Day the World Ended

This film was recently televised on AMC in 2:35 Superscope, and if you've seen it before (like me), you've missed almost half the picture. The wide photography opens up the film considerably, in the mountains, at the lake, even in the house. The film is eerie, with creepy music and atmosphere, but monster costume at the end disappoints. Yet director Roger Corman wisely keeps the creature offscreen most of the time, effectively using sounds, shadows, and blurred camerawork in this end-of-the world thriller. Lori Nelson is lovingly photographed, playing the comely daughter of Navy vet Paul Birch. It's odd that all the seven survivors gather at once in the beginning of the film, including Richard Denning as (conveniently) a geologist, Adele Jergens (excellent) as a stripper and Mike Connors her punky boyfriend. The film is not uninteresting, and I wonder whether the creature is actually Nelson's transformed boyfriend, since she claims he keeps calling her by name. Worth seeing, but ONLY in widescreen.

Okay, while the scientific background of this film is, to say the very least, incredibly void of any sound scientific data concerning atomic/nuclear type bombs aimed at ending human civilization, the story has charm, a bit of wit, and is quite entertaining as one man, his daughter, and five other strangers live in his home hidden in mountains/valley away from any fallout. Paul Birch plays the man who tried to convince everyone of what they needed to do but wasn't heeded. Birch gives a stoic performance with little emotion. His daughter is played by Lori Nelson(Revenge of the Creature). Her love interest, Richard Denning, plays good guy to gangster Touch (Mike) Connors and his moll, Adele Jergens. Rounding out the cast is inebriate Raymond Hatton with donkey in tow. All of the cast do a very good job. Connors plays a despicable thug very nicely. Hatton is effective as a drunk, and Jergens really shines (and is gorgeous) as a burlesque queen past her prime and stuck with a guy that no longer wants her. You can imagine how things go when rations decrease and sensitivities increase. One man, not aforementioned, named Radek gets affected and fear worms its way into this powder-keg group. The story is a lot of fun despite the total absence of any scientific validity to its premise. Director Roger Corman once again does a workmanlike job.

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.

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.

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.

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 Day The World Ended uses its low-budget to good effect with its limited, confining and almost claustrophobic setting.

The Day the World Ended deals with The End of the World...not the one prophesied in the Book of Revelation, but the one popular with Hollywood. After all, if Christ returns for His own, how can you make a movie on the Millennial Kingdom?

"Day" is one of Roger Corman's first forays into low-tech, low-budget science fiction movies. His first effort is commendable; if only he had remembered his lessons when he made some of his more notable bombs. A Navy vet and his daughter are living in a home protected by a plot contrivance - it's basically sheltered from radiation from the surrounding mountains. Hills, mind you, that deadly radiation cannot get over, but are easily traveled by an old man and his burro.

Beyond that, it is an intriguing story of what happens when a little pocket of humanity survives mankind's worst nightmare. Mike "Touch" Connors does an interesting turn as a bad guy with a moll whose old enough to be his mother. Connors has the hots for the Navy vet's daughter, and would like to repopulate earth with her. Other stowaways include an archeologist and a man suffering from radiation poisoning. In this movie, radiation poisoning either kills you, turns you into a monster, or makes you look like Moe Howard.

Even with the end of the world, God is not left out. Notice that the Navy vet asks his daughter to marry the archeologist before they seek to restart humanity, as well as his later statement that, "I prayed and then I stopped worrying."

Sterno says "Day" is a great movie for a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Seeing this film many years ago and now owning the NA-VHS release I recall an additional scene where the Navy vet father tells the Geologist that there is a LUGER with a snail drum in the house and to rescue his daughter with it. He loads up and wounds the mutant and rescues her. My VHS does not have this scene, does anyone remember it also??? Otherwise the film is intact and my comments are that this is still effective for its time but not as good as Panic in Year Zero, which is still the best of the nuclear nightmare flicks and its effect on people and the breakdown of society. Overall 7 rating,noted for atmospheric effects and the moll is great!