''Earthquake'' is a 1974 American ensemble

disaster A disaster is an event that causes serious harm to people, buildings, economies, or the environment, and the affected community cannot handle it alone. '' Natural disasters'' like avalanches, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires are caused by na ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed and produced by Mark Robson and starring

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor. He gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous Cinema of the United States, Hollywood films including biblical epics, science-fiction f ...

and

Ava Gardner Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' att ...

. The plot concerns the struggle for survival after a catastrophic

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

destroys most of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Directed by Robson with a

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

by George Fox and

Mario Puzo Mario Francis Puzo (; ; October 15, 1920 – July 2, 1999) was an American author and screenwriter. He wrote crime novels about the Italian-American Mafia and Sicilian Mafia, most notably ''The Godfather (novel), The Godfather'' (1969), which h ...

, the film starred a large cast of well-known actors, including Heston, Gardner,

George Kennedy George Harris Kennedy Jr. (February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016) was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 film and television productions. He played "Dragline" in ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), winning the Academy Award for Best Supp ...

Lorne Greene Lorne Hyman Greene (born Lyon Himan Green; February 12, 1915 – September 11, 1987) was a Canadian actor, singer, and radio personality. His notable television roles include Ben Cartwright on the Western ''Bonanza'' and Commander Adama in ...

, Geneviève Bujold, Richard Roundtree,

Marjoe Gortner Hugh Marjoe Ross Gortner (born January 14, 1944) is an American former Evangelism, evangelist preacher and actor. He first gained public attention during the late 1940s when his parents arranged for him to be Ordination, ordained as a preacher a ...

, Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan,

Victoria Principal Vicki Ree Principal (born January 3, 1950),Walter Matthau. It is notable for the use of an innovative

sound effect A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In m ...

called Sensurround, which created the sense of actually experiencing an earthquake in theaters.

Plot

Former college football star Stewart Graff argues with his wife, Remy, after she fakes another suicide attempt following a mild earthquake in Los Angeles. Furious, Graff visits Denise Marshall, a part-time actress and widow of a colleague who died on a project Graff assigned him. Feeling obligated to help Denise and her 10-year-old son, Corry, Graff brings the boy an autographed football from his college days and helps Denise rehearse for an upcoming film. Officer Lew Slade pursues a car thief but is intercepted by a rival deputy after crossing jurisdictional lines. The two, already enemies, clash, and Slade punches the deputy, resulting in his suspension. At the California Seismological Institute (CSI), junior seismologist Walter Russell predicts a major earthquake within two days. Head seismologist Dr. Stockle and associate Dr. Johnson agree with his assessment and notify the mayor. Concerned about political repercussions, the mayor alerts only the

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

and

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

. Motorcycle daredevil Miles Quade sets up a dangerous stunt track with his manager, Sal Amici, hoping to impress a

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

promoter. Sal's sister, Rosa, fears for Miles’ safety and refuses to promote the stunt. Meanwhile, grocery store manager Jody Joad, attracted to Rosa, prepares for National Guard duty but endures harassment from his housemates for displaying posters of male bodybuilders. A small tremor cancels Denise’s film shoot, leading her to meet her friend Barbara at Graff’s engineering firm. Denise and Graff cross paths and return to her home, where they have sex for the first time. Graff asks Denise to join him in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

that summer with Corry while he works on a

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

project.

Lake Hollywood Reservoir by clinton steeds

Later, Graff’s boss and father-in-law, Sam Royce, offers him the company presidency. Graff, conflicted between the promotion and his relationship with Denise, accepts the offer after discovering Remy convinced Sam to save their marriage. Enraged, Graff admits to the affair and ends their marriage. A 9.9 earthquake devastates Los Angeles, trapping Sam and others in a

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

. Sam helps his staff escape using a firehose but suffers a heart attack. Graff rescues him and takes him to safety. Corry is thrown from a collapsing footbridge into the

Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River (), historically known as by the Tongva and the by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly from Canoga Park ...

