into a situation or a circumstance which is beyond their control and seeing how they deal with it. It doesn’t matter if the forces they are subject to are beyond their control or if the future and their fate seem to be predetermined. What is important is the choices they make and how they decide to act in the face of this cataclysmic nightmare. Do they simply succumb to fear? Will they rise nobly to the challenge? Or will they resort to savagery and greed? Our need to know is what largely drives the film’s story.
“The Day The World Ended” uses its low-budget to good effect with its limited, confining and almost claustrophobic setting. This atmospheric setting consists of the interior of the house, the radioactive-free area around the house and the surrounding foothills enveloped by a radioactive vapor.
Finally there is the mutant creature created and played by monster-maker Paul Blaisdell. Although not great as far as movie monsters go, the creature is wisely kept off-screen for most of the time. Instead, sound effects, shadows, and blurred camerawork are used to good effect. Added to this is the extra emotional dimension given to the creature by virtue of the fact that it was once Louise’s loving fiancé and that it was trying to get back to his the object of his love.
Perhaps ultimately it is better for individuals and families to live the life they have instead of obsessing about the possibility of global disaster and expending so much time, energy and resources in order to ensure their own survival. It would be better for each of us to use the time we do have on this planet to think and act in ways that will help to avert both man-made and natural threats to humanity’s survival.
I for one have far more admiration for a young person who finally looks up from his smart phone, surveys what’s happening around him and together with his peers says “NO! Enough is enough!” and takes action (anything from writing a critical blog post through to active political demonstration) in order to change the situation he finds himself in.
How much better for the long term survival of our species than someone storing nuts in a rat hole on the off-chance that they may one day emerge to eke out an existence in competition with cockroaches! After all, life is not like a movie where our hero and heroine traipse hand in hand off into the distance out of the ashes of the old world to seek out a happy new beginning…….