Earthquake
Tags: comedy, suspenseful, murder, cult, melodrama, revenge

Plot synopsis:
The film opens on Stewart Graff (Charleton Heston) jogging underneath the Hollywood sign. Back home, as he finishes his workout on a resistance machine, his shrewd wife Remy Royce-Graff (Ava Gardner) starts her morning by picking a fight with him. At the peak of their argument, Stewart says to Remy, "You'd hardly call this a marriage wouldn't you?" After he's showered and preparing to leave, Stewart finds Remy unconscious with a bottle of pills nearby. Accustomed to her periodic suicide attempts, Stewart prepares to induce vomiting when a violent tremor shakes the bedroom. Remy bolts out of bed, revealing that she was faking.At the Mulholland Dam, two workers begin a routine inspection of the structure in response to the tremor. One of them is drowned in an elevator shaft which has filled with water after the quake.In downtown Los Angeles, Sgt. Lou Slade (George Kennedy) and his partner Emilio Chavez (Pedro Armendáriz, Jr.) are in pursuit of a suspect. They chase him out of their jurisdiction, finally crashing into the hedges at Zsa Zsa Gabor's house. After a Beverly Hills Sheriff yells at Lou for ruining Gabor's hedges, the angry Lou punches him out. When reprimanded, Lou explains to his supervisor that the suspect had stolen the car, gotten stoned, and then driven over a 6-year old Mexican girl without stopping. To his disgust, he receives a temporary suspension from his unfeeling superior.On his way to work, Stewart visits Denise Marshall (Geneviève Bujold), an actress who is the widow of one of his friends and co-workers. He drops off an autographed football for her son and helps Denise run her lines for a scene she is shooting later that day.A junior staffer, Walter Russell (Kip Niven), at the California Seismological Institute has calculated that Los Angeles will suffer a major earthquake in the next day or two. He frantically tries to reach his superior, Dr. Frank Adams (Bob Cunningham), who is busy placing seismic sensors in the field. Another tremor hits as Adams and his assistant are working in a deep trench and they are buried alive. The scientists at the center argue about whether or not to go public with their prediction of a major quake. The acting supervisor, Dr. Willis Stockle (Barry Sullivan), insists that if they are wrong their funding will be jeopardized. He also argues that the panic such a warning would cause could be worse than the earthquake itself. They agree on a compromise to alert the National Guard and police so that they can at least mobilize to help deal with the fallout.While checking out at a grocery store, a poor young woman named Rosa Amici (Victoria Principal) realizes she does not have enough money to pay for all her items. Jody Joad (Marjoe Gortner), the seemingly kind store manager, insists that she keep the items and make up the deficit the next time she shops. Later, when he hears that the National Guard reserves are being called up on the radio, Jody leaves the store in the middle of his shift, revealing himself to be part of the reserve army. He goes to his run-down boarding house and changes into his NCO uniform, enduring the abuse and harassment of his bullying housemates who accuse him of being homosexual because he's got pictures of bodybuilders on his wall.Blowing off steam at a bar, Lou orders a double bourbon and ignores all the illegal activity he sees. A drunk (Walter Matthau) periodically wakes up to toast random people like 'Bobby Riggs'. Daredevil motorcyclist Miles Quade (Richard Roundtree) arrives with his partner Sal Amici (Gabriel Dell) and his sister Rosa. A pool shark collects $50 that Miles owes him, leaving him short for the propane tank he needs to do a stunt for a talent scout. Miles convinces Lou to loan him the money by having Rosa reveal a tight-fitting t-shirt he's marketing with his name on it.The tremor cancelled Denise's shoot; so, she heads to Stewart's office, pretending to meet with a friend. When she runs into him, he is headed out for a drink. They go back to Denise's house for the drink and end up making love. He promises to come back later that night and invites her to spend the summer with him in Oregon, where he will be overseeing a project. Back at the office, his boss Sam Royce offers to hand over the company presidency to Stewart. He asks for some time to consider the idea. Stewart calls Denise and breaks off their plans for later that night. He goes to Sam's