, becoming entangled in live cables. Denise rescues him but becomes trapped. Miles and Sal arrive in a truck, saving them and meeting Slade, who commandeers the vehicle to transport the injured. Miles uses his motorcycle to search for Rosa. Rosa is mistakenly arrested for looting by Jody’s National Guard unit. Jody isolates her under false pretenses and later murders his housemates, using the chaos as cover for personal revenge. Graff, transporting co-workers, drops off Remy, Barbara, and Sam at Wilson Plaza, but Sam dies despite medical aid. Graff departs to find Denise and Corry. Slade commandeers Graff’s car to transport the injured but struggles with the manual transmission, forcing Graff to drive. They encounter Jody’s unit blocking the road. Rosa escapes the store, screaming for help, prompting Slade to return on foot. Slade kills Jody, saving Rosa. An

aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in Epicenter, the same area of the Mainshock, main shock, caused as the displaced Crust (geology), crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthq ...

destroys Wilson Plaza before Graff and Slade arrive. Graff learns survivors, including Denise and Corry, are trapped in the underground garage. Ignoring advice, Graff and Slade drill through to rescue them. The Mulholland Dam collapses, flooding the area. Denise, Corry, and Dr. Vance escape, but Remy falls into the torrent. Graff dives after her, and both are swept away and drown. Slade escapes and searches for Graff but finds no trace. Denise, grieving, reunites with Corry. Slade and Rosa survey the devastated city as stunned survivors wander through the ruins. Fires rage as Los Angeles smolders in the aftermath.

Cast

as Stewart Graff *

as Remy Royce-Graff *

as Sergeant Lew Slade *

as Sam Royce * Geneviève Bujold as Denise Marshall * Richard Roundtree as Miles Quade *

as Jody Joad * Barry Sullivan as Dr. Willis Stockle * Lloyd Nolan as Dr. James Vance *

Victoria Principal Vicki Ree Principal (born January 3, 1950),Walter Matthau as Drunk *

Monica Lewis Monica Lewis (born May Lewis; May 5, 1922 – June 12, 2015) was an American jazz singer and film actress. Between 1947 and 1961, she was the voice for Chiquita Banana's animated ad campaign. Biography Early life Lewis was born in Chicago on Ma ...

as Barbara * Gabriel Dell as Sal Amici * Pedro Armendáriz Jr. as Officer Emilio Chavez *

Lloyd Gough Lloyd Gough (born Michael Gough; September 21, 1907 – July 23, 1984) was an American theater, film, and television actor. Life and career Born Michael Gough in New York City, he was a noted character actor. Married to actress-turned-activi ...

as Bill Cameron * John Randolph as Mayor Lewis * Kip Niven as Walter Russell * Scott Hylands as Max, Hollywood Reservoir Dam Assistant Caretaker * Tiger Williams as Corry Marshall * Donald Moffat as Dr. Harvey Johnson * Jesse Vint as Buck * Alan Vint as Ralph * Michael Richardson as Corporal Hank Scotti * John Elerick as Carl Leeds * John S. Ragin as Chief Inspector L.A. Dept. of Water & Power * George Murdock as Colonel Tom Bronson, Military Civil Engineer * Donald Mantooth as Sid, National Guardsman * Lionel Johnston as Sandy * Alex A. Brown as Pool Player * Bob Cunningham as Dr. Frank Adams * John Dennis as Brawny Foreman * Eugene Dynarski as Fred, Hollywood Reservoir Dam Caretaker * Bob Gravage as Farmer Mr. Griggs * Hard Boiled Haggerty as Pool Player * Tim Herbert as Las Vegas Man * Dave Morick as Emergency Radio Technician * Inez Pedroza as Laura, Royce Receptionist * Josh Albee as Boy with Radio (uncredited) * Debralee Scott as Kathie (Television Version) * Sam Chew as Tony (Television Version) * Joan Blair as Pawnbroker's Wife (Television Version) * Frank Parker as Pilot (Television Version) * Clint Ritchie as Co-Pilot (Television Version) * Jack Frey as Controller (Television Version)

Crew

* Mark Robson: director and producer * Bernard Donnenfeld: producer (uncredited) *

Jennings Lang Jennings Lang (May 28, 1915, New York City – May 29, 1996, Palm Desert, California) was an American film producer, screenwriter, and actor. Early life and career Lang was born to a Jewish family in New York City. Originally a lawyer, practicin ...

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

* George Fox &

: writers *

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

: music score * Philip Lathrop:

director of photography The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

Dorothy Spencer Dorothy Spencer (February 3, 1909 – May 23, 2002), known as Dot Spencer, was an American film editor with 75 feature film credits from a career that spanned more than 50 years. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing on four o ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

* Alexander Golitzen:

production designer In film and television, a production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Work ...

* E. Preston Ames:

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

* Burton Miller:

costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costum ...

