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    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1960s
    Movies - 1960s Movies - D 2 Mins Read

    Day the Earth Caught Fire, The (1961)

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    Atomic explosions from nuclear testing by the Americans and Russians at the two poles put the Earth on a collision course with the Sun in this bleak British doomsday vision, where the Thames is empty of water, and a heavy sun beats down on a parched West End.

    With the emphasis on the reactions of some of London’s Daily Express reporters Peter Stenning (Edward Judd) and Bill Maguire (Leo McKern)Β to the impending catastrophe rather than elaborate special effects, this tautly intelligent sci-fi thriller hits all the right buttons, helped by a script full of fatalistic quips and apocalyptic cynicism.

    As the world gets warmer, scientists battle to find a way to save the planet, and the superpowers plan to explode two more bombs hoping to set the planet back into its original orbit.

    Engrossing, with a memorable fade-out on two possible newspaper headlines-Β one for salvation and one for doom.

    The film is also notable for its casting of Disney sweetheart Janet Munro as a sultry sexpot in daring, semi-clad love scenes with Edward Judd – a liberating role she plays with relish. Munro would die of heart failure at just 38.

    Bill Maguire
    Leo McKern
    Jeannie Craig
    Janet Munro
    Peter Stenning
    Edward Judd
    Jackso Jackson, Night Editor
    Michael Goodliffe
    Davis, News Editor
    Bernard Braden
    Harry
    Reginald Beckwith
    May
    Gene Anderson
    ‘Jef’ Jefferson, Editor
    Arthur Christiansen
    Sir John Kelly
    Austin Trevor
    Angela
    RenΓ©e Asherson
    Policeman
    Michael Caine

    Director
    Val Guest

    Video

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    Put some beefiness into your mid-week menu with these recipe ideas published in a Birds Eye advertisement from the Radio Times on 30 September 1965.

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    They were awful. An overpowering savoury flavour that lingered in your mouth for hours. Heaven knows what unmentionable parts of a bull went into making them 😳

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    That is so sad to hear πŸ˜₯ rest in peace πŸ™ πŸ•Š xx

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