EARTHQUAKE (1974)

[Note: For this review I watched both the 122-minute Theatrical Cut and the 142-minute Television Cut. Screenshots are from both versions, but mostly the Theatrical Cut.]

At the California Seismological Institute, a lowly graduate assistant comes up with some computations showing that a major earthquake is going to hit Los Angeles...today. He tells his superiors, but they just won't listen. They just won’t listen! Oh god why? Why!? Oh, the humanity! Across town, construction engineer Charlton Heston is rumbling and grumbling about buildings not being built beyond the current codes. He’s also rumbling and grumbling on top a single mom while his old bag wife is at home faking suicide attempts and crying to her father…who’s also Charlton’s boss. Yikes. At the same time, there are multiple other pre-disaster stories going on, including Shaft riding a motorcycle; ex-child preacher Marjoe Gortner as a peeping tom stalking a pre-Dallas Victoria Principal; two nerds in an airplane having a boring conversation; George Kennedy as a LAPD cop getting shitfaced in a bar while Walter Matthau mumbles nearby.

For a mid-1970's disaster flick, EARTHQUAKE is mildly entertaining. I enjoyed the buildup and seeing what was going on in everybody lives. I especially enjoyed seeing Los Angeles in 1974. The earthquake itself looked great, but for whatever reason, the post-earthquake scenes were mostly snoozers. They sound promising on paper (flooding due to a busted dam, psycho soldier gunning down innocent civilians, workers trying to escape a wrecked skyscraper, etc.), but none of them really clicked with me.

Solid acting by a strong cast, good pace that slows as the film moves along, disappointing ending, impressive stunts, truly impressive matte paintings and models, animated blood, tons of vintage cars and fashions, Heston topless, Zsa Zsa Gabor’s hedge, an accidental motorcycle accident and a really weird set decoration where Victoria Principal has a photograph of her brother on her apartment wall…but the picture is a still from a previous scene in the movie! It brought to mind that brain-melting photograph in LADY TERMINATOR.

EARTHQUAKE is totally worth watching for vintage disaster movie fans, but others will probably find it dated and goofy.

Fun fact: you might be asking yourself how is the Theatrical Version 122 minutes and the TV Version 142 minutes long? Good question. EARTHQUAKE was originally released in the theaters in 1974 and then broadcast on NBC in 1976. They wanted to make it into a two-night “event”, but the film wasn’t long enough, so they added a few scenes that were previously deleted and then, in a truly bizarre turn of events, they filmed new scenes and added them into the movie to pad the runtime! Not only does this included new characters, but they even called back some of the original actors to film more scenes!

I’ve also read that in some television markets, the audio to the film was simulcast on a local radio station so you could really crank up the scenes of Ava Gardner and Charlton Heston fighting. And, I guess, the earthquake also.

A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957)

Arkansas, 1950's.  A small town radio station has a show called "A Face in the Crowd".  It's about normal folks and their normal lives.  One day they feature the guitar playing and banter of a drifter named Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes.  He's an overnight sensation and before long his popularity has reached Memphis and finally New York City where he gets a television show that is watched by over 50 million people a week!  That's all well and good...except for the fact that ol' "Lonesome" Rhodes is a complete fake that'll do and say anything to make a quick buck...or make a quick fuck with a teenage girl.

While the basic story of A FACE IN THE CROWD is still as relevant today as it was in 1957...sadly we've gone way, way beyond a fake entertainer suckering the stupid masses out of their money.  And because of that, this film feels out of date.  Another thing that lessens the power of the film is "Lonesome" Rhodes didn't have any enemies.  His rise to fame seemed very easy and while I'm sure that was done on purpose, I still think it would have been more entertaining if there had been a power struggle or something.  Maybe a government official who saw through Lonesome's bullshit?   That's just my two-cents.

As it is though, A FACE IN THE CROWD is a well-made film and Andy Griffith makes a great con man.  Patricia Neal is great as well and I wish that Walter Matthau had a bigger role.