The American film End of the World is actually Abel
Gance's French epic La Fin du Monde from 1931, but so drastically
cut down to the bone that it bears little resemblance with the original:
After the set-up of the plot - scientist Martial Novalic (Victor Francen)
discovers a meteor that will hit the earth - pretty much all of the plot
is cut out (the American version runs a mere 55 minutes, the original 105,
just for comparison) and only some special effect shots and shots of
masses reacting to the approaching meteor (some panic, some turn to god,
some decide to go down in an orgy, the stock eschange goes on as usual,
and inexplicably there are some menacing monks) have made it into the
film. In the end, Novalic has a compelling speech about world peace and
the meteor passes by after all ...
The outcome is of course a mess of a film, that tries to milk Gance's
movie for sensationalistic value, but with the lack of any comprehensible
plot, the whole thing fails to work, and an extra introductory 5 minute
speech by Doctor Clyde Fisher of some US observatory talking about the
film (before it starts) doesn't do the trick either, as he seems to
show quite a bit of stagefright and has difficulties memorizing his lines
(a few more cuts would have done much good here), so one very soon wishes
his scene to be over with (especially because it doesn't help to
understnad or enjoy the film in the least).
In all, End of the World is, even at only 55 minutes, a waste of
time. But one might want to chekc out the French original, La Fin du
Monde.
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