office to accept his offer but is stunned to see Remy there. He assumes she has convinced her father, Sam (Lorne Greene), to offer the promotion to Stewart in order to save their marriage. He storms out and she follows him, accusing him of cheating with Denise. He explains that he never had until that day. When they get outside the building, the main earthquake begins, rupturing the San Andreas Fault, and causing thousands of buildings to collapse and causing hundreds of thousands of people to die while shaking Southern California for nearly six to nine minutes. The earthquake is measured 9.9 on the richter scale at the Seismological Institute.When the earthquake subsides, Sam and most of his employees are trapped on the upper floors of their skyscraper, as the elevators have crashed to the ground. They descend most of the way by the stairs, but the earthquake has sheared off a portion of the building, leaving an impasse of about two stories. Sam rigs a fire hose to a chair and lowers his staff down one at a time. When everyone is safe, he suffers a heart attack, and Stewart climbs up to lower him down in the chair.Meanwhile, Denise's son was caught on a bridge over a freeway causeway when the quake struck. She spies him unconscious on the concrete and climbs down to save him. Unable to climb back out with her son, she hails Miles and Sal who are passing by in their truck. After saving Denise and her son, they drive in search of help, coming across Lou who is organizing rescue efforts in the street. Lou commandeers their truck to use it as an ambulance.After nibbling on a donut in a ruined diner, Rosa has been arrested by the National Guard for looting. Jody, now a sergeant, picks her out of a group of prisoners. Recognizing him from the grocery store, Rosa assumes he is going to let her go, but he claims that the streets are too unsafe for her to go anywhere and he orders her to stay inside a secluded store. Another group of troops arrive with Jody's housemates as prisoners. Jody executes them in an act of revenge for all the long time bullying he endured from them, terrifying Rosa and his subordinates as they now see his dark psychopathic side.Once Stewart gets everyone from his office safely to a shopping center named Wilson Plaza, which has been converted into a triage center, he goes off in search of Denise and her son. He ends up driving Lou around in search of survivors and they come across Jody and his regiment. Jody threatens to fire on them if they come any closer and Rosa emerges when she sees Lou, begging for his help. Lou and Stewart pretend to comply with Jody by driving off while Sgt. Joad's scared men look for an officer to have him face a court martial and detainment. But Lou sneaks back and gets the jump on Jody, who's enraged at Rosa for betraying and rejecting him and tries to rape her. Lou shoots Jody dead in self-defense when Jody tries to kill him with his rifle and rescues Rosa.As they drive away, they hear that another aftershock has threatened Wilson Plaza. After a quick survey of the building, Stewart realizes there are survivors trapped in an underground garage. He and Lou crawl into the sewer and through some rubble with a jackhammer, which they use to drill through to the garage. Stewart is overjoyed to find Denise, who is one of the people trapped inside. As he hugs her, he sees his wife standing just behind her.During the rescue, the Mulholland Dam finally gives way, sending water down the sewers. Lou and Denise make it up the ladder to safety, but as Remy climbs out, a man steps on her hand. She falls back into the water which is sweeping people away. Stewart looks up at Denise, but he cannot bring himself to abandon his wife to her death. He sacrifices himself when he swims after her and both of them are swept away and presumably drown. Denise walks away from the manhole in shock and grief. Lou is holding Rosa when a doctor walks up to him and says, "This used to be a helluva town, officer." Lou mumbles, "Yeah" as he tries not to cry. The camera pans back to reveal a completely destroyed Los Angeles.

Review: Earthquake is directed by Mark Robson and written by Mario Puzo and George Fox. It stars Charlton Heston, George Kennedy, Ava Gardner, Geneviève Bujold, Lorne Greene, Richard Roundtree & Marjoe Gortner.A catastrophic earthquake hits Southern California and begins to level Los Angeles..."It's not a negative to have heart in the disaster genre of film"Take yourself to 1974, are you there?