* Albert Whitlock:

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated as VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action fo ...

* Fred Tuch: Assistant Art Director

Production

Inception

In the wake of the tremendous success of the 1970 disaster-suspense film ''

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

'',

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

began working with executive producer Bernard Donnenfeld and director John Sturges to come up with a new idea that would work within the same "disaster-suspense" genre. Inspiration came in the form of the San Fernando earthquake of February 1971. Universal was intrigued by the idea of creating a disaster on film that would not be confined to an airliner, but rather take place over a large area. Donnenfeld and Sturges left the project early in 1972, and Universal executive producer

took over development, bringing Mark Robson aboard as producer and director.

Development

Lang scored a coup when he was able to sign screenwriter

, who was paid $125,000 to write the first draft during the summer of 1972. Puzo, fresh from the success of his novel and film, ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...

'', delivered the draft script in August. However, Puzo's detailed and expansive script would have necessitated a larger production budget, as the action and multiple story arcs were spread over a vast geographical area in Los Angeles. Universal was faced with either cutting the script or increasing the projected budget. Puzo's involvement with ''Earthquake'' was short-lived, as

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

was anxious to begin development with the followup to ''The Godfather'', ''

The Godfather Part II ''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic film, epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, loosely based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather (novel), The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Cop ...

'' in early 1973. Because Puzo's services contractually were obligated to the sequel, he was unable to continue any further work on ''Earthquake''. The ''Earthquake'' script sat at Universal Studios for a short period, but was brought back to life by the huge success of the

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

hit '' The Poseidon Adventure'', released in December 1972. Fueled by that film's enormous box-office receipts, Universal Studios put pre-production on ''Earthquake'' back into high gear, hiring writer George Fox to continue work with Puzo's first draft. Fox was principally a magazine writer and never had written a screenplay, so director Mark Robson worked with him to narrow the scope of the script to fit into the budgetary constraints. After 11 drafts, ''Earthquake'' went before the cameras in February 1974. Since Robson was also tasked with producing such a technically complex film, Bernard Donnenfeld was brought back to co-produce, but was uncredited. Budgeted at US$6,675,125, ''Earthquake'' immediately found itself in a race against the clock with the bigger-budgeted disaster film, ''

The Towering Inferno ''The Towering Inferno'' is a 1974 American disaster film directed by John Guillermin and produced by Irwin Allen, featuring an ensemble cast led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. It was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels '' The ...

'', which was being produced by

Irwin Allen Irwin Allen (born Irwin O. Cohen; June 12, 1916 – November 2, 1991) was an American film and television producer and director, known for his work in science fiction, then later as the "Master of Disaster" for his work in the disaster film genr ...

and financed, for the first time, by two studios (

and

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

Casting

While ''The Towering Inferno'' featured a larger "all star" cast, Universal was able to land

in the lead role for the sum of $600,000, plus a percentage of the profits. Rounding out the top billing were

(who co-starred with Heston in 1963's '' 55 Days at Peking''),

, and Geneviève Bujold. Richard Roundtree (riding a wave of success from the '' Shaft'' film series) was brought in after filming had already started, filling the part of an

Evel Knievel Robert Craig Knievel (October 17, 1938November 30, 2007), known professionally as Evel Knievel (), was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Throughout his career, he attempted List of Evel Knievel career jumps, more than 75 ramp-to-ra ...

-like motorcycle stuntman. Former evangelical preacher

was hired as the antagonist, Jody. Relative unknown

Victoria Principal Vicki Ree Principal (born January 3, 1950),Gabriel Dell. Walter Matthau was cast in a cameo role, for which he was credited as "Walter Matuschanskayasky". Executive Producer Jennings Lang, who had worked with Matthau on the previous year's '' Charley Varrick'', was able to convince him to appear in the role (originally to be filled by veteran actor Harry Morgan). The unpaid cameo - and his credited name - were part of the deal.

Set design

Production necessitated the complete re-dressing of the entire Universal Studios "New York Street" backlot in order to simulate the catastrophic earthquake of the title. Along with a clever use of miniatures of actual buildings,

matte painting A matte painting is a painted representation of a landscape, set, or distant location that allows filmmakers to create the illusion of an environment that is not present at the filming location. Historically, matte painters and film technicia ...

s, and full-scale sets (some of which were placed on rollers for a shaking effect), ''Earthquake'' used a new technique developed especially for the film: a "shaker mount" camera system that mimicked the effects of an earthquake by moving the entire camera body several inches side to side, versus simple shaking the camera on a stationary tripod, for a more realistic motion. This camera mount was used for most exterior scenes or other instances where shooting on location.

