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Earthquake (film)
Encyclopedia
Earthquake is a 1974 American disaster film
that achieved huge box-office success, continuing the disaster film
genre of the 1970s where recognizable all-star casts attempt to survive life or death situations. The plot concerns the struggle for survival after a catastrophic earthquake
destroys most of the city of Los Angeles, California
.
Directed by Mark Robson
and with a screenplay
by George Fox and Mario Puzo
, the film starred some of the most popular actors of the time including Charlton Heston
, Ava Gardner
, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene
, Geneviève Bujold
, Richard Roundtree
, Marjoe Gortner
, Barry Sullivan
, Lloyd Nolan
, Victoria Principal
, Monica Lewis and Walter Matthau
.
) jogging underneath the Hollywood sign. Back home, as he finishes his workout on a resistance machine, his wife Remy Royce-Graff (Ava Gardner
) starts her morning by picking a fight with him. At the peak of their argument, Stewart says to Remy, "You'd hardly call this a marriage wouldn't you?" After he's showered and preparing to leave, Stewart finds Remy unconscious with a bottle of pills nearby. Accustomed to her periodic suicide attempts, Stewart prepares to induce vomiting when a violent tremor shakes the bedroom. Remy bolts out of bed, revealing that she was faking.
At the Mulholland Dam
, two workers begin a routine inspection of the structure in response to the tremor. One of them is drowned in an elevator shaft which has filled with water after the quake.
In downtown Los Angeles, Sgt. Lou Slade (George Kennedy
) and his partner Emilio Chavez (Pedro Armendáriz, Jr.) are in pursuit of a suspect. They chase him out of their jurisdiction, finally crashing into the hedges at Zsa Zsa Gabor
's house. After an LA County Sherriff
yells at Lou for ruining Gabor's hedges, Lou punches him out. When reprimanded, Lou explains to his supervisor that the suspect had stolen the car, gotten stoned, and then driven over a 6-year old Mexican girl without stopping. To his disgust, he receives a temporary suspension.
On his way to work, Stewart visits Denise Marshall (Geneviève Bujold
), an actress who is the widow of one of his friends and co-workers. He drops off an autographed football for her son and helps Denise run her lines for a scene she is shooting later that day.
A junior staffer, Walter Russell (Kip Niven), at the California Seismological Institute has calculated that Los Angeles will suffer a major earthquake in the next day or two. He frantically tries to reach his superior, Dr. Frank Adams, who is busy placing seismic sensors in the field. Another tremor hits as Adams and his assistant are working in a deep trench and they are buried alive. The scientists at the center argue about whether or not to go public with their prediction of a major quake. The acting supervisor, Dr. Willis Stockle (Barry Sullivan
), insists that if they are wrong their funding will be jeopardized. He also argues that the panic such a warning would cause could be worse than the earthquake itself. They agree on a compromise to alert the National Guard and police so that they can at least mobilize to help deal with the fallout.
While checking out at a grocery store, Rosa Amici (Victoria Principal
) realizes she does not have enough money to pay for all her items. Jody Joad (Marjoe Gortner
), the seemingly kind store manager, insists that she keep the items and make up the deficit the next time she shops. Later, when he hears that the National Guard reserves are being called up on the radio, Jody leaves the store in the middle of his shift, revealing himself to be part of the reserve army. He goes to his run-down boarding house and changes into his NCO uniform, enduring the abuse and harassment of his bullying housemates who accuse him of being homosexual because he's got pictures of bodybuilders on his wall.
Blowing off steam at a bar, Lou orders a double bourbon and ignores all the illegal activity he sees. A drunk (Walter Matthau
, credited as Walter Matuschanskayasky) periodically wakes up to toast random people like 'Bobby Riggs'. Daredevil motorcyclist Miles Quade (Richard Roundtree
) arrives with his partner Sal Amici (Gabriel Dell
) and his sister Rosa. A pool shark collects $50 that Miles owes him, leaving him short for the propane tank he needs to do a stunt for a talent scout. Miles convinces Lou to loan him the money by having Rosa reveal a tight-fitting t-shirt he's marketing with his name on it.
The tremor cancelled Denise's shoot; so, she heads to Stewart's office, pretending to meet with a friend. When she runs into him, he is headed out for a drink. They go back to Denise's house for the drink and end up making love. He promises to come back later that night and invites her to spend the summer with him in Oregon, where he will be overseeing a project. Back at the office, his boss Sam Royce (Lorne Greene
) offers to hand over the company presidency to Stewart. He asks for some time to consider the idea. Stewart calls Denise and breaks off their plans for later that night. He goes to Sam's office to accept his offer but is stunned to see Remy there. He assumes she has convinced her father, Sam, to offer the promotion to Stewart in order to save their marriage. He storms out and she follows him, accusing him of cheating with Denise. He explains that he never had until that day. When they get outside the building, the main earthquake begins, rupturing the San Andreas Fault, and causing thousands of buildings to collapse and causing hundreds of thousands of people to die while shaking Southern California
for nearly six to nine minutes.
Sam and most of his employees are trapped on the upper floors of their skyscraper, as the elevators have crashed to the ground. They descend most of the way by the stairs, but the earthquake has sheared off a portion of the building, leaving an impasse of about 2 stories. Sam rigs a fire hose to a chair and lowers his staff down one at a time. When everyone is safe, he suffers a heart attack, and Stewart climbs up to lower him down in the chair.
Denise's son was caught on a bridge over a causeway when the quake struck. She spies him unconscious on the concrete and climbs down to save him. Unable to climb back out with her son, she hails Miles and Sal who are passing by in their truck. After saving Denise and her son, they drive in search of help, coming across Lou who is organizing rescue efforts in the street. Lou commandeers their truck to use it as an ambulance.
After nibbling on a donut in a ruined diner, Rosa has been arrested by the National Guard for looting. Jody, now a sergeant, picks her out of a group of prisoners. Recognizing him from the grocery store, Rosa assumes he is going to let her go, but he claims that the streets are too unsafe for her to go anywhere and he orders her to stay inside a secluded store. Another group of troops arrive with Jody's housemates as prisoners. Jody executes them in an act of revenge for all the long time bullying he endured from them, terrifying Rosa and his subordinates as they now see his dark psychopathic side.
Once Stewart gets everyone from his office safely to a shopping center named Wilson Plaza, which has been converted into a triage center, he goes off in search of Denise and her son. He ends up driving Lou around in search of survivors and they come across Jody and his regiment. Jody threatens to fire on them if they come any closer and Rosa emerges when she sees Lou, begging for his help. Lou and Stewart pretend to comply with Jody by driving off while Sgt. Joad's scared men look for an officer to have him face a court martial and detainment. But Lou sneaks back and gets the jump on Jody, who's enraged at Rosa for betraying and rejecting him and tries to rape her. Lou shoots Jody dead in self-defense when Jody tries to kill him with his rifle and rescues Rosa.
As they drive away, they hear that another aftershock has threatened Wilson Plaza. After a quick survey of the building, Stewart realizes there are survivors trapped in an underground garage. He and Lou crawl into the sewer and through some rubble with a jackhammer, which they use to drill through to the garage. Stewart is overjoyed to find that Denise is one of the people trapped inside. As he hugs her, he sees his wife standing just behind her.
During the rescue, the Mulholland Dam
finally gives way, sending water down the sewers. Lou and Denise make it up the ladder to safety, but as Remy climbs out, a man steps on her hand. She falls back into the water which is sweeping people away. Stewart looks up at Denise, but he cannot bring himself to abandon his wife to death. He sacrifices himself when he swims after her and both of them are swept away. Denise walks away from the manhole in shock and grief. Lou is holding Rosa when a doctor walks up to him and says, "This used to be a helluva town, officer." Lou mumbles, "Yeah" as he tries not to cry. The camera pans back to reveal a completely destroyed Los Angeles.
began working with executive producer Jennings Lang to come up with a new idea that would work within the same "disaster-suspense" genre. The genesis of the idea literally "came to them" as a direct result of the San Fernando Earthquake which shook the Los Angeles area during the early morning hours of February 9, 1971. Director Mark Robson
and Lang were intrigued by the idea of creating a disaster on film that would not be confined to an airliner, but rather take place over a large area. Producer Bernard Donnenfeld helped produce the film, but was uncredited.
to pen the first draft during the summer of 1972. Puzo, fresh from the success of his novel and film, The Godfather
, delivered the script in August. Much like his Godfather
films, the characters and situations in his Earthquake script were intricate, and showed a similar attention to detail. However, Puzo's detailed script necessitated a much larger production budget (as the action and characters were spread over a vast geographical area in the city of Los Angeles), and Universal was faced with either cutting the script down, or increasing the film's projected budget. Puzo's involvement with Earthquake was short-lived, however, as Paramount Pictures
was anxious to begin development with the followup to The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II. Since Puzo's services were contractually obligated to the sequel, he felt he would be unable to continue work on two projects of such a large scale, so he opted out of continuing any further work on Earthquake.
