Earthquake ««½
PG, 123m. 1974
Cast & Credits: Charlton Heston (Stewart Graff), Ava Gardner (Remy), George Kennedy (Lew Slade), Lorne Greene (Sam Royce), Richard Roundtree (Miles), Marjoe Gortner (Jody), Genevieve Bujold (Denise), Barry Sullivan (Stockley), Lloyd Nolan (Dr. Vance), Victoria Sullivan (Rora). Screenplay by George Fox and Mario Puzo. Directed by Mark Robson.
PG, 123m. 1974
Cast & Credits: Charlton Heston (Stewart Graff), Ava Gardner (Remy), George Kennedy (Lew Slade), Lorne Greene (Sam Royce), Richard Roundtree (Miles), Marjoe Gortner (Jody), Genevieve Bujold (Denise), Barry Sullivan (Stockley), Lloyd Nolan (Dr. Vance), Victoria Sullivan (Rora). Screenplay by George Fox and Mario Puzo. Directed by Mark Robson.
I own over thirty volumes of yearbooks at home. The other day, I browsed through the volume labeled 1974 and took a glance at what the writer had to say about that year’s motion pictures.
The writer commented, “with all the inflation and other things the public had to face, Hollywood producers felt that the public was now ready to view films that depicted utter disaster.”
The disaster film genre exploded with a bang in 1970 with the release of Airport and following up with a few notably ambitious catastrophic epics like The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974) before Earthquake came along. With the exception of Airport, the latter three were produced by Irwin Allen, creator of the 1960’s science fiction television series, Lost In Space (1965-1968).
Watching Earthquake, I couldn’t help but wonder as shooting was being done on The Towering Inferno if Allen had said, “Well, I've overturned an ocean liner and burned down a skyscraper. What’s next? Hey, how about destroying southern California?” If such was the case, Earthquake accomplishes just what Allen might have had in mind.
I wasn’t at all surprised to learn the film follows the same predictable formula as other catastrophic epics of the genre before it which is to get a huge all-star cast and put them in a horrible predicament. More than that, the word which best describes Earthquake would be “routine.” There isn’t a single thing that happens in the film that is as impressive as the big quake itself.
The film takes place in Los Angeles (where else would it take place?) but the disaster doesn’t happen until close to its second hour. That is enough time for us to get to know the all-star cast here. There is the brilliant but unhappy building designer Stewart Graff (Charlton Heston), who is married to his spoiled rich suicidal wife (Ava Gardner), and whose father happens to be Heston’s boss (Lorne Greene). At the same time, Graff is also having an affair with a widowed actress (Genevieve Bujold).
The script even makes some attempts at humor; much of it briefly belonging to Walter Matthau as the town drunk. Dressed in a flashy 1970’s disco shirt and a large red hat resembling a Mexican sombrero, Matthau’s character sits at the local bar inebriated downing drinks while toasting a couple of the movie’s characters.
He calls George Kennedy’s over temperamental cop who’s tired of police work “Bobby Riggs.” When he sees a stunt motorcyclist (Richard Roundtree), walk in, Matthau calls him “Peter Fonda” in reference to the film, Easy Rider (1969). The Oscar winning actor, however, must been ashamed of the role since his screen credit was replaced with one of the most unpronounceable last names I ever tried to say.
Earthquake does have one thing going for it. Whereas The Poseidon Adventure was a lesson in survival and having faith and The Towering Inferno was an exercise in pyrotechnics, Earthquake attempts to balance both with the destruction of L.A. and a cast that plays out roles equivalent to a weekly soap opera. Much like Airport successfully pulled off.
The special effects are indeed a sight and I would be interested to know how the technicians did it. I find it hard to believe if all they really did was simply shake the cameras back and forth. Cars and trucks spin wildly out of control on the highways and as forty story buildings shake menacingly on the brink of collapse, people stumble about as they try to run for cover from falling debris while the ground opens up.
Like Allen’s previous projects, the audience is not spared the graphic scenes of death and destruction. Office workers in a packed elevator fall to their deaths; blood spattering the camera lens for the added effect. The most appalling is a close-up on a woman with a piece of falling glass stuck in her forehead.
Once the quake is over, everything from that point on is just what one would expect after a natural disaster occurs. Survivors search for loved ones. The injured get medical assistance. City workers inspect a dam for quake damage and panicky office employees scramble out of burning buildings.
Naturally, since Heston is the star, I was not surprised to see his character attempt such heroics as rescuing people from an underground tunnel shortly before the dam breaks or figuring out a way to get his office staff down two floors with the stairway gone. I eventually came to the realization his character was reminiscent to Paul Newman’s in The Towering Inferno who also played an architect.
Certain sequences during the film’s second hour, however, are so ridiculous I could not help but laugh. Kennedy’s character, for example, after the quake hits is the only cop left alive in the city of L.A. to keep things in order. The quake kills almost every law enforcement officer who was inside the police station before it hit, he tells the survivors.
Even more unbelievable is the way the entire city of L.A. seems to be condensed into one block. All the characters meet around every corner.
Still, George Fox’s and Mario Puzo’s screenplay is one of the better collaborations I’ve seen done for a disaster movie and all the characters get an equal amount of screen time. I would think gifted writers though like Puzo, best known for The Godfather trilogy (1972, 1974, 1990), could come up with something more creative for some of his characters to say than to begin their first line saying, “Goddamnit”; the first line Gardner’s character says to Graff in the beginning.