He is in a desolate marriage to Remy Royce- Graff(Ava Gardner.) He is carrying a friendship-and nothing more-with beautiful actress Denise Marshall(Genevieve Bujold), who lives near Sgt. Lew Slade(George Kennedy) who is being hassled by work and former charges Miles Quade(Richard Roundtree) and Sal Amici(Gabriel Dell) and his sister, Rosa(Victoria Principal.) All people are living frivolous, and in some ways, inspiring lives, of daredevil antics and blithe lifestyles.
The focus of this film is not the quake itself, but how it affects the people of L.A. The film, being extremely Hollywood driven(note: the all-star cast; menacing "sensurround" effect) might appear to be presented as a top of the league disaster film of the trend which was popular at the time, and special effects driven, and it might have been, but there are also many artistic qualities to be found here.
There are faint intimations that this could be self-reflexive parody, but given that facetious rock bottom is hit with an unintelligible Walter Matthau's "cameo" as an inebriated barfly (who's decision to go incommunicado under his real Panavision-necessitating surname must surely have come about after seeing the finished product), I very much doubt it.Save for Kennedy's derisory aside "Earthquakes bring out the worst in people", the film has absolutely nothing to say about the psychology of societal collapse; or why, post 9/11, we continue to enjoy watching tall things falling down with people still in them.
Even if after all is said and done with the laugh-a-minute dialogue, the Incredible Upside Down Cows, the cartoon blood in the liftshaft, Gardner playing Lorne Greene's DAUGHTER which meant he would have had her at 7 years old etc etc etc, the movie ends up nothing but its own 'Airplane!'.Sole aesthetic virtue is its naturalistic sound editing (which understandably won that year's Oscar) and subterranean bass pitch which, combined with the short-lived cinematic 'wonder' of Sensurround - ie earthquake-simulating theaters - meant that certain moviegoers got to join in the vicarious fun of mass panic and devastation.If like me, you like this film for precisely the wrong reasons, you will want to seek out its Japanese rival 'Jishin Retto' (1980) for no doubt 'hours' of endlessly fascinating film-studyish comparison....
A cast that includes Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, Lorne Greene, Genevieve Bujold, George Kennedy, and Victoria Principal, head this great story of Los Angeles and the lives that are affected by those who live their after a tremor registers at 7,1!
True, this film is a big Hollywood monopoly fest, and their are no unknowns to be seen, as you have Charlton Heston(Ben-Hur); Ava Gardner(MGM actress); Genevieve Bujold(Anne of a Thousand Days); among others, and even co-stars as Richard Roundtree(Shaft) and Victoria Principal(Dallas.) The cast works really well together, and the print shines.There are a lot of facts explored here, such as animals crying out or running away moments before the quakes, that really give chills out of the reality of it.
The structure of the film, from the setting up of the characters some fun(like Principal as Rosa Amici with her friend Roundtree as a daredevil) or characters that you can relate to(Bujold is great as aspiring actress.) As for the development of the disaster itself, the way the tremors start as small, and then the big shake, and then the after shock, builds really well, and the characters, with their emotional baggage and structured emotions deep, intertwine and create a great story that is fun for all.Sensurround was a fast growing mechanism used in films and was fully extent in this one.
We get skyscrapers crashing to the ground, buildings falling on people, shards of glass piercing the good citizen's skins, people scalded by stoves, houses explode, freeways cave in, Stuart, Remy, and Sam get trapped in a high rise, a bar comes crashing down around Lew, Miles big motorcycle stunt comes crashing down, Rosa loses her popcorn in a movie theater, Denise's son takes a dive on his bike, and good boy Jody gets to put his uniform on and show us just how psychotic and messed up he really is.
True, at times, the dialogue is inane, and the many characters can be a little taxing, but the suspense that builds up to the massive earthquake that levels Los Angeles makes for an entertaining film!With an all-star cast from film and television at the helm, the true star (much like the fire in "The Towering Inferno," as Paul Newman put it), are the special effects.