The Earthquake script languished at Universal Studios for a short period of time, but was brought back to life by the huge success of the 20th Century Fox
hit, The Poseidon Adventure, released in December 1972. Fueled by the enormous box office receipts of that film, Universal Studios put pre-production on Earthquake back into high gear, hiring writer George Fox to continue work with Puzo's first draft. Director Mark Robson worked with Fox (who was more of a magazine writer - this was his first screenplay) to narrow the scope of the script down to fit into the budgetary constraints. After 11 drafts, Earthquake went before the cameras in February 1974.
, which was being financed by two movie studios (20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers, a motion picture first) and produced by Irwin Allen
(The Poseidon Adventure). While that film featured a larger "all star" cast (in fact, Universal had approached several, including Steve McQueen and Paul Newman
, to star in Earthquake - but they had already been signed for Inferno), Universal was able to land Charlton Heston
in the lead role, along with Ava Gardner
(who signed at the proverbial "11th hour" simply because she wanted to spend the summer in Los Angeles), George Kennedy
, Lorne Greene
, Geneviève Bujold
(who agreed to a part in the film to head off an impending lawsuit by Universal over a prior project), Richard Roundtree
(riding a wave of success from the Shaft
film series), former evangelical Marjoe Gortner
as an antagonist, and fresh-faced newcomer Victoria Principal
. Additionally, Jon Voight
, James Caan
, James Brolin
and Burt Reynolds
along with Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, were considered for the part of Stewart Graff. Gardner's character, Remy, was originally tailored for Lee Grant
(who would later play a similar character named Karen Wallace in Airport '77). Jessica Walter
and Elizabeth Allen
were additional cast choices for Remy. For Kennedy's character, Sgt. Lou Slade, many considerations other than George Kennedy were made. These include Beau Bridges
, Alan Alda
, Stacy Keach
, James Brolin
(who was also considered for Stewart Graff), Rock Hudson
, John Cassavetes
, Kevin Tighe
and William Atherton
. Also, Elizabeth Montgomery
was the first choice for Denise, but Jacqueline Bisset
, Candice Bergen
, Sharon Gless
, Sondra Locke
, Meredith Baxter
, Kate Jackson
, Susan St. James and Susan Clark
were also in the running for the part finally played by Genevieve Bujold. The character of Sam Royce was originally offered to James Stewart
, who declined. Fred MacMurray, Robert Young
, Ernest Borgnine
, Ben Johnson
and Lee J. Cobb
were all suggested for the part eventually played by Lorne Greene. The role of Miles Quade, played by Roundtree, was originally written for an Italian American actor (the part was called "Gino Amici") and was intended for Joe Namath
(Richard Dreyfuss
was also thought of). For the villain Jody Joad, a rather odd first choice was the television comedian Tommy Smothers. But Michael J. Pollard
and Robert Blake
were other choices. Victoria Principal's part was originated for Susan Sarandon
or Kay Lenz
, but Principal was chosen. For the child part of Corry, Denise's son, was set for either Robbie Rist
or Michael Reilly
, until Tiger Williams won out.
Production necessitated the complete destruction of the Universal Studios
backlot
in order to simulate the catastrophic earthquake of the title (as doing the same on Los Angeles streets would not have been possible). Along with a clever use of miniatures of actual buildings, matte painting
s, and full-scale sets, Earthquake combined decades old special effects techniques with those developed especially for the film (including a revolutionary "Shaker Mount" camera system, which mimicked the effects of an earthquake by moving the entire camera body several inches side to side, versus merely shaking the camera lens).
Extensive use of highly trained stunt artists for the most dangerous scenes involving high falls, dodging falling debris, and flood sequences, set a Hollywood record for the most stunt artists involved in any film production up until that time: 141. Major stunt sequences in the film required careful choreography
between the stunt artists and behind the scenes stunt technicians who were responsible for triggering full scale effects, such as falling debris. Timing was critical, since some rigged effects involved dropping six ton
chunks of reinforced concrete in order to flatten cars, with stunt performers only a few feet away. In other scenarios, some stunt artists were required to fall sixty feet onto large air bags - for which they were paid the sum of $500.
faux "debris" over audience members' heads), Universal's sound department came up with a process called "Sensurround
" - a series of large speakers and a 1,500 watt
amplifier made by Cerwin-Vega
, that would pump in sub-audible "infra bass" sound waves at 120 decibel
s (equivalent to a jet airplane at takeoff), giving the viewer the sensation of an earthquake. The process was tested in several theatres around the United States prior to the film's release, yielding various results. A famous example is Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California, where the "Sensurround" cracked the plaster in the ceiling. The same theatre premiered Earthquake three months later – with a newly-installed net over the audience to catch any falling debris – to tremendous success.
The "Sensurround" process proved to be a large audience draw, but not without generating a fair share of controversy. There were documented cases of nosebleed
s generated by the sound waves. When the film premiered in Chicago, Illinois, the head of the building and safety department demanded the system be turned down, as he was afraid it would cause structural damage. In Billings, Montana
, a knick-knack shop next door to a theatre using the system lost part of its inventory when items from several shelves were thrown to the floor when the system was cued during the quake scenes.
Sensurround was used again for the films Midway
(1976), Rollercoaster (1977) and Battlestar Galactica
(1979).
The 2006 Universal Home Video DVD release features the original "Sensurround
" 3.1 audio track, duplicating the original theatrical "Sensurround" track (but oddly in mono directed to the front 3 speakers rather than the original stereo mix), but sadly no actual 'rumble' generator was used and its only the two control tones that activated the generator that can be heard. In addition, the film's original soundtrack was remixed in Surround Sound
5.1 which was simply a tag as once again only the control tones feature on the track."
The elevator scenes, which are some of the most infamous shots in the film, were severely altered from their original scenes. Originally, the occupants of the elevator ended up plastered to the ceiling, and when the elevator crashed to the bottom of the shaft, they were dropped to the floor. This scene, shown in all test screening prints until the theatrical release, was considered too much for a film meant to have a PG rating. Universal, decided to cut this portion of the elevator sequence and replace it with a frame of the people on the elevator's floor, with the notorious 'cartoon blood' rushing into the camera. It is often thought that the original sequence may have gotten the entire film an R rating, which would have effectively cut out the teenage market toward which the film was geared.
Other scenes after the earthquake wrapped up many characters. Walt Russell and Dr. Stockle were shown alive in the laboratory, and there were extra scenes of them. They were shown finding the rate of the earthquake as a 9.9 on the Richter scale, and then discussing the magnitude. Among other cut scenes, the last major one in the film had Denise asking Lew Slade if Stewart, Remy and the others had survived. Then, after hearing of their deaths, she walks over to Corry who has regained consciousness.
Released in the United States on November 15, 1974, Earthquake would become the fourth-highest grossing film of the year; its competition, The Towering Inferno, was the highest.
The disaster film
trend had reached its zenith in 1974 with the combined releases of Earthquake, The Towering Inferno and Airport 1975
(the first Airport sequel). The films enjoyed staggering success, with The Towering Inferno earning $55 million in rentals, Earthquake $36 million and Airport 1975 $25 million. By 1976, the Disaster film cycle had also left its mark on the list of all-time box office champions, with The Towering Inferno ranked 8th, Airport 14th, The Poseidon Adventure 16th and Earthquake 20th. Such success spawned a flood of similar films throughout the decade.
Earthquake would eventually gross nearly $80,000,000 US ($350,000,000 US, adjusted for inflation in 2009 dollars).
success despite generally unenthusiastic critical reviews. Rotten Tomatoes summarizes its critical picture as 27% "Rotten" with an average of 4.4 out 10. In Leonard Maltin's annual publication "TV Movie Guide," the film is given a "BOMB" rating, stating "Title tells all in hackneyed disaster pic."
including Best Film Editing
, Best Cinematography
, Best Art Direction
(Alexander Golitzen
, E. Preston Ames
, Frank R. McKelvy
) and Best Sound
(Ronald Pierce
, Melvin Metcalfe, Sr.
). It won for Best Sound (Ronald Pierce, Melvin M. Metcalfe, Sr.) and a Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects
(Frank Brendel, Glen Robinson, Albert Whitlock).
The film was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture - Drama
and Best Original Score
(John Williams
). Williams' music for Earthquake was the second of his trio of scores for large-scale Disaster films, having previously scored The Poseidon Adventure and following with The Towering Inferno (briefly earning him the nickname "King of the Disaster Scores"). Williams scored both The Towering Inferno and Earthquake in the summer of 1974, both scores showing similarities to one another (notably Earthquake's theme and The Towering Inferno's love theme sharing the same eight-note melody).
, additional footage was added to expand the running time of the film so it could be shown over two nights. The "Sensurround" audio was simulcast on FM stereo in the Los Angeles market. This allowed the home viewer to experience a similar effect as in the theater. Contrary to popular belief, this "television version" made no use of material originally left out of the theatrical release (save one brief scene featuring Victoria Principal and Reb Brown
), but rather new footage was shot some two years after the original, using some of the stars from the theatrical version. New scenes included a young married couple. The husband seeks a job in with Graff in Los Angeles, while his wife has the eerily accurate ability to see the future with cards. (Debralee Scott
and Sam Chew) They are on an airliner attempting to land at Los Angeles International Airport
during the earthquake. The airliner is barely able to take off a second time and divert to San Francisco
.
, Richard Roundtree
and Gabriel Dell
. The script never reached the production stage. The story details the characters, now refugees from the Los Angeles quake of the original film, adjusting to life in San Francisco. Another catastrophic earthquake and tsunami eventually strikes the Bay Area
. Production was cancelled in late 1977 as the popularity of disaster film
s was starting to wane.
Guests then entered a screening room, where they watched a brief film that depicted a massive earthquake that destroys Los Angeles. Following the earthquake sequence, actor Charlton Heston
appeared and explained how the previous earthquake sequence of the film was created through the use of miniatures. The movie screen then raised to reveal a portion of the destroyed model that was used during the filming of the previous earthquake sequence. Guests were then ushered into a soundstage where the volunteers who were selected from the audience earlier helped recreate various scenes from the Earthquake film.
Following this sequence, guests then entered a "Golden Gate Transit" subway station in Oakland where they boarded an open-air subway train that closely resembled the trains used on the Bay Area Rapid Transit
in and around the San Francisco bay area. After boarding, the train departed the station and took them beneath the bay to the Embarcadero Station
in San Francisco. Once stopped in the station, a violent earthquake would take place, destroying the entire station and climaxed in a massive flash flood. Once the earthquake sequence was complete, the subway train would return to the Oakland Station
where guests would disembark the train and exit the attraction.
In the fall of 2002, the pre-show was changed to a more generic "magic of making movies" theme, with slight modifications which included mentioning special effects used in other films besides Earthquake. The pre-show sequences were eventually dropped from the attraction in September 2007, with the various pre-show theaters being used as a queue line for the ride portion of the attraction.
The attraction officially closed on November 5, 2007 and reopened several months later as "Disaster!: A Major Motion Picture Ride...Starring You!." The current attraction has a similar three part pre-show as the ‘’Earthquake’’ attraction and still utilizes volunteers from the audience. The ride portion of the attraction also remains mostly unchanged, although television monitors were added to the subway train cars to help tie it into the rest of the show.
The Universal Studios Hollywood
Studio Tour also contains an Earthquake sequence, which replaced The Tower of London Set in 1986, and features the tour tram entering a San Francisco subway station and experiencing a massive earthquake.
Disaster film
A disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject...
that achieved huge box-office success, continuing the disaster film
Disaster film
A disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject...
genre of the 1970s where recognizable all-star casts attempt to survive life or death situations. The plot concerns the struggle for survival after a catastrophic earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
destroys most of the city of Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Directed by Mark Robson
Mark Robson
Mark Robson was a Canadian-born film editor, film director and producer in Hollywood.-Career:Born in Montreal, Quebec, he moved to the United States at a young age. He studied at the University of California, Los Angeles then found work in the prop department at 20th Century Fox studios...
and with a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by George Fox and Mario Puzo
Mario Puzo
Mario Gianluigi Puzo was an American author and screenwriter, known for his novels about the Mafia, including The Godfather , which he later co-adapted into a film by Francis Ford Coppola...
, the film starred some of the most popular actors of the time including Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
, Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene , was the stage name of Lyon Himan Green, OC, a Canadian actor.His television roles include Ben Cartwright on the western Bonanza, and Commander Adama in the science fiction movie and subsequent TV Series Battlestar Galactica...
, Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold is a Canadian actress best known for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for best actress and was nominated for an Academy Award....
, Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree is an American actor and former fashion model. He is best known for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft and in its two sequels, Shaft's Big Score and Shaft in Africa .-Personal life:Born in New Rochelle, New York, Richard Roundtree graduated from...
, Marjoe Gortner
Marjoe Gortner
Hugh Marjoe Ross Gortner, generally known as Marjoe Gortner , is a former revivalist who first gained a certain fame in the late 1940s when he became the youngest ordained preacher at the age of four...
, Barry Sullivan
Barry Sullivan (actor)
Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
, Lloyd Nolan
Lloyd Nolan
Lloyd Benedict Nolan was an American film and television actor.-Biography:Nolan was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Margaret and James Nolan, who was a shoe manufacturer...
, Victoria Principal
Victoria Principal
Victoria Principal is an American actress, best known for her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing on the CBS nighttime drama Dallas from 1978 to 1987.-Early life:...
, Monica Lewis and Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
.
Plot
The film opens on Stewart Graff (Charlton HestonCharlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
) jogging underneath the Hollywood sign. Back home, as he finishes his workout on a resistance machine, his wife Remy Royce-Graff (Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
) starts her morning by picking a fight with him. At the peak of their argument, Stewart says to Remy, "You'd hardly call this a marriage wouldn't you?" After he's showered and preparing to leave, Stewart finds Remy unconscious with a bottle of pills nearby. Accustomed to her periodic suicide attempts, Stewart prepares to induce vomiting when a violent tremor shakes the bedroom. Remy bolts out of bed, revealing that she was faking.
At the Mulholland Dam
Mulholland Dam
The Mulholland Dam is a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power dam located in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. The dam impounds the Hollywood Reservoir, holding of water and is deep.-History:...
, two workers begin a routine inspection of the structure in response to the tremor. One of them is drowned in an elevator shaft which has filled with water after the quake.
In downtown Los Angeles, Sgt. Lou Slade (George Kennedy
George Kennedy
George Harris Kennedy, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 film and television productions. He is perhaps most familiar as the convict Dragline in Cool Hand Luke , airline troubleshooter Joe Patroni in the Airport series of disaster movies from the 1970s and...
) and his partner Emilio Chavez (Pedro Armendáriz, Jr.) are in pursuit of a suspect. They chase him out of their jurisdiction, finally crashing into the hedges at Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor is a Hungarian-born American stage, film and television actress.She acted on stage in Vienna, Austria, in 1932, and was crowned Miss Hungary in 1936. She emigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a sought-after actress with "European flair and style", with a personality that...
's house. After an LA County Sherriff
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is a local county law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. It is the fourth largest local policing agency in the United States, with the New York City Police Department being the first. The second largest is the Chicago Police...
yells at Lou for ruining Gabor's hedges, Lou punches him out. When reprimanded, Lou explains to his supervisor that the suspect had stolen the car, gotten stoned, and then driven over a 6-year old Mexican girl without stopping. To his disgust, he receives a temporary suspension.
On his way to work, Stewart visits Denise Marshall (Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold is a Canadian actress best known for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for best actress and was nominated for an Academy Award....
), an actress who is the widow of one of his friends and co-workers. He drops off an autographed football for her son and helps Denise run her lines for a scene she is shooting later that day.
A junior staffer, Walter Russell (Kip Niven), at the California Seismological Institute has calculated that Los Angeles will suffer a major earthquake in the next day or two. He frantically tries to reach his superior, Dr. Frank Adams, who is busy placing seismic sensors in the field. Another tremor hits as Adams and his assistant are working in a deep trench and they are buried alive. The scientists at the center argue about whether or not to go public with their prediction of a major quake. The acting supervisor, Dr. Willis Stockle (Barry Sullivan
Barry Sullivan (actor)
Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
), insists that if they are wrong their funding will be jeopardized. He also argues that the panic such a warning would cause could be worse than the earthquake itself. They agree on a compromise to alert the National Guard and police so that they can at least mobilize to help deal with the fallout.
While checking out at a grocery store, Rosa Amici (Victoria Principal
Victoria Principal
Victoria Principal is an American actress, best known for her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing on the CBS nighttime drama Dallas from 1978 to 1987.-Early life:...
) realizes she does not have enough money to pay for all her items. Jody Joad (Marjoe Gortner
Marjoe Gortner
Hugh Marjoe Ross Gortner, generally known as Marjoe Gortner , is a former revivalist who first gained a certain fame in the late 1940s when he became the youngest ordained preacher at the age of four...
), the seemingly kind store manager, insists that she keep the items and make up the deficit the next time she shops. Later, when he hears that the National Guard reserves are being called up on the radio, Jody leaves the store in the middle of his shift, revealing himself to be part of the reserve army. He goes to his run-down boarding house and changes into his NCO uniform, enduring the abuse and harassment of his bullying housemates who accuse him of being homosexual because he's got pictures of bodybuilders on his wall.
Blowing off steam at a bar, Lou orders a double bourbon and ignores all the illegal activity he sees. A drunk (Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
, credited as Walter Matuschanskayasky) periodically wakes up to toast random people like 'Bobby Riggs'. Daredevil motorcyclist Miles Quade (Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree is an American actor and former fashion model. He is best known for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft and in its two sequels, Shaft's Big Score and Shaft in Africa .-Personal life:Born in New Rochelle, New York, Richard Roundtree graduated from...
) arrives with his partner Sal Amici (Gabriel Dell
Gabriel Dell
Gabriel Dell was an American actor and one of the members of what came to be known as the Dead End Kids/East Side Kids/The Bowery Boys.-Early life:...
) and his sister Rosa. A pool shark collects $50 that Miles owes him, leaving him short for the propane tank he needs to do a stunt for a talent scout. Miles convinces Lou to loan him the money by having Rosa reveal a tight-fitting t-shirt he's marketing with his name on it.
The tremor cancelled Denise's shoot; so, she heads to Stewart's office, pretending to meet with a friend. When she runs into him, he is headed out for a drink. They go back to Denise's house for the drink and end up making love. He promises to come back later that night and invites her to spend the summer with him in Oregon, where he will be overseeing a project. Back at the office, his boss Sam Royce (Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene , was the stage name of Lyon Himan Green, OC, a Canadian actor.His television roles include Ben Cartwright on the western Bonanza, and Commander Adama in the science fiction movie and subsequent TV Series Battlestar Galactica...
) offers to hand over the company presidency to Stewart. He asks for some time to consider the idea. Stewart calls Denise and breaks off their plans for later that night. He goes to Sam's office to accept his offer but is stunned to see Remy there. He assumes she has convinced her father, Sam, to offer the promotion to Stewart in order to save their marriage. He storms out and she follows him, accusing him of cheating with Denise. He explains that he never had until that day. When they get outside the building, the main earthquake begins, rupturing the San Andreas Fault, and causing thousands of buildings to collapse and causing hundreds of thousands of people to die while shaking Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
for nearly six to nine minutes.
Sam and most of his employees are trapped on the upper floors of their skyscraper, as the elevators have crashed to the ground. They descend most of the way by the stairs, but the earthquake has sheared off a portion of the building, leaving an impasse of about 2 stories. Sam rigs a fire hose to a chair and lowers his staff down one at a time. When everyone is safe, he suffers a heart attack, and Stewart climbs up to lower him down in the chair.
Denise's son was caught on a bridge over a causeway when the quake struck. She spies him unconscious on the concrete and climbs down to save him. Unable to climb back out with her son, she hails Miles and Sal who are passing by in their truck. After saving Denise and her son, they drive in search of help, coming across Lou who is organizing rescue efforts in the street. Lou commandeers their truck to use it as an ambulance.
After nibbling on a donut in a ruined diner, Rosa has been arrested by the National Guard for looting. Jody, now a sergeant, picks her out of a group of prisoners. Recognizing him from the grocery store, Rosa assumes he is going to let her go, but he claims that the streets are too unsafe for her to go anywhere and he orders her to stay inside a secluded store. Another group of troops arrive with Jody's housemates as prisoners. Jody executes them in an act of revenge for all the long time bullying he endured from them, terrifying Rosa and his subordinates as they now see his dark psychopathic side.
Once Stewart gets everyone from his office safely to a shopping center named Wilson Plaza, which has been converted into a triage center, he goes off in search of Denise and her son. He ends up driving Lou around in search of survivors and they come across Jody and his regiment. Jody threatens to fire on them if they come any closer and Rosa emerges when she sees Lou, begging for his help. Lou and Stewart pretend to comply with Jody by driving off while Sgt. Joad's scared men look for an officer to have him face a court martial and detainment. But Lou sneaks back and gets the jump on Jody, who's enraged at Rosa for betraying and rejecting him and tries to rape her. Lou shoots Jody dead in self-defense when Jody tries to kill him with his rifle and rescues Rosa.
As they drive away, they hear that another aftershock has threatened Wilson Plaza. After a quick survey of the building, Stewart realizes there are survivors trapped in an underground garage. He and Lou crawl into the sewer and through some rubble with a jackhammer, which they use to drill through to the garage. Stewart is overjoyed to find that Denise is one of the people trapped inside. As he hugs her, he sees his wife standing just behind her.
During the rescue, the Mulholland Dam
Mulholland Dam
The Mulholland Dam is a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power dam located in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. The dam impounds the Hollywood Reservoir, holding of water and is deep.-History:...
finally gives way, sending water down the sewers. Lou and Denise make it up the ladder to safety, but as Remy climbs out, a man steps on her hand. She falls back into the water which is sweeping people away. Stewart looks up at Denise, but he cannot bring himself to abandon his wife to death. He sacrifices himself when he swims after her and both of them are swept away. Denise walks away from the manhole in shock and grief. Lou is holding Rosa when a doctor walks up to him and says, "This used to be a helluva town, officer." Lou mumbles, "Yeah" as he tries not to cry. The camera pans back to reveal a completely destroyed Los Angeles.
Cast
- Charlton HestonCharlton HestonCharlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
as Stuart Graff - Ava GardnerAva GardnerAva Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
as Remy Royce-Graff - George KennedyGeorge KennedyGeorge Harris Kennedy, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 film and television productions. He is perhaps most familiar as the convict Dragline in Cool Hand Luke , airline troubleshooter Joe Patroni in the Airport series of disaster movies from the 1970s and...
as Lou Slade - Lorne GreeneLorne GreeneLorne Greene , was the stage name of Lyon Himan Green, OC, a Canadian actor.His television roles include Ben Cartwright on the western Bonanza, and Commander Adama in the science fiction movie and subsequent TV Series Battlestar Galactica...
as Sam Royce - Geneviève BujoldGeneviève BujoldGeneviève Bujold is a Canadian actress best known for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for best actress and was nominated for an Academy Award....
as Denise Marshall - Richard RoundtreeRichard RoundtreeRichard Roundtree is an American actor and former fashion model. He is best known for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft and in its two sequels, Shaft's Big Score and Shaft in Africa .-Personal life:Born in New Rochelle, New York, Richard Roundtree graduated from...
as Miles Quade - Marjoe GortnerMarjoe GortnerHugh Marjoe Ross Gortner, generally known as Marjoe Gortner , is a former revivalist who first gained a certain fame in the late 1940s when he became the youngest ordained preacher at the age of four...
as Jody Joad - Barry SullivanBarry Sullivan (actor)Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
as Dr. Willis Stockle - Lloyd NolanLloyd NolanLloyd Benedict Nolan was an American film and television actor.-Biography:Nolan was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Margaret and James Nolan, who was a shoe manufacturer...
as Dr. James Vance - Victoria PrincipalVictoria PrincipalVictoria Principal is an American actress, best known for her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing on the CBS nighttime drama Dallas from 1978 to 1987.-Early life:...
as Rosa Amici - Walter MatthauWalter MatthauWalter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
as "Drunk" (credited as "Walter Matuschanskayasky"). - Monica Lewis as Barbara
- Gabriel DellGabriel DellGabriel Dell was an American actor and one of the members of what came to be known as the Dead End Kids/East Side Kids/The Bowery Boys.-Early life:...
as Sal Amici - Pedro Armendáriz, Jr. as Emilio Chavez
- Lloyd GoughLloyd GoughLloyd Gough was an American theater, film, and television actor.Born Michael Gough in New York City, he was a noted character actor...
as Bill Cameron - John RandolphJohn Randolph (actor)John Randolph was an American film, television and stage actor.-Early life:Randolph was born Emanuel Hirsch Cohen in New York City, the son of Jewish immigrants Dorothy , an insurance agent, and Louis Cohen, a hat manufacturer...
as (Mayor) Lewis - Kip Niven as Walter Russell
- Scott HylandsScott HylandsScott Hylands is a Canadian actor who has appeared in movies, television, and on the stage. He is probably best known for his role of Detective Kevin "O.B." O'Brien on the television series Night Heat, played from 1985 to 1989...
as Max - Tiger Williams as Corry Marshall
- Donald MoffatDonald MoffatDonald Moffat is an English-born actor, now a naturalized American citizen.-Early life:Moffat was born in Plymouth, Devon, the only child of Kathleen Mary and Walter George Moffat, who was an insurance agent. His parents ran a boarding house in Totnes...
as Dr. Harvey Johnson - Jesse Vint as Buck
- Alan VintAlan VintAlan Richard Vint was an American character actor.-Biography:Vint was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He appeared in a number of supporting roles during the 1970s in films such as The Panic in Needle Park Badlands , Macon County Line , and Earthquake. He also made guest appearances on such television...
