When Worlds Collide (1951) Color
Starring Barbara Rush, John Hoyt, Peter Hanson, this beloved George Pal (WAR OF THE WORLDS)-produced sci-fi classic won the 1952 Oscars Special Effects and Best Color Cinematography. When Worlds Collide significantly helped launch the '50s sci-fi boom that influenced many of today's filmmakers.
Pilot David Randall (Richard Derr) is paid to fly top-secret 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 Bronson has discovered a star named Bellus that is on a collision course with Earth.
Hendron warns the delegates of the United Nations that the end of the world is little more than eight months away. He pleads for the construction of spaceships to transport a lucky few to Zyra, a planet in orbit around Bellus, in the faint hope that it can sustain life and save the human race from extinction. However, other, equally distinguished scientists scoff at his claims, and he is not believed.
Hendron receives help from wealthy humanitarian friends, who arrange a lease on a former proving ground to construct a spaceship. To finance the construction, Hendron is forced to accept money from self-centered, wheelchair-bound industrialist Sidney Stanton (John Hoyt). Stanton demands the right to select the passengers, but Hendron insists that he is not qualified to make those choices and that all he can buy is a single seat on the ark.
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. As Bellus nears, and Hendron s predictions become apparent, former skeptics admit that Hendron is right and governments prepare for the inevitable.
Groups in other nations also begin building ships. Martial law is declared and residents in coastal regions are moved to inland cities. Zyra first makes a close approach, its gravitational attraction causing massive earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tidal waves that wreak havoc. Several people are killed at the construction camp, including Dr. Bronson.
In the aftermath, Drake and Randall travel by helicopter 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, medicine, microfiche copies of books, equipment, and animals.
Finally, most of the passengers are selected by lottery, though Hendron reserves seats for a handful of people: himself, Stanton, Joyce, Drake, pilot Dr. George Frey (Alden Chase), the young boy who was rescued, and Randall, for his daughter's sake. When a young man turns in his winning ticket because his girl was not selected, Hendron arranges for both to go.
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 Frey, 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 suspicions prove to be well-founded. His much-abused assistant, Ferris (Frank Cady), tries to get himself added to the crew at gunpoint, only to be shot dead by Stanton. During the final night, the selected passengers and animals are quietly moved to the launch pad to protect them from more violence.
Shortly before takeoff, many of the lottery losers riot, taking up Stanton's weapons to try to force their way aboard. Hendron stays behind at the last moment, forcibly keeping the crippled Stanton and his wheelchair from boarding in order to lighten the spaceship. With an effort born of desperation, Stanton stands up and starts walking in a futile attempt to board the ship before it takes off.
The crew are rendered unconscious by the acceleration and do not witness Earth's collision with Bellus, shown on the television monitor. When Randall comes to and sees Dr. Frey already awake, he realizes he was deceived.
As they approach Zyra, the fuel runs out and Randall has to make an unpowered rough landing. The passengers disembark and find the planet to be habitable. David Randall and Joyce Hendron walk hand in hand to explore their new home.
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