The Night the World Exploded

The Night the World Exploded

Super-Quake Tilts Earth!

NR 1957 · 64 min · ★ 5.1 · Science Fiction

With his assistant, Laura Hutchinson, Dr. David Conway develops a device to advance the fledgling science of earthquake prediction. After forecasting a large trembleor that will rock California within twenty-four hours, Conway cannot persuade the Governor to act. When the prediction proves true and further tests indicate that there are more quakes to come, Conway and Laura seek to perfect their device. Subsequent tests deep within Carlsbad Caverns discover an unknown element—E-112—that is responsible for the earthquakes and threatens to destroy the globe if it ever reaches the surface. The team determines that with only four weeks until Armageddon, the race is on to neutralize the killer element before it takes a devastating toll.

Directed by Fred F. Sears · Written by Jack Natteford

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Rent or Buy

Cast

William Leslie Dr. David Conway
Kathryn Grant Laura 'Hutch' Hutchinson
Tristram Coffin Dr. Ellis Morton
Raymond Greenleaf Gov. Chaney
Paul Savage Ranger Kirk
Fred Coby Ranger Brown
Frank J. Scannell Sheriff Quinn
Charles Evans Gen. Bortes
Marshall Reed General's Aide
Terry Frost Chief Rescue Worker
David Armstrong Military Policeman (uncredited)

Make it a double feature

2h 10m together

The Night the World Exploded

El Alaméin

Both from Fred F. Sears.

More from Fred F. SearsSee all →

El Alaméin

El Alaméin · 1953

A small group of men and a tank stave off a German attack in a Bedouin desert during World War II.

It Had to Be You

It Had to Be You · 1947

It Had to Be You

MovieRomanceComedy

A chronic runaway bride is haunted by her conscience, who becomes reality.

The Ford Television Theatre

The Ford Television Theatre · 1952

The Ford Television Theatre

This show started in New York City, with Broadway actors and actresses. It then moved to Hollywood, California, where Hollywood actors and actresses headed the cast.

Slightly French

Slightly French · 1949

Slightly French

MovieComedyMusic

A film director, in bad standing with his studio, tries to turn a local carnival dancer into a "French" movie star and pass her off as his big new discovery.

Horsemen of the Sierras

Horsemen of the Sierras · 1949

Horsemen of the Sierras

When Robin Grant inherits a valuable range, certain evil interests try their best to kill off Robin and claim the land for themselves. US Marshall Steve Saunders comes to the boy's rescue.

Home in San Antone

Home in San Antone · 1949

Home in San Antone

MovieWesternMusic

Posing as unemployed musicians, Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys, are being helped by Ted Gibson owner of the Harmony Inn in San Antonio, Texas. Gibson is impoverished because he keeps buying his kleptomaniac Uncle Zeke out of trouble, supports his Ma, and Grandpa. He wants to marry Jean Wallace, and doesn't know that Acuff and his musicians are traveling incognito for the radio show "Who Am I Helping?" If he guesses their identity, he wins $100,000.

The Man from Colorado

The Man from Colorado · 1948

The Man from Colorado

MovieWesternDrama

Two friends return home after their discharge from the army after the Civil War. However, one of them has had deep-rooted psychological damage due to his experiences during the war, and as his behavior becomes more erratic--and violent--his friend desperately tries to find a way to help him.

The Gallant Blade

The Gallant Blade · 1948

The Gallant Blade

MovieActionDrama

Larry Parks in a Cinecolor swashbuckler.

Ambush at Tomahawk Gap

Ambush at Tomahawk Gap · 1953

Ambush at Tomahawk Gap

MovieWesternAction

Hodiak, Brian, Derek and Teal have just been released from prison. They return to Tomahawk Gap, now a ghost town, to retrieve the money that they stole and was buried by a partner somewhere in the town. While hunting, the Indians attack, and a life and death battle ensues.

The Fuller Brush Man

The Fuller Brush Man · 1948

The Fuller Brush Man

MovieAdventureComedy

Poor Red Jones gets fired from every job he tries. His fiancée gives him one last chance to make good when he becomes a Fuller Brush man. His awkward attempts at sales are further complicated when one of his customers is murdered and he becomes the prime suspect.

Shockproof

Shockproof · 1949

MovieRomanceCrime

Jenny Marsh, recently released from prison for killing a man, finds herself under the watchful eye of her parole officer, Griff Marat, who helps her secure a job caring for his ailing mother.