Stunts

Extensive use of highly trained stunt artists for the most dangerous scenes involving high falls, dodging falling debris, and flood sequences, set a

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

record for the most stunt artists involved in any film production up until that time: 141. Major stunt sequences in the film required careful

choreography Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

between the stunt artists and behind-the-scenes stunt technicians who were responsible for triggering full-scale effects, such as falling debris. Timing was critical, since some rigged effects involved dropping six

ton Ton is any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean: * the '' long ton'', which is * the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...

chunks of reinforced concrete in order to flatten cars, with stunt performers only a few feet away. In other scenarios, some stunt artists were required to fall onto large air bags from the rafters of Universal's largest stage (Stage 12) – for which they were paid the sum of $500. While every precaution was taken to prevent injuries, several did occur during filming. One stunt person suffered a concussion during the flood sequence (the accident was used in the film), and several stunt artists were injured during the elevator crash scene, since the set was designed to collapse upon them. Multiple stunt artists were injured during a scene involving an escalator as well.

"Sensurround"

Universal Studios and Jennings Lang wanted ''Earthquake'' to be an "event film", something that would draw audiences into the theatre multiple times. After several ideas were tossed about (which included bouncing

styrofoam Styrofoam is a brand of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), manufactured to provide continuous building insulation board used in walls, roofs, and foundations as thermal insulation and as a water barrier. This material is light blue in ...

faux "debris" over audience members' heads), Universal's sound department came up with a process called " Sensurround" – a series of large speakers made by

Cerwin-Vega Cerwin-Vega Inc. is a brand name used on products for professional audio components, as well as home audio speakers, and car audio components. Originally a stand-alone company, Cerwin-Vega was acquired by the Stanton Group after declaring bankr ...

decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a Power, root-power, and field quantities, power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whos ...

s (equivalent to a jet airplane at takeoff), giving the viewer the sensation of an earthquake. The process was tested in several theatres around the United States prior to the film's release, yielding various results. A famous example is

Grauman's Chinese Theatre Grauman's Chinese Theatre, known as the Chinese colloquially and officially billed as TCL Chinese Theatre for sponsorship reasons, is a movie palace on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, Unite ...

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

, where the "Sensurround" cracked the plaster in the ceiling. The same theatre premiered ''Earthquake'' three months later – with a newly installed net over the audience to catch any falling debris – to tremendous success. Sensurround was used again for the films '' Midway'' (1976), '' Rollercoaster'' (1977), and ''

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. It began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series, '' Galactica 1980'', a line of book adaptat ...

'' (1979). The 2006 Universal Studios Home Entertainment DVD release features the original "Sensurround" 3.1 audio track, duplicating the original theatrical "Sensurround" track (but oddly in mono directed to the front 3 speakers rather than the original stereo mix), but no actual 'rumble' generator was used, and only the two control tones that activated the generator can be heard. In addition, the film's original soundtrack was remixed in

Surround Sound Surround sound is a technique for enriching the fidelity and depth of sound reproduction by using multiple audio channels from speakers that surround the listener ( surround channels). Its first application was in movie theaters. Prior to ...

5.1 which was simply a tag as once again only the control tones feature on the track.

Music

John Williams' music for ''Earthquake'' was the second of his trio of scores for large-scale disaster films, having previously scored ''The Poseidon Adventure'' and following with ''The Towering Inferno''. Williams scored ''Earthquake'' and ''The Towering Inferno'' during the summer of 1974, with both scores showing similarities to one another (notably ''Earthquake's'' theme and ''The Towering Inferno's'' love theme sharing the same eight-note melody, albeit in different keys). The music of the song " C'est si Bon" by Henri Betti is played on the guitar in the middle of the film. On December 10, 2019, La-La Land Records released a fully remastered and expanded version of Williams' music, as part of the ''Disaster Movie Soundtrack Collection'', which includes the remastered expansions of Williams's music for this film, as well as ''The Towering Inferno'' and ''The Poseidon Adventure''.

Audience preview and re-edits

After an October 2, 1974 test screening in

Joplin, Missouri Joplin is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, Jasper and Newton County, Missouri, Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. J ...