Charlton Heston (Steward Graff)("Ben Hur" '59); Ava Gardner (Remy Royce Graff)("Barefoot Contessa'54 starring with Humphrey Bogart); George Kennedy,(Sgt. Lew Slade)("Blue Knight TV series and "Cool Hand Luke" '67); Lorne Greene(Sam Royce)("Bonanza "'59); Barry Sullivan ( Dr. Willis Stockle)("Harlow" 65); Lloyd Nolan ( Dr. James Vance)("A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" '45) and last but not least, Walter Matthau (A DRUNK in a bar)("Sunshine Boys'75)  All these actors made this film a great classic, not the special effects, lets remember, this film was made in 1974 not in year 2000.
EARTHQUAKE Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)Sound format: 6-track magnetic stereo (Sensurround encoding)(35mm and 70mm release prints)Several disparate characters are drawn together in the aftermath of an earthquake which devastates Los Angeles.Soapy addition to the 1970's disaster cycle, featuring an all-star cast going through the dreary motions (who CARES if Charlton Heston is threatening to leave wife Ava Gardner for younger woman Geneviève Bujold?) until their problems are resolved - one way or another - by an earth-shattering catastrophe.
The earthquake itself is impressive in some places (collapsing miniatures, burning buildings, expansive matte paintings, etc.) and dreadful in others ('shaky-cam' inserts, animated 'blood splatter', optical distortions which LOOK like optical distortions, etc.), though some moviegoers were lucky enough to view the film theatrically in Sensurround, an ultra-deep bass enhancement which caused structural damage in a number of theaters!
Directed by industry veteran Mark Robson (BEDLAM, ISLE OF THE DEAD) and produced by Universal at a time when most of their output looked like big screen TV features, the movie was intended to give THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974) a run for its money and came off looking pretty ropey in comparison, though it DOES have a strong cast (including George Kennedy, giving the film's best performance as a disillusioned cop whose faith is restored in the aftermath of the quake).
As night falls on a metropolis devastated by the 8.3 temblor, a lot of other things happen: Kennedy has to rescue a close friend (Victoria Principal) from a deranged National Guard officer (Marjoe Gortner); people have to be rescued from an underground parking garage that has been severely damaged by an aftershock; and people have to be rescued from a collapsed shopping mall by Heston and Kennedy before the Hollywood Reservoir Dam crumbles.By the standards of 21st century special effects, EARTHQUAKE looks admittedly very dated; the matte paintings and the scenes of destruction are all two to three generations removed from today's CGI.
At a cost of $13 million, much of it spent on the special effects and production design, it wasn't exactly the cheapest film in the world (already the average cost of a film was nearing $7 million), but it managed to gross around $80 million, at a time when the notion of a $100 million box office hit (or a film that cost $100 million just to make) was still something unknown in the movie business.Although, like a lot of 1970s disaster films, EARTHQUAKE largely faded from memory once the genre wore out its welcome at the end of the decade, later sci-fi and disaster films like DEEP IMPACT and "2012", just to name a few, helped revitalize the genre with the use of CGI.
Heston (hot on the heels of "Skyjacked" and moments away from "Airport 1975") and Gardner are beyond their prime in roles perhaps better suited to younger performers, nevertheless, there is ample youth displayed in Marjoe Gortner playing an unhinged national guardsman taking his duty far too seriously, Richard Roundtree riding the "Shaft" wave as a self-styled Evel Kneivel, and beauties Genevieve Bujold and Victoria Principal in shallow, supporting roles.The story revolves around the destruction of Los Angeles following a series of tremors, claiming the lives of many of the cast and sparing some who probably should have perished.
There's the usual solar system worth of stars and character actors in varying roles ranging from George Kennedy as an LAPD cop with plenty on his plate, to HB Haggerty and Lonny Chapman in an uncredited role.Made at a time when these type of films were in vogue, you didn't need to think too hard about the back stories and soap opera melodrama, just recline and enjoy the ensuing pandemonium, here, focused mainly on the post-earthquake looting and usual stories of heroism, survival and sometimes, tragedy.
If nothing else, this 1974, mega-blockbuster, disaster film was certainly well-worth a few good laughs (unintentional laughs, that is).Featuring a hilarious barrage of cheesy, old-school special effects (and plenty of cornball character interaction), Earthquake's decidedly over-melodramatic story even had the Hare Krishnas getting into the overall spirit of this particular catastrophe story.With the escalating excitement of Earthquake's tale reaching 9.9 on the Richter Scale, it was definitely all-American heroism that prevailed throughout this picture's 129-minute running time (with, of course, a little rocky romance, thrown in for good measure).Showcasing a star-studded cast, headlined by Charlton Heston & Ava Gardner, 1974's Earthquake turned out to be the 4th highest grossing film of the year.
Oh, sure, there's some stuff about Charleton Heston, who is cheating on shrewish wife Ava Gardner with youthful and very wimpy Genevieve Bujold, not to mention sundry subplots (the tough but honest cop, the stunt cyclist, and so on), but the cast is indifferent at best, the dialogue is tiresome, and it is ultimately just a very lame and very silly build up to the disaster itself.EARTHQUAKE's big trick was a gimmicky thing that might have been dreamed up by schlock-master William Castle: "Sensurround." It was essentially a bass-heavy sound system that blasted out sub-bass frequencies serious enough to make the audience shake, rattle, and roll.
Unfortunately, the system actually proved a little too successful for it's own good, causing bits of the ceiling to flake off upon unsuspecting audiences in older cinemas, and after one or two unsavory incidents a great many theatres refused to install it.Shorn of Sensurround, EARTHQUAKE is left with a very mixed back of special effects that range from the spectacular to the ludicrously bad.
Richard Roundtree plays an Evel Knieval type daredevil, George Kennedy is a cop, Victoria Principal has to deal with sexual deviate Marjoe Gortner, Lorne Greene happens to be Ava's father and Charlton's boss in a high-rise, while Walter Matthau is comedy relief as a barfly oblivious to all the mayhem.
In the meantime Ava's pill popping and gin swilling has caused Heston to be carrying on with young widow Genevieve Bujold.That's the main story line, but Earthquake also has various and sundry interesting characters such as Policeman George Kennedy, Daredevil cyclist Richard Roundtree with brother and sister assistants Gabriel Dell and Victoria Principal.
You have Charlton Heston,George Kennedy, Ava Gardner,Lorne Greene,Victoria Principal,Walter Matthau(in a cameo role),Marjoe Gortner,Richard Roundtree,Genevieve Bujold,Lee Grant,and etc......As for the acting per se,its very cheesy,but seeing this film in a huge theatre,showing on a widescreen and in "Sensurround" it well worth it.
Bummer disaster epic with truly stupefying casting: Lorne Greene plays Ava Gardner's father (what was he, a horny seven-year-old?) while Marjoe Gortner is Victoria Principal's stalker (he's a grocery manager and part-time soldier who...oh, never mind).
"Earthquake" does not only star the prime names Heston & Kennedy, but also plenty of other big names like Ava Gardner, Lorne Greene, Richard Roundtree, Genevieve Bujold and Walter Matthau.
Guess Ben Cartwright was knocking boots at an early age!2) Walter Matthau walking around drunk while L.A. is falling apart!3) The ghastly cartoon blood that fills the screen with cartoon GORE!4) Victoria Principle's wig that seems to call out "Wanna-Be Sista!"5) Marjoe Gortner as a prophet of doom/National Guard with a BAD wig!and finally:6) Charlton Heston and those shoes that he seemed to be wearing a lot in disaster movies!
And it works brilliantly, the damage caused by the film's devastating quake (and the subsequent aftershocks) just as impressive as many a modern day disaster flick.The drawn out drama might drag the film down a bit, making it slightly less successful than those benchmark classics of the genre, The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure, but Earthquake is still essential viewing for fans of cinematic catastrophe, with collapsing buildings, raging fires, a burst dam, and plenty of extras meeting grisly fates making for a whole lot of fun (who can forget that elevator crashing to the ground with a comical red splat?).Of course, the all-star cast doesn't hurt either: Charlton Heston ably plays the hero, engineer Graff, whose life intertwines with numerous other characters during the course of the movie, including his estranged wife Remy (Ava Gardner), single mum Denise (Geneviève Bujold), tough cop Slade (George Kennedy), stunt motorcyclist Miles (Richard Roundtree), Graff's boss Royce (Lorne Green), and sexy babe with a ridiculously massive fro, Rosa (Victoria Principal).