as Ralph - Michael Richardson as Hank
- John Elerick as Carl Leeds
- John S. RaginJohn S. RaginJohn S. Ragin is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Robert Asten, M.E. in the TV-series Quincy, M.E. ....
as (Chief Inspector) - George MurdockGeorge Murdock (actor)George Murdock is an American actor.Known for frequently playing judges, , he also performed the role of "Big Daddy" in Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with the Arizona Theater Company during the 1988...
as (Colonel) - Donald Mantooth as Sid
- Lionel Johnston as Sandy
- Alex A. Brown as (Pool Player)
- Bob CunninghamBob CunninghamBob Cunningham is a retired professional Canadian football fullback. Between 1948 and 1951, he played 29 games for the Montreal Alouettes, scoring a touchdown in their 1949 Grey Cup championship He played for the Ottawa Rough Riders from 1952 to 1955, winning the Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy in 1953...
as Dr. Frank Adams - John DennisJohn DennisJohn Dennis was an English critic and dramatist.-Life:He was born in Harrow, London. He was educated at Harrow School and Caius College, Cambridge, where he took his B.A. degree in 1679. In the next year he was fined and dismissed from his college for having wounded a fellow-student with a sword....
as Brawny Foreman - Gene Dynarski as Fred
- Bob Gravage as (Farmer) Mr. Griggs
- H.B. Haggerty as (Pool Player)
- Tim Herbert as (Las Vegas Man)
- Dave Morick as (Technician)
- Inez Pedroza as Lorra
- Josh AlbeeJosh AlbeeJosh Albee is an American television actor, known for his work as a child actor during the 1970s, and for the role as the young, mute boy in the feature film, Jeremiah Johnson....
as (Boy w/Radio) (uncredited)
Crew
- Mark RobsonMark RobsonMark Robson was a Canadian-born film editor, film director and producer in Hollywood.-Career:Born in Montreal, Quebec, he moved to the United States at a young age. He studied at the University of California, Los Angeles then found work in the prop department at 20th Century Fox studios...
: Director & Producer - Bernard Donnenfeld: Producer (uncredited)
- Jennings LangJennings LangJennings Lang was an American film producer, as well as a screenwriter and actor.- Biography :...
: Executive Producer - George Fox & Mario PuzoMario PuzoMario Gianluigi Puzo was an American author and screenwriter, known for his novels about the Mafia, including The Godfather , which he later co-adapted into a film by Francis Ford Coppola...
: Writer - John WilliamsJohn WilliamsJohn Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
: Music Score - Philip Lathrop: Director of Photography
- Dorothy SpencerDorothy SpencerDorothy Spencer was an American film editor. Nominated for an Academy Award on several occasions she is remembered for editing several of director John Ford's best known movies, including Stagecoach and what film critic Roger Ebert calls, "Ford's greatest Western," My Darling Clementine.She was...
: Film Editor - Alexander GolitzenAlexander GolitzenAlexander Golitzen, oversaw art direction on more than 300 movies.Prince Alexander Golitzen was born in Moscow, but fled the country with his family during the Russian Revolution. Travelling via Siberia and China, they arrived in Seattle, where Alexander graduated from high school...
: Production Designer - E. Preston AmesE. Preston AmesE. Preston Ames was a famous Hollywood art director.Ames first made inroads into Hollywood when he was a draftsman working on The Wizard of Oz in 1939...
: Art Director - Burton Miller: Costume Designer
- Albert WhitlockAlbert WhitlockAlbert J. Whitlock was a British-born motion picture matte artist best known for his work with Disney and Universal Studios.-Life and career:...
: Visual Effects - Fred Tuch: Assistant Art Director
Origins
In the wake of the tremendous success of the disaster-suspense film Airport (1970), Universal StudiosUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
began working with executive producer Jennings Lang to come up with a new idea that would work within the same "disaster-suspense" genre. The genesis of the idea literally "came to them" as a direct result of the San Fernando Earthquake which shook the Los Angeles area during the early morning hours of February 9, 1971. Director Mark Robson
Mark Robson
Mark Robson was a Canadian-born film editor, film director and producer in Hollywood.-Career:Born in Montreal, Quebec, he moved to the United States at a young age. He studied at the University of California, Los Angeles then found work in the prop department at 20th Century Fox studios...
and Lang were intrigued by the idea of creating a disaster on film that would not be confined to an airliner, but rather take place over a large area. Producer Bernard Donnenfeld helped produce the film, but was uncredited.
Development
Lang scored a major coup when he was able to sign on legendary screenwriter Mario PuzoMario Puzo
Mario Gianluigi Puzo was an American author and screenwriter, known for his novels about the Mafia, including The Godfather , which he later co-adapted into a film by Francis Ford Coppola...
to pen the first draft during the summer of 1972. Puzo, fresh from the success of his novel and film, The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
, delivered the script in August. Much like his Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
films, the characters and situations in his Earthquake script were intricate, and showed a similar attention to detail. However, Puzo's detailed script necessitated a much larger production budget (as the action and characters were spread over a vast geographical area in the city of Los Angeles), and Universal was faced with either cutting the script down, or increasing the film's projected budget. Puzo's involvement with Earthquake was short-lived, however, as Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
was anxious to begin development with the followup to The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II. Since Puzo's services were contractually obligated to the sequel, he felt he would be unable to continue work on two projects of such a large scale, so he opted out of continuing any further work on Earthquake.
The Earthquake script languished at Universal Studios for a short period of time, but was brought back to life by the huge success of the 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
hit, The Poseidon Adventure, released in December 1972. Fueled by the enormous box office receipts of that film, Universal Studios put pre-production on Earthquake back into high gear, hiring writer George Fox to continue work with Puzo's first draft. Director Mark Robson worked with Fox (who was more of a magazine writer - this was his first screenplay) to narrow the scope of the script down to fit into the budgetary constraints. After 11 drafts, Earthquake went before the cameras in February 1974.
Production
Budgeted at $7,000,000 USD, Earthquake immediately found itself in a race against the clock with the bigger-budgeted disaster film, The Towering InfernoThe Towering Inferno (film)
The Towering Inferno is a 1974 American action disaster film produced by Irwin Allen featuring an all-star cast led by Steve McQueen and Paul Newman.A co-production between Twentieth Century-Fox and Warner Bros...
, which was being financed by two movie studios (20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers, a motion picture first) and produced by Irwin Allen
Irwin Allen
Irwin Allen was a television and film director and producer nicknamed "The Master of Disaster" for his work in the disaster film genre. He was also notable for creating a number of television series.- Biography :...
(The Poseidon Adventure). While that film featured a larger "all star" cast (in fact, Universal had approached several, including Steve McQueen and Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
, to star in Earthquake - but they had already been signed for Inferno), Universal was able to land Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
in the lead role, along with Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
(who signed at the proverbial "11th hour" simply because she wanted to spend the summer in Los Angeles), George Kennedy
George Kennedy
George Harris Kennedy, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 film and television productions. He is perhaps most familiar as the convict Dragline in Cool Hand Luke , airline troubleshooter Joe Patroni in the Airport series of disaster movies from the 1970s and...
, Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene , was the stage name of Lyon Himan Green, OC, a Canadian actor.His television roles include Ben Cartwright on the western Bonanza, and Commander Adama in the science fiction movie and subsequent TV Series Battlestar Galactica...
, Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold is a Canadian actress best known for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for best actress and was nominated for an Academy Award....
(who agreed to a part in the film to head off an impending lawsuit by Universal over a prior project), Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree is an American actor and former fashion model. He is best known for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft and in its two sequels, Shaft's Big Score and Shaft in Africa .-Personal life:Born in New Rochelle, New York, Richard Roundtree graduated from...
(riding a wave of success from the Shaft
Shaft (1971 film)
Shaft is a 1971 American blaxploitation film directed by Gordon Parks, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. An action film with elements of film noir, Shaft tells the story of a black private detective, John Shaft, who travels through Harlem and to the Italian mob neighborhoods in order to find the...
film series), former evangelical Marjoe Gortner
Marjoe Gortner
Hugh Marjoe Ross Gortner, generally known as Marjoe Gortner , is a former revivalist who first gained a certain fame in the late 1940s when he became the youngest ordained preacher at the age of four...
as an antagonist, and fresh-faced newcomer Victoria Principal
Victoria Principal
Victoria Principal is an American actress, best known for her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing on the CBS nighttime drama Dallas from 1978 to 1987.-Early life:...
. Additionally, Jon Voight
Jon Voight
Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is an American actor. He has received an Academy Award, out of four nominations, and three Golden Globe Awards, out of nine nominations. Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie....
