A miner trapped in a cave-in resurfaces, and upon discovering mankind has been wiped out in a nuclear holocaust, sets out to find other survivors.A miner trapped in a cave-in resurfaces, and upon discovering mankind has been wiped out in a nuclear holocaust, sets out to find other survivors.A miner trapped in a cave-in resurfaces, and upon discovering mankind has been wiped out in a nuclear holocaust, sets out to find other survivors.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTo film the striking images of a deserted New York City, the cast and crew had to start filming at dawn in order to capture the city before the early morning rush. This gave them no more than an hour or two per day in which to film the sequence.
- GoofsIn his kitchen, Ralph shows Sarah how he's been throwing his dirty dishes out his apartment window because there's no water to wash them with. Sarah simply turns on the faucet and water flows, thanks to the water tower on top of Ralph's building. Ralph should not have been surprised by this, as he should have noticed that his toilet was still working.
In addition, both they and their hair look spotlessly clean, with Sarah's hair being particularly shiny.
- Quotes
Ralph Burton: They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Ralph Burton: [This quotation from Ralph Bunche Park in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of New York City was named in 1979 for Ralph Bunche, the first African-American to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The park is across from the United Nations headquarters; it has the famous quotation from Isaiah 2:4 incised into its wall, and is known as the "Isaiah Wall."]
- Crazy creditsAs the film's final credits cut-in, the film states "The Beginning" rather than "The End."
- ConnectionsFeatured in Out of this World Super Shock Show (2007)
- SoundtracksI Don't Like It Here
(uncredited)
Written by Harry Belafonte and Ranald MacDougall
Sung by Harry Belafonte
Some kind of nuclear war has taken place and there are few survivors. No dead bodies, no rotting corpses. No physical body traces of any kind.
Some people have said that Ferrer played a bigot in this film, but I didn't see much of that at all since the main conflict between Belafonte and Ferrer is based more on lust than anything else.
But since this is 1959, we can't show interracial love onscreen because many parts of the country would wind up banning the film, so MGM and Belafonte keep the lust toned down and mostly implied. The viewer should just look at it in the context of the times that it was made in, and not try to apply 2003 standards to something filmed over 40 years ago.
The deserted lower Manhattan streets including Times Square look pretty cool. They must have filmed them on an early Sunday morning in order to keep any traffic disruption to a minimum.
And the ending resorts to a preachy "The Beginning" stamped across the screen as the three of them walk down a deserted Manhattan street. I guess only goodwill comes next, huh?
If you want to see a better "end of the world" flick from the same period, then check out the Arch Oboler's rarely-seen FIVE (1951) or Stanley Kramer's ON THE BEACH, made during the same year as this one. I thought they were done better.
5 out of 10 for clearing out New York in time.
- macabro357
- Jul 16, 2003
- Permalink
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $1,659,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1