Bonanza Town

Bonanza Town · 1951

Using marked bills, Steve is looking for the supposedly dead Henry Hardison. Coming to Bonanza Town he gets a job with the town boss Crag Bozeman and gets paid with marked bills. He suspects Hardison is Boseman's boss and he is right as Hardison and his men are now planning to get rid of both him and the Durango kid.

Apache Ambush

Apache Ambush · 1955

Two former enemies find themselves together on a cattle drive and fighting marauding Apaches and Mexican bandits.

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers · 1956

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers

MovieActionScience Fiction

Test space rockets exploding at liftoff and increased reporting of UFO sightings culminate in a direct attempt by alien survivors of a dead, extra-galactic civilization to invade Earth from impervious flying saucers, using ray-weapons of mass destruction.

Crash Landing

Crash Landing · 1958

Airplane passengers prepare for a crash landing in the ocean.

The World Was His Jury

The World Was His Jury · 1958

The World Was His Jury

MovieCrimeDrama

A sea captain stands trial for manslaughter after 162 people are killed in a fire aboard his cruise ship. Director Fred F. Sears' 1958 drama stars Edmond O'Brien, Robert McQueeney, Paul Birch, Mona Freeman and Karin Booth.

More Like This

The Neptune Factor

The Neptune Factor · 1973

The Neptune Factor

MovieActionScience Fiction

When an underwater ocean lab is lost in a earthquake, an advanced submarine is sent down to find it and encounters terrible danger.

Bug

MovieScience FictionHorror

An earthquake releases a strain of mutant cockroaches with the ability to start fires, which proceed to cause destructive chaos in a small town. The studies carried out by scientist James Parmiter, however, reveal an intent with much more far-reaching consequences.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

G.I. Joe: Retaliation · 2013

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

MovieActionScience Fiction

Framed for crimes against the country, the G.I. Joe team is terminated by Presidential order. This forces the G.I. Joes into not only fighting their mortal enemy Cobra; they are forced to contend with threats from within the government that jeopardize their very existence.

Battle of Los Angeles

Battle of Los Angeles · 2011

Battle of Los Angeles

MovieScience FictionAction

In February 1942 US forces engaged an unidentified flying object above Los Angeles. Now almost 70 years later, the alien invaders have returned.

Ice Quake

Ice Quake · 2010

MovieScience FictionAction

As the permafrost melts in Alaska, underground rivers of volatile liquid methane form which sets off a series of devastating earthquakes. Forced apart by this violent occurrence, one family must find each other during the holidays and work to stop the deadly rivers that could cause a worldwide catastrophy.

Global Meltdown

Global Meltdown · 2017

Global Meltdown

MovieActionScience Fiction

A helicopter pilot and an environmental scientist lead a exodus of survivors in a search for a safe haven after a catastrophic tectonic event causes the crust of the earth to break apart.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom · 2018

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

MovieAdventureScience Fiction

Three years after Jurassic World was destroyed, Isla Nublar now sits abandoned. When the island's dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen and Claire mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event.

The Quiet Earth

The Quiet Earth · 1985

The Quiet Earth

MovieDramaScience Fiction

After a top-secret experiment misfires, a scientist may be the only man left alive in the world.

Volcano

Volcano · 1997

MovieScience FictionAction

An earthquake shatters a peaceful Los Angeles morning and opens a fissure deep into the earth, causing lava to start bubbling up. As a volcano begins forming in the La Brea Tar Pits, the director of the city's emergency management service, working with a geologist, must then use every resource in the city to try and stop the volcano from consuming LA.

Lavalantula

Lavalantula · 2015

MovieHorrorScience Fiction

Giant lava breathing tarantulas – Lavalantulas – erupt out of ancient volcanos in the Santa Monica Mountains, raining death and destruction upon Los Angeles. With the City of Angels on the verge of incineration, only a washed up ‘90s action hero actor stands in the way of this monstrous swarm of bloodthirsty creatures who burn their victims alive.

The People That Time Forgot

The People That Time Forgot · 1977

The People That Time Forgot

MovieAdventureFantasy

Major Ben McBride organizes a mission to the Antarctic wastes to search for his friend who has been missing in the region for several years. McBride's party find themselves in a world populated by primitive warriors and terrifying prehistoric creatures, all of whom they must evade in order to get back safely

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter