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The Day of the Triffids (1962 film)
Encyclopedia
The Day of the Triffids is a 1962 British film adaptation of the science fiction novel of the same name
by John Wyndham
. It was directed by Steve Sekely
, and Howard Keel
played the central character, Bill Masen. The movie was filmed in colour with monaural
sound and ran for 93 minutes.
s are fictional plants. They are able to uproot themselves and walk, possess a deadly whipping poisonous sting, and may even have the ability to communicate with each other. On screen they vaguely resemble gigantic asparagus
shoots.
Bill Masen (Howard Keel
), a merchant navy officer, is lying in a hospital bed with his eyes bandaged. He discovers that while he has been waiting for his accident damaged eyes to heal, an unusual meteor shower
has blinded most people on Earth. Once he leaves hospital Masen finds people all over London
, struggling to stay alive in the face of their new affliction. Some survive by cooperating, while others simply fight, but it is apparent that after just a few days society is collapsing.
He rescues a school girl, Susan (Janina Faye
), from a crashed train. They leave London and head for France. They find refuge at a chateau, but when it is attacked by sighted prisoners they are again forced to escape. The Triffid population continues to grow, feeding off of people and animals. Meanwhile on a coastal island, Tom Goodwin (Kieron Moore
), a flawed but gifted scientist, and his wife Karen (Janette Scott
), battle the plants as he searches for a way to beat them.
s arrive as spores in an earlier meteor shower, and some of the action is moved to Spain
. Most seriously, it supplies a simplistic solution to the Triffid
problem: salt water dissolves them, and "the world was saved". This different ending appears to be closer to the ending of The War of the Worlds
than Wyndham's novel, as the invading aliens succumb to a common product of Earth (as the Martian
s died of bacteria) and both end with a religious tone (quite unlike Wyndham). This ending was also used to similar effect in M. Night Shyamalan
's Signs
.
, author of The Night of the Triffids
stated on interview: "The film version is enjoyable, luring the effective looking Triffids away with music from an ice-cream van and some other good action scenes. The Triffids' death-by-seawater climax is weak and contrived though. But it would still rank in my all-time top 100 films."
The Day of the Triffids
The Day of the Triffids is a post-apocalyptic novel published in 1951 by the English science fiction author John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, under the pen-name John Wyndham. Although Wyndham had already published other novels using other pen-name combinations drawn from his lengthy real...
by John Wyndham
John Wyndham
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was an English science fiction writer who usually used the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes...
. It was directed by Steve Sekely
Steve Sekely
Steve Sekely was a Hungarian film director. Born Székely István, he was known by several names, based on his changing professional and immigration status, including Stefan Szekely.He directed films in Hungarian, German, and English....
, and Howard Keel
Howard Keel
Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
played the central character, Bill Masen. The movie was filmed in colour with monaural
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
sound and ran for 93 minutes.
Plot
TriffidTriffid
The triffid is a tall, mobile, carnivorous, prolific and highly venomous fictional plant species—the titular antagonist in John Wyndham's 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids and Simon Clark's 2001 sequel The Night of the Triffids....
s are fictional plants. They are able to uproot themselves and walk, possess a deadly whipping poisonous sting, and may even have the ability to communicate with each other. On screen they vaguely resemble gigantic asparagus
Asparagus
Asparagus officinalis is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennialplant species in the genus Asparagus. It was once classified in the lily family, like its Allium cousins, onions and garlic, but the Liliaceae have been split and the onion-like plants are now in the family Amaryllidaceae and...
shoots.
Bill Masen (Howard Keel
Howard Keel
Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
), a merchant navy officer, is lying in a hospital bed with his eyes bandaged. He discovers that while he has been waiting for his accident damaged eyes to heal, an unusual meteor shower
Meteor shower
A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds on parallel trajectories. Most meteors are smaller...
has blinded most people on Earth. Once he leaves hospital Masen finds people all over London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, struggling to stay alive in the face of their new affliction. Some survive by cooperating, while others simply fight, but it is apparent that after just a few days society is collapsing.
He rescues a school girl, Susan (Janina Faye
Janina Faye
Janina Faye, born Janina Smigelski in London, England, United Kingdom, is an English actress and director. She began her career as an actress in 1956 and includes theatre and television work in addition to many film appearances. In 1971, she appeared in an episode of Doctor at Large...
), from a crashed train. They leave London and head for France. They find refuge at a chateau, but when it is attacked by sighted prisoners they are again forced to escape. The Triffid population continues to grow, feeding off of people and animals. Meanwhile on a coastal island, Tom Goodwin (Kieron Moore
Kieron Moore
Kieron Moore was an Irish film and television actor whose career was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s...
), a flawed but gifted scientist, and his wife Karen (Janette Scott
Janette Scott
Thora Janette Scott is an English actress. She was born in Morecambe, England. She is the daughter of actors Jimmy Scott and Thora Hird. She started her acting career as a child actress, known as Janette Scott, and became a popular leading lady...
), battle the plants as he searches for a way to beat them.
Relationship to novel
The film retained some basic plot elements from Wyndham's novel, but it was not a particularly faithful adaptation. "It strays significantly and unnecessarily from the book and is less well regarded than the BBC's intelligent (if dated) 1981 TV serial." Unlike the novel, the TriffidTriffid
The triffid is a tall, mobile, carnivorous, prolific and highly venomous fictional plant species—the titular antagonist in John Wyndham's 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids and Simon Clark's 2001 sequel The Night of the Triffids....
s arrive as spores in an earlier meteor shower, and some of the action is moved to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Most seriously, it supplies a simplistic solution to the Triffid
Triffid
The triffid is a tall, mobile, carnivorous, prolific and highly venomous fictional plant species—the titular antagonist in John Wyndham's 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids and Simon Clark's 2001 sequel The Night of the Triffids....
problem: salt water dissolves them, and "the world was saved". This different ending appears to be closer to the ending of The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...
than Wyndham's novel, as the invading aliens succumb to a common product of Earth (as the Martian
Martian
As an adjective, the term martian is used to describe anything pertaining to the planet Mars.However, a Martian is more usually a hypothetical or fictional native inhabitant of the planet Mars. Historically, life on Mars has often been hypothesized, although there is currently no solid evidence of...
s died of bacteria) and both end with a religious tone (quite unlike Wyndham). This ending was also used to similar effect in M. Night Shyamalan
M. Night Shyamalan
Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan,known professionally as M. Night Shyamalan, is an Indian-born American screenwriter, film director, and producer known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots that climax with a twist ending. He is also known for filming his movies in and around...
's Signs
Signs (film)
Signs is a 2002 American science fiction horror film directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It was adapted from a screenplay also written by Shyamalan. Executive producers for the film comprised Shyamalan, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Sam Mercer. The story focuses on a former preacher named Graham...
.
Reception
Simon ClarkSimon Clark
Simon Clark is a horror novel writer from Doncaster, England. One of his most notable works is the novel The Night of the Triffids.Clark has been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel, World Fantasy Award for Best Novella and British Fantasy Award...
, author of The Night of the Triffids
The Night of the Triffids
The Night of the Triffids is a science fiction novel by Simon Clark published in 2001. It is a sequel to John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids. Clark has been commended for his success at mimicking Wyndham's style, but most reviewers have not rated his creation as highly as the original 1951 work...
stated on interview: "The film version is enjoyable, luring the effective looking Triffids away with music from an ice-cream van and some other good action scenes. The Triffids' death-by-seawater climax is weak and contrived though. But it would still rank in my all-time top 100 films."
External links
- The Day of the Triffids on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....