The miniatures used are extremely believable and there's no doubt that the effects make you feel as if you're really witnessing an earthquake.As with any 70s disaster picture, this one here features a terrific cast with Charlton Heston leading the way as a man dating a younger woman (Genevieve Bujold) while trying to break away from his alcoholic wife (Ava Gardner).
The actors and actresses realize the low quality of their screenplay and embrace it with such joy and enthusiasm, that they put the movie up a few notches.There are some great special effects sequences in "Earthquake." The buildings that topple apart are not constructed out of crude cardboard, but of credible models that crumble and have layers and foundations, the life-sized sets designed to fall apart are fantastic and realistic, the pyrotechnics are beautiful to look at, everything's fun to watch.
This competed with "The Towering Inferno" which opened the same year.There are multiple story lines going on in this: Architect Charlton Heston is unhappily married to Ava Gardner and has Genevieve Bujold as a mistress; Lorne Greene plays Gardner's FATHER (stop laughing!); George Kennedy plays a mean cop; unstable Marjoe Gortner lusts after Victoria Principal; Richard Roundtree plays an Evil Knievel type; Walter Matthau is a drunk (no shock there); Dick Sargent pops up long enough to get killed and Lloyd Nolan plays a doctor.
The special effects were the best part of Earthquake, and when it comes to survival, other disaster movies, such as Towering Inferno and Poseidon Adventure were far superior, and that isn't saying much..
The special effects (by today's standards) are almost laughable, the plot line is sophomoric, the acting...well, they did what they could with the script's 1-dimensional characterization, the casting was mind-boggling (Lorne Greene as Ava Gardner's FATHER???) and the damage to LA wouldn't be that complete with a real 8+ earthquake.In short, the film was written around the premise of an earthquake, instead of the earthquake being part of the premise.
I did, and still am, fascinated with disaster-type films.Granted I was only 18 at the time, but boy oh boy, what a difference those years make.My taste must have really changed, more than I thought.I have been viewing various parts of this film on You Tube, and I must say it is really pretty bad when viewed today.What I cannot understand is why some of those major stars (Ava Gardner, Charleton Heston, for example) would want to be associated with this mess of a movie.
I 'm sure they made more than enough, during their hey day, and if it was just for the reason to keep their name before the public eye, well, I think I would rather be a forgotten "star" than be a part of this film.I must say, the action sequences of the actual earthquake are pretty scary and "watchable"; the special effects are quite good, but it takes more than that to make a good movie.An earlier reviewer said that all of the characters in this film look as if they came out of a trailer park in Bakersfield.
Despite an all-star cast, including Charlton Heston, Lorne Greene, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Victoria Principal, Richard Roundtree, Marjoe Gortner, and Genevieve Bujold, this disaster film devolves into silly camp, as(of course) a massive earthquake hits California, causing massive damage, and the efforts of the survivors to make it out of the rubble alive, as well as the aftershocks and flooding that occur.Film has impressive(for its time) special effects and model work, but story is both dull soap opera and absurd melodrama(the Marjoe Gortner character going crazy for one) and littered with clichés.
I found most of the scenes before and after the earthquake basically fluff and filler than anything else, with guest stars getting a paycheck or a film credit for not that much quality, especially Victoria Principal's annoying and silly Rosa; I was however equally impressed with the work of George Kennedy, Richard Roundtree, and Lorne Greene, who seemed to take this seriously, and to a lesser extent Charlton Heston.
To sit and watch it on television is to see yet another silly disaster movie that had some decent special effects."Earthquake" boasted the usual star studded cast headed by Charlton Heston and George Kennedy who did double duty that fall by also saving lives in "Airport 1975." Also along for the ride are Genevieve Bujold, Ava Gardner, Lorne Greene (hilariously cast as Gardner's father of all people, Marjoe Gortner, Richard Roundtree, Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan and others.