, James Caan
James Caan
James Caan is an American actor. He is best known for his starring roles in The Godfather, Thief, Misery, A Bridge Too Far, Brian's Song, Rollerball, Kiss Me Goodbye, Elf, and El Dorado...
, James Brolin
James Brolin
James Brolin is an American actor, producer and director, best known for his roles in soap operas, movies, sitcoms, and television. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin and husband of singer/actress Barbra Streisand.-Early life:...
and Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
along with Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, were considered for the part of Stewart Graff. Gardner's character, Remy, was originally tailored for Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Lee Grant is an American stage, film and television actress, and film director. She was blacklisted for 12 years from film work beginning in the mid-1950s, but worked in the theatre, and would eventually win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Felicia Carp in the...
(who would later play a similar character named Karen Wallace in Airport '77). Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter is an American actress, known for the films Play Misty for Me, Grand Prix, and for her role as Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development...
and Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen, Eliza Allen, Liz Allen or Beth Allen may refer to:*Eliza Allen Houston , first wife of Tennessee governor Sam Houston*Eliza Allen Starr , American artist known for her Catholic art...
were additional cast choices for Remy. For Kennedy's character, Sgt. Lou Slade, many considerations other than George Kennedy were made. These include Beau Bridges
Beau Bridges
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book...
, Alan Alda
Alan Alda
Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo , better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H...
, Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical...
, James Brolin
James Brolin
James Brolin is an American actor, producer and director, best known for his roles in soap operas, movies, sitcoms, and television. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin and husband of singer/actress Barbra Streisand.-Early life:...
(who was also considered for Stewart Graff), Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
, John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
, Kevin Tighe
Kevin Tighe
Kevin Tighe is an American character actor primarily known for his roles on television. Tighe is best known for his role as Roy DeSoto, a senior paramedic, on the NBC series Emergency! . He and Randolph Mantooth, his partner in the series, have remained close friends...
and William Atherton
William Atherton
William Atherton , born William Atherton Knight II, is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Atherton was born in Orange, Connecticut, the son of Roby and Robert Atherton Knight...
. Also, Elizabeth Montgomery
Elizabeth Montgomery
Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery was an American film and television actress whose career spanned five decades. She is perhaps best remembered for her roles as Samantha Stephens in Bewitched, as Ellen Harrod in A Case of Rape and as Lizzie Borden in The Legend of Lizzie Borden.-Early life:Born in Los...
was the first choice for Denise, but Jacqueline Bisset
Jacqueline Bisset
Jacqueline Bisset is an English actress. She has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy Award. She is known for her roles in the films Bullitt , Airport , The Deep , Class , and the TV series Nip/Tuck in 2006...
, Candice Bergen
Candice Bergen
Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
, Sharon Gless
Sharon Gless
Sharon Marguerite Gless is an American character actress of stage, film and television, who is best known for her roles as Maggie Philbin on Switch , as Sgt. Christine Cagney in the police procedural drama series Cagney & Lacey and as Debbie Novotny in the Showtime cable television series Queer...
, Sondra Locke
Sondra Locke
Sondra Locke is an American actress, singer and film director.She made her film debut in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter , for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress...
, Meredith Baxter
Meredith Baxter
Meredith Baxter , also known for some years as Meredith Baxter-Birney, is an American actress and producer. She is known for her acting roles including three television series: Family , an ABC television-network drama, Family Ties , an NBC television-network situation comedy, and Dan Vs. , a...
, Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson is an American actress, director, and producer, perhaps best known for her role as Sabrina Duncan in the popular 1970s television series Charlie's Angels...
, Susan St. James and Susan Clark
Susan Clark
Susan Clark is a Canadian actress, possibly best-known for her role as Katherine on the American television sitcom Webster, on which she appeared with her husband, Alex Karras.-Personal life:...
were also in the running for the part finally played by Genevieve Bujold. The character of Sam Royce was originally offered to James Stewart
James Stewart
James Stewart was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart may also refer to:-Noblemen:*James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland*James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn James Stewart (1908–1997) was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart...
, who declined. Fred MacMurray, Robert Young
Robert Young
Robert, Rob or Bob Young may refer to:In sports:* Robert Young , American track athlete* Robert Young , British cyclist* Robert Young , American football player...
, Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
, Ben Johnson
Ben Johnson
Ben Johnson or Benjamin Johnson may refer to:* Ben Johnson , American actor* Ben Johnson , former American football offensive tackle of the National Football League...
and Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb was an American actor. He is best known for his performance in 12 Angry Men his Academy Award-nominated performance in On the Waterfront and one of his last films, The Exorcist...
were all suggested for the part eventually played by Lorne Greene. The role of Miles Quade, played by Roundtree, was originally written for an Italian American actor (the part was called "Gino Amici") and was intended for Joe Namath
Joe Namath
Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...
(Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
was also thought of). For the villain Jody Joad, a rather odd first choice was the television comedian Tommy Smothers. But Michael J. Pollard
Michael J. Pollard
- Early life :Born Michael John Pollack, Jr. in Passaic, New Jersey, he is the son of Sonia and Michael John Pollack. He attended the Montclair Academy and the Actors Studio.- Career :...
and Robert Blake
Robert Blake
Robert Blake may refer to:*Bob Blake , American professional ice hockey player*Robert Blake , English naval commander*Robert Blake , pioneering Irish dentist...
were other choices. Victoria Principal's part was originated for Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
or Kay Lenz
Kay Lenz
Kay Ann Lenz is an American actress.A former child performer, Lenz has worked primarily in television and has won two Emmy Awards.-Background:...
, but Principal was chosen. For the child part of Corry, Denise's son, was set for either Robbie Rist
Robbie Rist
Robert Anthony Rist is an American actor and musician.-Acting and voiceover work:As a child, Rist played Cousin Oliver in the final six episodes of The Brady Bunch. With the regular children all getting older, his inclusion was intended to reintroduce cute younger children to the series...
or Michael Reilly
Michael Reilly
Michael Kieran Reilly , was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1913–1917 and again from 1930–1939, serving Wisconsin's 6th District. He initially served two terms before losing a re-election bid to Republican James H. Davidson, and then returned to Congress...
, until Tiger Williams won out.
Production necessitated the complete destruction of the Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
backlot
Backlot
A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio, containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction....
in order to simulate the catastrophic earthquake of the title (as doing the same on Los Angeles streets would not have been possible). Along with a clever use of miniatures of actual buildings, matte painting
Matte painting
A matte painting is a painted representation of a landscape, set, or distant location that allows filmmakers to create the illusion of an environment that would otherwise be too expensive or impossible to build or visit. Historically, matte painters and film technicians have used various techniques...
s, and full-scale sets, Earthquake combined decades old special effects techniques with those developed especially for the film (including a revolutionary "Shaker Mount" camera system, which mimicked the effects of an earthquake by moving the entire camera body several inches side to side, versus merely shaking the camera lens).
Extensive use of highly trained stunt artists for the most dangerous scenes involving high falls, dodging falling debris, and flood sequences, set a Hollywood record for the most stunt artists involved in any film production up until that time: 141. Major stunt sequences in the film required careful choreography
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
between the stunt artists and behind the scenes stunt technicians who were responsible for triggering full scale effects, such as falling debris. Timing was critical, since some rigged effects involved dropping six ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
chunks of reinforced concrete in order to flatten cars, with stunt performers only a few feet away. In other scenarios, some stunt artists were required to fall sixty feet onto large air bags - for which they were paid the sum of $500.
"Sensurround"
Universal Studios and Jennings Lang wanted Earthquake to be an "Event Film" - something that would draw audiences in to the theatre multiple times. After several ideas were tossed about (which included bouncing styrofoamStyrofoam
Styrofoam is a trademark of The Dow Chemical Company for closed-cell currently made for thermal insulation and craft applications. In 1941, researchers in Dow's Chemical Physics Lab found a way to make foamed polystyrene...
faux "debris" over audience members' heads), Universal's sound department came up with a process called "Sensurround
Sensurround
Sensurround is the trademark name for a process developed in the 1970s by Cerwin-Vega in conjunction with Universal Studios to enhance the audio experience during film screenings...
" - a series of large speakers and a 1,500 watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
amplifier made by Cerwin-Vega
Cerwin-Vega
Cerwin-Vega is a manufacturing company that produces professional audio components, home audio speakers, and car audio components. It is part of the Stanton Group, along with Stanton Magnetics and KRK,...
, that would pump in sub-audible "infra bass" sound waves at 120 decibel
Decibel
The decibel is a logarithmic unit that indicates the ratio of a physical quantity relative to a specified or implied reference level. A ratio in decibels is ten times the logarithm to base 10 of the ratio of two power quantities...
s (equivalent to a jet airplane at takeoff), giving the viewer the sensation of an earthquake. The process was tested in several theatres around the United States prior to the film's release, yielding various results. A famous example is Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California, where the "Sensurround" cracked the plaster in the ceiling. The same theatre premiered Earthquake three months later – with a newly-installed net over the audience to catch any falling debris – to tremendous success.
