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When Worlds Collide
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rudolph Maté
Produced by	George Pál
Written by	Edwin Balmer Sydney Boehm Philip Wylie
Starring	Richard Derr Barbara Rush Peter Hansen John Hoyt
Music by	Leith Stevens
Cinematography	W. Howard Greene John F. Seitz
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	August, 1951
Running time	83 min.
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

This article is about the 1951 film. For the 1932 novel, see When Worlds Collide. For the professional wrestling event, see When Worlds Collide (wrestling).

When Worlds Collide is a 1951 science fiction film based on the 1932 novel co-written by Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer. The movie was filmed in Technicolor, directed by Rudolph Maté and was the winner of the 1951 Academy Award for special effects.

Producer George Pál considered making a sequel based on the novel After Worlds Collide, but the box office failure of his 1955 Conquest of Space made it impossible.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Cast 3 Planned remake 4 Cultural references 5 References 6 External link

Pilot David Randall (Richard Derr) is paid to fly mysterious photographs from South African astonomer Dr Emery Bronson (Hayden Rorke) to Dr Cole Hendron (Larry Keating) in America. Hendron, with the assistance of his daughter Joyce (Barbara Rush), confirms their worst fears. Dr Hendron warns the delegates of the United Nations that the Earth will collide with a gas giant rogue planet (Bellus) approaching the solar system with an Earth-sized satellite (Zyra) in tow, but other, equally distinguished scientists scoff at his claims, and he is not believed.

Hendron's group is forced to start building an "ark" privately, financed mainly by wealthy, wheelchair-bound industrialist Sidney Stanton (John Hoyt) in exchange for taking him along. The ark, a rocket designed to land like a glider, is intended to give a few selected individuals a chance to escape to Zyra in the faint hope of saving the human race. Randall manages to attach himself to the project, much to the annoyance of medical doctor Tony Drake (Peter Hansen), who sees a rival for Joyce's affections.

The ship's construction is a race against time as doomsday approaches. Groups in other nations also begin building ships. As time begins running out, formerly-skeptical scientists admit that Hendron's group was right about doomsday, and governments prepare for the inevitable.

Zyra first makes a close approach, causing massive earthquakes and tidal waves that wreak havoc. Then, it swings around the Sun, to return later for the final, fatal impact. Drake and Randall travel in a helicopter on a mission of mercy to provide assistance to survivors. When Randall alights to rescue a little boy, Drake has to resist a strong temptation to strand him.

As the appointed day of annihilation draws closer, the ship is loaded with food, microfiche copies of books, equipment, and animals. Approximately fifty passengers are selected by lottery, but Randall refuses to take part, believing that he has no useful skills to contribute. However, Drake tricks him into joining the crew by inventing a medical condition for the pilot, making a backup necessary. The cynical Stanton, having bought weapons to defend the base, becomes more anxious as time passes.

His fears prove accurate. First, his much-abused lackey, Ferris (Frank Cady), desperately tries to get himself included in the crew at gunpoint. Then, in the final hour, many of the lottery losers riot, taking up Stanton's arms to try and force their way aboard.

Hendron stays behind at the last moment, forcibly keeping the crippled Stanton from boarding as well in order to lighten the spaceship. His sacrifice proves to be crucial as the fuel runs out too soon and the ship barely manages to glide to a rough landing on Zyra. The passengers debark and find the new planet to be (miraculously) hospitable. David Randall and Joyce Hendron walk hand and hand to their new home.

• Richard Derr as David Randall
• Larry Keating as Dr Cole Hendron
• Barbara Rush as Joyce Hendron, his daughter
• John Hoyt as Sydney Stanton
• Peter Hansen as Dr Tony Drake
• Stephen Chase as Dr George Frye, Dr Hendron's second in command
• Frank Cady as Harold Ferris, Stanton's assistant. He is better known for his roles in the TV series Green Acres and Petticoat Junction.

Main article: When Worlds Collide (2008 film)

Steven Spielberg has announced that he will be the executive producer of a new version of When Worlds Collide to be released sometime in 2008. The film is currently listed as being in the pre-production stages, and will be a co-production of Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks.^[1]

The name When worlds collide was used in a Far Side cartoon, portraying aliens resembling giant buttocks with eye stalks on top landing on Earth, and seeing a goat.

The Iron Maiden song "When Two Worlds Collide" is apparently based on the novel.

The band Powerman 5000 has a song called "When Worlds Collide".

When Worlds Collide is the title of a 1975 album (the related single is "Did Worlds Collide?") by Richard Hudson and John Ford, their third release after leaving the Strawbs.

When Worlds Collide is one of the many classic movies referenced in the opening theme ("Science Fiction/Double Feature") of both the stage musical The Rocky Horror Show and its cinematic counterpart, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The film's producer, George Pál, is also mentioned.

• When Worlds Collide at the Internet Movie Database