The movie isn’t without its share of dimwitted characters like the chief inspector played by Richard S. Ragan. His questions about the dam’s rising water and disregarding of new cracks in the concrete make it sound like he has never taken a geology class in his life.
Earthquake is marginally more entertaining than The Towering Inferno. The visual effects left me with a horrifying if not exciting view of what it would be like in a real earthquake.
That doesn’t necessarily mean I want to one day experience one.
©10/15/90
The writer commented, “with all the inflation and other things the public had to face, Hollywood producers felt that the public was now ready to view films that depicted utter disaster.”
The disaster film genre exploded with a bang in 1970 with the release of Airport and following up with a few notably ambitious catastrophic epics like The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974) before Earthquake came along. With the exception of Airport, the latter three were produced by Irwin Allen, creator of the 1960’s science fiction television series, Lost In Space (1965-1968).
Watching Earthquake, I couldn’t help but wonder as shooting was being done on The Towering Inferno if Allen had said, “Well, I've overturned an ocean liner and burned down a skyscraper. What’s next? Hey, how about destroying southern California?” If such was the case, Earthquake accomplishes just what Allen might have had in mind.
I wasn’t at all surprised to learn the film follows the same predictable formula as other catastrophic epics of the genre before it which is to get a huge all-star cast and put them in a horrible predicament. More than that, the word which best describes Earthquake would be “routine.” There isn’t a single thing that happens in the film that is as impressive as the big quake itself.
The film takes place in Los Angeles (where else would it take place?) but the disaster doesn’t happen until close to its second hour. That is enough time for us to get to know the all-star cast here. There is the brilliant but unhappy building designer Stewart Graff (Charlton Heston), who is married to his spoiled rich suicidal wife (Ava Gardner), and whose father happens to be Heston’s boss (Lorne Greene). At the same time, Graff is also having an affair with a widowed actress (Genevieve Bujold).
The script even makes some attempts at humor; much of it briefly belonging to Walter Matthau as the town drunk. Dressed in a flashy 1970’s disco shirt and a large red hat resembling a Mexican sombrero, Matthau’s character sits at the local bar inebriated downing drinks while toasting a couple of the movie’s characters.
He calls George Kennedy’s over temperamental cop who’s tired of police work “Bobby Riggs.” When he sees a stunt motorcyclist (Richard Roundtree), walk in, Matthau calls him “Peter Fonda” in reference to the film, Easy Rider (1969). The Oscar winning actor, however, must been ashamed of the role since his screen credit was replaced with one of the most unpronounceable last names I ever tried to say.
Earthquake does have one thing going for it. Whereas The Poseidon Adventure was a lesson in survival and having faith and The Towering Inferno was an exercise in pyrotechnics, Earthquake attempts to balance both with the destruction of L.A. and a cast that plays out roles equivalent to a weekly soap opera. Much like Airport successfully pulled off.
The special effects are indeed a sight and I would be interested to know how the technicians did it. I find it hard to believe if all they really did was simply shake the cameras back and forth. Cars and trucks spin wildly out of control on the highways and as forty story buildings shake menacingly on the brink of collapse, people stumble about as they try to run for cover from falling debris while the ground opens up.
Like Allen’s previous projects, the audience is not spared the graphic scenes of death and destruction. Office workers in a packed elevator fall to their deaths; blood spattering the camera lens for the added effect. The most appalling is a close-up on a woman with a piece of falling glass stuck in her forehead.
Once the quake is over, everything from that point on is just what one would expect after a natural disaster occurs. Survivors search for loved ones. The injured get medical assistance. City workers inspect a dam for quake damage and panicky office employees scramble out of burning buildings.
Naturally, since Heston is the star, I was not surprised to see his character attempt such heroics as rescuing people from an underground tunnel shortly before the dam breaks or figuring out a way to get his office staff down two floors with the stairway gone. I eventually came to the realization his character was reminiscent to Paul Newman’s in The Towering Inferno who also played an architect.
Certain sequences during the film’s second hour, however, are so ridiculous I could not help but laugh. Kennedy’s character, for example, after the quake hits is the only cop left alive in the city of L.A. to keep things in order. The quake kills almost every law enforcement officer who was inside the police station before it hit, he tells the survivors.
Even more unbelievable is the way the entire city of L.A. seems to be condensed into one block. All the characters meet around every corner.
Still, George Fox’s and Mario Puzo’s screenplay is one of the better collaborations I’ve seen done for a disaster movie and all the characters get an equal amount of screen time. I would think gifted writers though like Puzo, best known for The Godfather trilogy (1972, 1974, 1990), could come up with something more creative for some of his characters to say than to begin their first line saying, “Goddamnit”; the first line Gardner’s character says to Graff in the beginning.
The movie isn’t without its share of dimwitted characters like the chief inspector played by Richard S. Ragan. His questions about the dam’s rising water and disregarding of new cracks in the concrete make it sound like he has never taken a geology class in his life.
Earthquake is marginally more entertaining than The Towering Inferno. The visual effects left me with a horrifying if not exciting view of what it would be like in a real earthquake.
That doesn’t necessarily mean I want to one day experience one.
©10/15/90
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