The "Sensurround" process proved to be a large audience draw, but not without generating a fair share of controversy. There were documented cases of nosebleed
Nosebleed
Epistaxis or a nosebleed is the relatively common occurrence of hemorrhage from the nose, usually noticed when the blood drains out through the nostrils...
s generated by the sound waves. When the film premiered in Chicago, Illinois, the head of the building and safety department demanded the system be turned down, as he was afraid it would cause structural damage. In Billings, Montana
Billings, Montana
Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, and is the principal city of the Billings Metropolitan Area, the largest metropolitan area in over...
, a knick-knack shop next door to a theatre using the system lost part of its inventory when items from several shelves were thrown to the floor when the system was cued during the quake scenes.
Sensurround was used again for the films Midway
Midway (film)
Midway is a 1976 war film directed by Jack Smight and produced byWalter Mirisch from a screenplay by Donald S. Sanford. The music score was by John Williams and the cinematography by Harry Stradling, Jr...
(1976), Rollercoaster (1977) and Battlestar Galactica
Saga of a Star World
"Saga of a Star World" is the pilot for the American science fiction television series of Battlestar Galactica which was produced in 1978 by Glen A. Larson...
(1979).
The 2006 Universal Home Video DVD release features the original "Sensurround
Sensurround
Sensurround is the trademark name for a process developed in the 1970s by Cerwin-Vega in conjunction with Universal Studios to enhance the audio experience during film screenings...
" 3.1 audio track, duplicating the original theatrical "Sensurround" track (but oddly in mono directed to the front 3 speakers rather than the original stereo mix), but sadly no actual 'rumble' generator was used and its only the two control tones that activated the generator that can be heard. In addition, the film's original soundtrack was remixed in Surround Sound
Surround sound
Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...
5.1 which was simply a tag as once again only the control tones feature on the track."
Release
After October test screenings in various theatres throughout the United States, Universal opted to cut 30 minutes from the film at the last minute (notably from the pre-quake sequences), at the cost of some of the dramatic flow. This included a narration sequence about the San Andreas fault and an impending catastrophic earthquake that would occur in either Los Angeles or San Francisco. This scene was filmed and was set to be shown before the opening title credits, but it was removed at the last minute, but was eventually used as the opening of the NBC extended television edit. Following this, there was extended footage of Stewart (Heston) running, and after this, there was additional scenes of Remy (Gardner) and Stewart arguing. After Remy's fake suicide, Dr. Vance shows up, argues with the ambulance crew, and begins to talk with Stewart. Dr. Vance (Lloyd Nolan) informs Stewart that Remy had an abortion of a baby that they were to have a year ago. Stewart realizes that Remy had lied to him because he was told it was a miscarriage. Remy appears and they fight, because Stewart wanted the baby and Remy did not. Stewart storms off in a huff, and this was the explanation of why Stewart resented Remy so much. (It was shown in the movie that they were just angry at each other.) There was more of Slade leaving the police station as well. Footage of Rosa leaving the market was shot as well. After this, she was shown waiting for a bus, and then a man offered her a lift on his motorcycle. This footage was eventually used in the television cut of the film. Just before the earthquake, Stewart and Remy had a final fight(in front of Stewart's car) that was deleted as well. During the earthquake, there was a scene of a nearby lumberyard falling apart, and this was removed from the final cut.The elevator scenes, which are some of the most infamous shots in the film, were severely altered from their original scenes. Originally, the occupants of the elevator ended up plastered to the ceiling, and when the elevator crashed to the bottom of the shaft, they were dropped to the floor. This scene, shown in all test screening prints until the theatrical release, was considered too much for a film meant to have a PG rating. Universal, decided to cut this portion of the elevator sequence and replace it with a frame of the people on the elevator's floor, with the notorious 'cartoon blood' rushing into the camera. It is often thought that the original sequence may have gotten the entire film an R rating, which would have effectively cut out the teenage market toward which the film was geared.
Other scenes after the earthquake wrapped up many characters. Walt Russell and Dr. Stockle were shown alive in the laboratory, and there were extra scenes of them. They were shown finding the rate of the earthquake as a 9.9 on the Richter scale, and then discussing the magnitude. Among other cut scenes, the last major one in the film had Denise asking Lew Slade if Stewart, Remy and the others had survived. Then, after hearing of their deaths, she walks over to Corry who has regained consciousness.
Released in the United States on November 15, 1974, Earthquake would become the fourth-highest grossing film of the year; its competition, The Towering Inferno, was the highest.
The disaster film
Disaster film
A disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject...
trend had reached its zenith in 1974 with the combined releases of Earthquake, The Towering Inferno and Airport 1975
Airport 1975
Airport 1975 is a 1974 disaster film and the first sequel to the successful 1970 film Airport. It stars Charlton Heston and Karen Black and is directed by Jack Smight....
(the first Airport sequel). The films enjoyed staggering success, with The Towering Inferno earning $55 million in rentals, Earthquake $36 million and Airport 1975 $25 million. By 1976, the Disaster film cycle had also left its mark on the list of all-time box office champions, with The Towering Inferno ranked 8th, Airport 14th, The Poseidon Adventure 16th and Earthquake 20th. Such success spawned a flood of similar films throughout the decade.
Earthquake would eventually gross nearly $80,000,000 US ($350,000,000 US, adjusted for inflation in 2009 dollars).
Reception
Earthquake earned significant financial box officeBox office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
success despite generally unenthusiastic critical reviews. Rotten Tomatoes summarizes its critical picture as 27% "Rotten" with an average of 4.4 out 10. In Leonard Maltin's annual publication "TV Movie Guide," the film is given a "BOMB" rating, stating "Title tells all in hackneyed disaster pic."
Awards
Earthquake was nominated for four Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
including Best Film Editing
Academy Award for Film Editing
The Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
, Best Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
, Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Alexander Golitzen
Alexander Golitzen
Alexander Golitzen, oversaw art direction on more than 300 movies.Prince Alexander Golitzen was born in Moscow, but fled the country with his family during the Russian Revolution. Travelling via Siberia and China, they arrived in Seattle, where Alexander graduated from high school...
, E. Preston Ames
E. Preston Ames
E. Preston Ames was a famous Hollywood art director.Ames first made inroads into Hollywood when he was a draftsman working on The Wizard of Oz in 1939...
, Frank R. McKelvy
Frank R. McKelvy
Frank R. McKelvy was an American set decorator. He was nominated for seven Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:...
) and Best Sound
Academy Award for Sound
The Academy Award for Sound Mixing is an Academy Award that recognizes the finest or most euphonic sound mixing or recording, and is generally awarded to the production sound mixers and re-recording mixers of the winning film. Compare this award to the Academy Award for Sound Editing...
(Ronald Pierce
Ronald Pierce (sound engineer)
Ronald Pierce was an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award for Best Sound and was nominated for two more in the same category.-Selected filmography:Pierce won an Academy Award and was nominated for two more:Won* Earthquake Nominated...
, Melvin Metcalfe, Sr.
Melvin Metcalfe, Sr.
Melvin Metcalfe, Sr. was an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award for Best Sound for the film Earthquake.-External links:...
). It won for Best Sound (Ronald Pierce, Melvin M. Metcalfe, Sr.) and a Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects
Academy Award for Visual Effects
The Academy Award for Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects.-History of the award:The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized the technical contributions of special effects to movies at its inaugural dinner in 1928, presenting a...
(Frank Brendel, Glen Robinson, Albert Whitlock).
The film was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture - Drama
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama
This page lists the winners and nominees for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, since its institution in 1951. The organizer, Hollywood Foreign Press Association , is an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications...
and Best Original Score
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score is one of several categories presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association , an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications outside North America, since its institution in 1947...
(John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
). Williams' music for Earthquake was the second of his trio of scores for large-scale Disaster films, having previously scored The Poseidon Adventure and following with The Towering Inferno (briefly earning him the nickname "King of the Disaster Scores"). Williams scored both The Towering Inferno and Earthquake in the summer of 1974, both scores showing similarities to one another (notably Earthquake's theme and The Towering Inferno's love theme sharing the same eight-note melody).
Television premiere
For the film's October 1976 television premiere on NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, additional footage was added to expand the running time of the film so it could be shown over two nights. The "Sensurround" audio was simulcast on FM stereo in the Los Angeles market. This allowed the home viewer to experience a similar effect as in the theater. Contrary to popular belief, this "television version" made no use of material originally left out of the theatrical release (save one brief scene featuring Victoria Principal and Reb Brown
Reb Brown
Reb Brown is an American actor.Known as superhero Captain America in the TV pilot/movies, he's also known for the 1983 cult classic, Yor, the Hunter from the Future, as well as the scifi film, Space Mutiny, and for the collaborations with director Bruno Mattei in films Strike Commando and Robowar ...
