IMDb runtime is a brisk 1 hour and 4 minutes, rated 5.2 by 330 cinemitizens.
Verdict: The end of the world. Again.
The setup? Dr Drone beavers away in his laboratory to invent….a quakometer to predict earthquakes. He does. It does. We all know whose fault that is: San Andreas! That’s whose.
No sooner does Drone develop a drum printer to predict earthquakes than it predicts a big’un and soon. Efforts to persuade anyone to believe in science fail. Faux News rejects his data as fake. It is ever thus.
When the quakes start as predicted panic stations ensue. Faux News blames the quake on immigrants.
In this work of fiction the script gives public officials some credit for preparation and disaster relief. As if, once the budget cutters got done.
Off to Pasadena to consult the Datatron computer.
Datatron 205. (It took 204 others to get it right. Is that encouraging?)
Datatron confirms Dr Drone’s prediction.
To get to the bottom of quakology Dr Drone takes his comely offsider and assorted extras to Carlsbad Caverns. ‘Unknown World’ (1951) boldly went to these Caverns first and is reviewed elsewhere on this blog.
Only down there can the rotary printer predict accurately. The news is bad. Very bad. Worse than bad. The end is nigh. The explanation is mumbo-jumbo.
It is element 112, kaboomium, which is about to go critical. The demonstration of popping a balloon of earth convinces everyone to run for cover. Run where? Good question.
Instead Dr Drone coordinates a worldwide effort to quell element 112. They have twenty-eight days, one more than allowed in ’The 27th Day’ (1957), reviewed elsewhere on this blog. All across the world scientists everywhere pass water onto 112 and it relents. The fraternity brothers volunteered to pitch in.
The pace is brisk. The acting is improved by the absence of John Agar. The comely offsider gets on with the job with neither a scream, trip, nor a faint. The sets are miniscule. The authority figures seem authoritative. Dr Drone is committed to the role, as they say on thespian street.
However, there is far too much yakkity-yak. Everyone cooperates. No one nit picks. Quibbles. Back stabs. Undermines. Or any of the other Standard Operating Procedures of life. Nor are there any villains. Not even a Red. Where is the tension in a clicking calendar? Even kaboomium seems pretty sedate say compared to those walking menaces in ‘The Monolith Monsters’ (1957), reviewed elsewhere on this blog.
Curiosity. There is no musical soundtrack. The union missed this one.
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