When Worlds Collide (film)

Infobox_Film
name = When Worlds Collide


caption = Theatrical release poster
imdb_id = 0044207
amg_id = 1:54165
director = Rudolph Maté
writer = Edwin Balmer (novel)
Philip Wylie (novel)
Sydney Boehm
starring = Richard Derr
Barbara Rush
Peter Hansen
John Hoyt
producer = George Pál
music = Leith Stevens
cinematography = W. Howard Greene
John F. Seitz|
editing = Arthur P. Schmidt
distributor = Paramount Pictures
released = August, 1951
runtime = 83 min.
mpaa_rating = Rated G
language = English
country = USA

"When Worlds Collide" is a 1951 science fiction film based on the 1932 novel co-written by Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer. The movie was filmed in Technicolor, directed by Rudolph Maté and was the winner of the 1951 Academy Award for special effects.

Producer George Pál considered making a sequel based on the novel "After Worlds Collide", but the box office failure of his 1955 "Conquest of Space" made it impossible.

Plot summary

Pilot David Randall (Richard Derr) is paid to fly mysterious photographs from South African astronomer Dr. Emery Bronson (Hayden Rorke) to Dr. Cole Hendron (Larry Keating) in America. Hendron, with the assistance of his daughter Joyce (Barbara Rush), confirms their worst fears— a rogue red star they name Bellus is on a collision course with Earth. However, they hope that its Earth-sized companion, Zyra, can support human life.

Hendron warns the delegates of the United Nations that the end of the world is little more than eight months away and pleads for the construction of spaceships to transport a lucky few to Zyra in the faint hope of saving the human race from extinction. However, other, equally distinguished scientists scoff at his claims, and he is not believed. Hendron's group is forced to turn to wealthy, self-centered, wheelchair-bound industrialist Sidney Stanton (John Hoyt) to finance the private construction of a spaceship, in exchange for taking him along.

Joyce becomes attracted to Randall and prods her father into finding reasons to keep him around, much to the annoyance of her boyfriend, medical doctor Tony Drake (Peter Hansen).

The ship's construction is a race against time. Groups in other nations also begin building ships. As time begins running out, formerly-skeptical scientists admit that Hendron was right, and governments prepare for the inevitable.

Zyra first makes a close approach, its gravitational attraction causing massive earthquakes and tidal waves that wreak havoc. In the aftermath, Drake and Randall travel in a helicopter on a mission of mercy to provide assistance to survivors. When Randall alights to rescue a little boy, Drake has to resist a strong temptation to strand him.

As the day of doom approaches, the ship is loaded with food, microfiche copies of books, equipment, and animals. Finally, most of the passengers are selected by lottery, though Hendron exempts a handful of people: himself, Stanton, Joyce, Drake, pilot Dr. George Fry (Alden Chase), and Randall, for his daughter's sake. Randall refuses his seat and only pretends to participate in the lottery, believing that he has no useful skills. For Joyce's sake, Drake fabricates a "heart condition" for Fry, making a backup pilot necessary. Randall is the obvious choice.

The cynical Stanton becomes increasingly anxious as time passes. Knowing human nature, he fears what the desperate lottery losers might do. As a precaution, he has stockpiled weapons. Stanton's fears prove accurate after the results are posted. First, his much-abused lackey, Ferris (Frank Cady), tries to get himself included in the crew at gunpoint, only to be shot dead by Stanton. Then, in the final hour, many of the those to be left behind riot, taking up Stanton's weapons to try and force their way aboard.

Hendron stays behind at the last moment, forcibly keeping the crippled Stanton and his wheelchair from boarding as well in order to lighten the spaceship. Shortly after launch, the spaceship's television monitor shows Earth being incinerated just before it collides with Bellus. Hendron's sacrifice proves to be crucial as the fuel runs out too soon and the ship glides to a unpowered rough landing on Zyra. The passengers debark and find the new planet to be (miraculously) hospitable. David Randall and Joyce Hendron walk hand-in-hand to explore their new home.

Cast

*Richard Derr as David Randall
*Larry Keating as Dr. Cole Hendron
*Barbara Rush as Joyce Hendron, his daughter
*John Hoyt as Sydney Stanton
*Peter Hansen as Dr. Tony Drake
*Alden Chase as Dr. George Frye, Dr Hendron's second in command
*Hayden Rorke as Dr. Emery Bronson
*Frank Cady as Harold Ferris, Stanton's assistant. He is better known for his roles in the TV series "Green Acres" and "Petticoat Junction".

Differences from the novel

In the novel, the camp is attacked, not by lottery losers at the last minute, but by survivors from the surrounding region after the first passage of the planets. Hendron's people make enough progress that they are able to construct a second, larger ship which, due with the heavy casualties they suffer in the failed attack, is large enough to take everybody left alive. In addition, ships are constructed by other countries.

Hendron's daughter, named Eve in the book, is in love with Tony, not David. Also, there is no Stanton character in the novel; the closest equivalent is a deranged tycoon who shows up and tries to buy his way aboard with now-worthless money.

Planned remake

Steven Spielberg has announced that he will be the executive producer of a new version of "When Worlds Collide" to be released sometime in 2010 with director Stephen Sommers at the helm. The film is currently listed as being in the pre-production stages, and will be a co-production of Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks. [cite web |url=http://imdb.com/title/tt0455856/ |title=The Internet Movie Database |accessdate=2007-02-26 ]

Cultural references

The name "When worlds collide" was used in a "Far Side" cartoon, portraying aliens resembling giant buttocks with eye stalks on top landing on Earth, and seeing a goat.

The Iron Maiden song "When Two Worlds Collide" is apparently based on the novel.

The band Powerman 5000 has a song called "When Worlds Collide".

The band Daniel Amos has a song called "When Worlds Collide" on their 1984 album "Vox Humana."

"When Worlds Collide" is the title of a 1975 album (the related single is "Did Worlds Collide?") by Richard Hudson and John Ford, their third release after leaving the Strawbs.

"When Worlds Collide" is one of the many classic movies referenced in the opening theme ("Science Fiction/Double Feature") of both the stage musical "The Rocky Horror Show" and its cinematic counterpart, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". The film's producer, George Pál, is also mentioned.

"When Worlds Collide" is the title of an episode of the acclaimed TV show Numb3rs. The episode, [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1212354/ number 418] , aired on May 16, 2008. The [http://numb3rs.wolfram.com/418/ Math Behind Numb3rs] has an interesting page detailing the math in the episode. In this case the worlds that collide are the beliefs of the shows two Eppes brothers, Charlie and Don.

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0044207|title=When Worlds Collide
*amg title|id=1:54165|title=When Worlds Collide