Directed By: Mark Robson
Starring: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy
Tag line: "When the big one finally hits L.A"
Trivia: At the time, this set the record for the biggest number of stunt people employed on one picture, with a total of 141
For years, I considered 1974’s Earthquake a “second-tier” ‘70s disaster flick, a step below the “big three”, aka Airport (1970), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), and The Towering Inferno (1974).
Watching it again, though, I see that I was wrong. Earthquake is every bit as entertaining as the decade’s other disaster flicks, and offers more mayhem and destruction than its predecessors combined.
It is a seemingly normal day in Los Angeles. Former football player turned architect Stewart Graff (Charlton Heston) argues with his domineering wife, Remy (Ava Gardner), then heads to the home of young widow Denise Marshall (Geneviève Bujold) to drop off an autographed football for her son Corry (Tiger Williams). Stewart feels responsible for Denise, seeing as he was the one who sent her late husband on the job that cost him his life.
What’s more, Stewart has developed feelings for Denise. Still, despite Remy’s assertions he has been having an affair, he has yet to act on those desires. Further complicating matters is the fact that Stewart works for Remy’s father, Sam Royce (Lorne Green), who goes out of his way to keep both his son-in-law (now a top man in his field) and his overbearing daughter happy.
Elsewhere in the city, gung-ho policeman Lou Slade (George Kennedy) is pissing off his superiors. Stuntman Miles Quade (Richard Roundtree) is working closely with his associate Sal (Gabriel Dell) to prepare his latest death-defying feat, while Sal’s sister Rosa (Victoria Principle) takes in a movie. Grocery store manager (and National Guard volunteer) Jody Joad (Marjoe Gortner) is dealing with difficult customers. And a tremor shakes the entire town, giving folks a good scare.
This is nothing new; living in Southern California, the locals have grown accustomed to the ground moving from time to time. But this recent tremor was different from most. For one, it cracked the Los Angeles Dam, where a worker was killed when an elevator shaft inexplicably filled with water. As a team of engineers tries to pinpoint the crack, the gang at the California Seismological Institute is looking into reports that a much larger quake is on its way, one powerful enough to destroy the entire city.
Per the research of recent college grad Walter Russell (Kip Niven), which is based on a formula his mentor devised, another tremor will hit around mid-morning, and if it does, a major earthquake is sure to follow soon after.
The Institute’s supervisor Dr. Willis Stockle (Barry Sullivan) is skeptical at first, but has a change of heart when the second tremor strikes, just as Russell predicted. They warn the mayor (John Randolph), who calls out the National Guard. But when the big quake does strike, it proves worse than anyone could have imagined.
Their city in ruins, the main characters do what they can to survive, but how many will make it out alive?
Like all good disaster films, Earthquake boasts a star-studded cast (and keep an eye out for Walter Matthau, who has a cameo as a drunken bar patron). But it’s the level of destruction, including the scope of the carnage, that makes this movie stand apart from the rest.
Whereas previous disaster films centered on a singular structure (Airport=plane; Poseidon Adventure=ship; Towering Inferno=skyscraper), Earthquake takes out an entire city! Buildings collapse, and a highway overpass buckles, causing vehicles (including a truck hauling cattle) to go over the side, crashing to the ground below. Then there’s the dam, which was having problems well before the big quake. Should the dam fail, most of L.A. will be underwater within minutes.
Those buildings left standing after the quake have their dangers as well; the office where Stewart and Sam work has to be evacuated when a lethal gas seeps into the air ducts. Each and every character is put in harm’s way at one point or another, and the threat of more tremors continues to keep everyone on their toes.
Earthquake occasionally delves into serious topics, like accountability (early on, Stewart complains that high-rises in Los Angeles aren’t built to withstand a large quake) and how people react in a crisis (Lou helps the injured, while Jody, an officer in the National Guard, uses his temporary power to get revenge on a few guys who insulted him). For the most part, though, Earthquake is good, solid fun, providing its share of chills and thrills as it convincingly levels a major city.
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