Earthquake (1974)
(On DVD, June 2022) In the pantheon of 1970s disaster movies, Earthquake is certainly not the first (Airport), not the best (The Towering Inferno), not the funniest (Airplane!) and it’s not the most ridiculous (The Swarm), but there’s a good case to be made for it to be the most disaster-esque. It understands the very specific form of the subgenre better than most – the high-concept, almost inevitable premise (an earthquake ravaging Los Angeles) acts as the main event, but there are plenty of portentous mini-crises and subsequent aftershocks to keep things hopping throughout the entire film. The usual ensemble cast of such films, bringing together new actors with Classic Hollywood stars, is also top-notch: In between Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner on one end, and George Kennedy and Richard Roundtree in the middle, and Genevieve Bujold and Victoria Principal toward the younger end, we get as much opportunity for star-spotting as an L.A. bus tour – including Walter Matthau in a very funny uncredited drunk role: yes, it’s him! The special effects keep going between credible and amateurish, with a specific mention of a cartoonish blood splash punctuating an elevator crash. The entire plot is handled with enough over-the-top craziness that it carries the film even when the rest of it doesn’t make sense. The vignette-oriented ensemble approach of the plot means that the film was put together in bits and pieces with plenty of reshoots and last-minute cuts. Some of the material apparently resurfaced in a longer, more complete TV version but the DVD edit doesn’t have that luxury: the film brings characters in and out of the plot without bothering to give everyone a satisfying climactic resolution – and if you think the biggest names are going to be at the happy ending, then you’ll feel Earthquake running out of steam moments before crossing the finish line. The rather disappointing ending doesn’t quite erase the discomfort of one of the main plotlines – with Heston’s character clearly telegraphing his intention to leave his age-appropriate wife for another woman twenty years his junior. The ending tries to be moral about this but only manages to feel cheap, which is at odds with the rest of this no-expense-barred extravaganza. Director Mark Robson has a multi-ring circus of destruction to manage but the scattered result would have escaped all but the best directors. What we’re left with is still a highly watchable (although increasingly unconvincing) disaster film and a time capsule of mid-1970s Los Angeles, often more promising than successful.