Movie review – Corman #4 - “The Day the World Ended” (1956) **

Post-apocalyptic films are ideal for low budget sci fi because you only need a couple of actors. Roger Corman made a few in this genre, of which I believe this is the first. It starts well, with a surprisingly cynical tone as a bunch of survivors and holed up at a house with a monster outside. That is always a decent enough premise for a film, but too much of this consists of squabbles inside a house which looks just like an everday Leave it to Beaver 50s house rather than a place that has survived a nuclear war – a Corman doesn’t help by staging a lot of this like a play. There’s a gangster and his moll (who sings an old song, Key Largo style), some squabbling over pretty Lori Nelson and a distinct homoerotic tinge to the relationship between Richard Denning and Paul Birch (Nelson’s father); there is a surprisingly lot of talk about God and a fun scene where Birch tells Denning the women have to start breeding. Right on! It moves along, is competently put together, with some decent acting.