), but rather new footage was shot some two years after the original, using some of the stars from the theatrical version. New scenes included a young married couple. The husband seeks a job in with Graff in Los Angeles, while his wife has the eerily accurate ability to see the future with cards. (Debralee Scott
Debralee Scott
Debralee Scott was an American actress best known for her role on the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter as the sweathog Rosalie "Hotsie" Totsie...
and Sam Chew) They are on an airliner attempting to land at Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
during the earthquake. The airliner is barely able to take off a second time and divert to San Francisco
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport is a major international airport located south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States, near the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County. It is often referred to as SFO...
.
Proposed sequel
A script for a sequel, Earthquake II, was written in 1975 and was to feature the characters played by George Kennedy, Victoria PrincipalVictoria Principal
Victoria Principal is an American actress, best known for her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing on the CBS nighttime drama Dallas from 1978 to 1987.-Early life:...
, Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree is an American actor and former fashion model. He is best known for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft and in its two sequels, Shaft's Big Score and Shaft in Africa .-Personal life:Born in New Rochelle, New York, Richard Roundtree graduated from...
and Gabriel Dell
Gabriel Dell
Gabriel Dell was an American actor and one of the members of what came to be known as the Dead End Kids/East Side Kids/The Bowery Boys.-Early life:...
. The script never reached the production stage. The story details the characters, now refugees from the Los Angeles quake of the original film, adjusting to life in San Francisco. Another catastrophic earthquake and tsunami eventually strikes the Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. Production was cancelled in late 1977 as the popularity of disaster film
Disaster film
A disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject...
s was starting to wane.
Theme park attractions
Earthquake inspired the attraction Earthquake: The Big One at Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood. The original attraction in Florida began by having guests enter an exhibit room in San Francisco themed to earthquakes where a guide briefly introduced and discussed the film. They then selected five volunteers from the audience, which they explained would participate in an interactive portion of the pre-show.Guests then entered a screening room, where they watched a brief film that depicted a massive earthquake that destroys Los Angeles. Following the earthquake sequence, actor Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
appeared and explained how the previous earthquake sequence of the film was created through the use of miniatures. The movie screen then raised to reveal a portion of the destroyed model that was used during the filming of the previous earthquake sequence. Guests were then ushered into a soundstage where the volunteers who were selected from the audience earlier helped recreate various scenes from the Earthquake film.
Following this sequence, guests then entered a "Golden Gate Transit" subway station in Oakland where they boarded an open-air subway train that closely resembled the trains used on the Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The heavy-rail public transit and subway system connects San Francisco with cities in the East Bay and suburbs in northern San Mateo County. BART operates five lines on of track with 44 stations in four counties...
in and around the San Francisco bay area. After boarding, the train departed the station and took them beneath the bay to the Embarcadero Station
Embarcadero Station
Embarcadero is a BART and Muni Metro station in the Financial District of San Francisco. The easternmost stop on the Market Street Subway, Embarcadero acts as a major hub for passenger movement throughout the San Francisco Bay Area...
in San Francisco. Once stopped in the station, a violent earthquake would take place, destroying the entire station and climaxed in a massive flash flood. Once the earthquake sequence was complete, the subway train would return to the Oakland Station
Oakland City Center/12th Street (BART station)
12th Street Oakland City Center is an underground Bay Area Rapid Transit station located at 12th Street and Broadway next to the Oakland City Center in Downtown Oakland...
where guests would disembark the train and exit the attraction.
In the fall of 2002, the pre-show was changed to a more generic "magic of making movies" theme, with slight modifications which included mentioning special effects used in other films besides Earthquake. The pre-show sequences were eventually dropped from the attraction in September 2007, with the various pre-show theaters being used as a queue line for the ride portion of the attraction.
The attraction officially closed on November 5, 2007 and reopened several months later as "Disaster!: A Major Motion Picture Ride...Starring You!." The current attraction has a similar three part pre-show as the ‘’Earthquake’’ attraction and still utilizes volunteers from the audience. The ride portion of the attraction also remains mostly unchanged, although television monitors were added to the subway train cars to help tie it into the rest of the show.
The Universal Studios Hollywood
Universal Studios Hollywood
Universal Studios Hollywood is a movie studio and theme park in the unincorporated Universal City community of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood movie studios still in use...
Studio Tour also contains an Earthquake sequence, which replaced The Tower of London Set in 1986, and features the tour tram entering a San Francisco subway station and experiencing a massive earthquake.
Stock footage
Many scenes from the film, especially those featuring the destruction of Los Angeles, have appeared in other productions, often those of Universal Studios itself. Some examples include:- Damnation Alley (film)Damnation Alley (film)Damnation Alley is a 1977 film, directed by Jack Smight, loosely based on the novel of the same name by Roger Zelazny. The original music score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith.-Plot:...
: In this 1977 film, the earth shifts from its axis after a full scale nuclear war. Flood scenes from the dam burst in Earthquake are use to help depict the earth returning to its correct axis. - Quantum Leap: The episode "Disco Inferno" has Sam Beckett leaped in as a film stuntman. One of his jobs is on the set of Earthquake, where he is the character seen hanging from a piece of debris whom Sam Royce (Lorne GreeneLorne GreeneLorne Greene , was the stage name of Lyon Himan Green, OC, a Canadian actor.His television roles include Ben Cartwright on the western Bonanza, and Commander Adama in the science fiction movie and subsequent TV Series Battlestar Galactica...
's character) attempts to save, but loses his grip and falls. - Galactica 1980Galactica 1980Galactica 1980 is a science fiction television series, and a spin-off from the 1978–1979 series Battlestar Galactica. It was first broadcast on the ABC network in the United States from January 27 to May 4, 1980.-Development:...
: In the episode "Galactica Discovers EarthGalactica Discovers EarthGalactica Discovers Earth is a triple episode, consisting of the first, second and third episodes of the television series Galactica 1980, a spin-off of the earlier ABC science fiction series Battlestar Galactica....
", in a "computer simulation" of a devastating Cylon attack on Los Angeles. - ScarfaceScarface (1983 film)Scarface is a 1983 American epic crime drama movie directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone, produced by Martin Bregman and starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana...
: Tony MontanaTony MontanaAntonio Raimundo "Tony" Montana is a fictional character from the 1983 film Scarface. He is portrayed by Al Pacino in the movie, and is voiced by André Sogliuzzo in the 2006 video game Scarface: The World Is Yours. Tony Montana has become a cultural icon and is one of the most famous movie...
conducts a botched drug transaction with the Colombian drug dealer Hector, while "Earthquake" is seen playing on a television in the background. - V: The Final Battle: Footage from the sequence featuring the collapse of the Hollywood dam was reused during the destruction of the Visitors water pumping station.
- Barenaked LadiesBarenaked LadiesBarenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...
: Parts of the film, namely portions of the film when the big earthquake struck, were used in the music video for the song "Another PostcardAnother Postcard"Another Postcard" is a song by Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies. It was the band's first single from the album Everything to Everyone, which was released after the band took a nearly two-year hiatus from performing. The song is notable for its reggae-rap verses, somewhat evocative of Canadian...
." - Tom PettyTom PettyThomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
music video for the song "You Got LuckyYou Got Lucky"You Got Lucky" is the first single from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' album Long After Dark. The song peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart, where it stayed for three weeks at the end of 1982.-Music video:...
" shows part of the episode "Galactica Discovers EarthGalactica Discovers EarthGalactica Discovers Earth is a triple episode, consisting of the first, second and third episodes of the television series Galactica 1980, a spin-off of the earlier ABC science fiction series Battlestar Galactica....
", with the "computer simulation" of a devastating CylonCylon (1978)Cylons are a fictional race of robots in the original Battlestar Galactica TV series. They are the primary antagonists of the series and are at war with the Twelve Colonies of humanity. The Cylons also appeared in the short-lived 1980 spin-off series Galactica 1980.The Cylons were created by a...
attack on Los Angeles. This is shown briefly on a television Tom PettyTom PettyThomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
turns on. - The Incredible Hulk (TV series): In the first season episode "Earthquakes Happen", several building collapse scenes, the collapsing freeway overpass scene, the collapsing Spanish bells, the sliding and falling stilt houses, and the collapsing high tension wires and parts of the wooden foot bridge scenes were reused in this episode with slightly zoomed or slightly reoriented focus to keep any association of the original film from being seen. In the Hulk story, the city of St. Thomas is hit by an earthquake. David Banner is posing as a scientist who is visiting a nuclear facility that has had some serious design problems and maintenance issues.