, Universal opted to cut 30 minutes from the film, notably from the pre-quake sequences, at the cost of some of the dramatic flow. This included a narration sequence about the San Andreas fault and an impending catastrophic earthquake that would occur in either Los Angeles or San Francisco. This scene was filmed and was set to be shown before the opening title credits (although it was removed at the last minute, it was eventually included as the opening sequence of the NBC television edit for the September, 1976 broadcast premiere). Also excised were lengthy scenes of Remy and Graff arguing at the beginning of the film. After Remy's faked suicide attempt, Dr. Vance ( Lloyd Nolan) inadvertently informs his old friend Graff that Remy had an abortion two years prior (he was told it was a miscarriage). Angered because he wanted children, Graff storms off. There was more of Slade's leaving the police station, and footage of Rosa's leaving the market was shot as well. She was filmed waiting for a bus and being offered a lift from a man on a motorcycle (this footage eventually was used in the film's television cut). Just before the earthquake, Stewart and Remy had a final fight (in front of Stewart's car) that was deleted as well. During the earthquake, there was a scene of a nearby lumberyard falling apart, and this was removed from the final cut. Other scenes were shot to wrap up many characters' stories after the earthquake, but were deleted from the final print: Walt Russell and Dr. Stockle – whose fates are undetermined after the quake in the theatrical release – were shown alive in the seismology laboratory post-quake. They were shown finding the earthquake's magnitude to be 9.9 on the Richter scale. The film's final scene was significantly re-edited, and originally showed Denise walking up to Lew Slade as he emerges from the manhole, and asks if Stewart had survived; upon hearing of his death, she walks over to Corry who has regained consciousness.

The elevator scene

A scene involving an

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

loaded with passengers plummeting 25 floors to the ground during the earthquake is one of the film's more notorious sequences, mainly for how its conclusion was depicted. As originally scripted, the occupants were pressed to the ceiling of the elevator as it fell down the shaft, and then dropped to the floor when the elevator crashes to the bottom. To film this, an elevator set was built suspended several feet over the stage floor, allowing for the dropping of the set (with the stunt people inside). The scene was filmed several times, with several stunt people involved. Copious amounts of stage blood were rigged to spray the stunt people inside the elevator set with blood when the set came crashing to the ground. After several tries over two separate filming days weeks apart (the break in filming was an attempt to perfect the mechanical effects involved), and with unsatisfactory results, the decision was made to edit the scene with an "animated blood" effect to be added in post production. The optical effect was superimposed over a still frame of part of the unusable footage, resulting in the "cartoonish" nature of the shot. The television version removed the animated blood sequence.

Reception

Released in the United States on November 15, 1974, ''Earthquake'' ranked third among the high-grossing film of the year; ''

'' was the highest.

Box office

''Earthquake'' grossed $1,306,271 in its opening weekend from 62 theatres in 51 cities in the United States and Canada. It eventually grossed $79.7 million in the United States and Canada ($450.5 million, adjusted for inflation in 2023 dollars) being one of the highest-grossing films of the time. Internationally, it grossed $87.7 million, including () in Japan, bringing its worldwide gross to .

Critical response

At its release, critics generally acknowledged the special effects in ''Earthquake'' while discounting other aspects. Without either panning or praising the film,

Nora Sayre Nora Clemens Sayre (September 20, 1932 – August 8, 2001) was an American film critic and essayist. She was a reviewer of films for ''The New York Times'' in the 1970s, and, from 1981, a writing teacher for many years at Columbia Universit ...

of the ''New York Times'' wrote that it was an improvement on ''

Airport 1975 ''Airport 1975'' (also known as ''Airport '75'') is a 1974 American air disaster film and the first sequel to the successful 1970 film ''Airport''. It was directed by Jack Smight, produced by William Frye, executive produced by Jennings Lang, a ...

'' and observed, "The impulse to shout advice to the screen—get out! go away! don't enter that building—is quite powerful, so this does rank as a participatory movie." Judith Crist wrote in ''New York Magazine'' that "the nonsense is bearable for the spectacle. And ... here we have a feast of feats of destruction."

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael often defied the conse ...

wrote "The picture is swill, but it isn't a cheat; it's an entertaining marathon of Grade-A destruction effects".

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

criticized the "witless ''Earthquake''" for "regarding he effectswith awe".

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert. Siskel started writing for the '' ...

gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote the special effects were "terrific" but identified a basic problem with the story: "With a '' Poseidon Adventure'' or an ''

'' the ending is clear people are saved ultimately thru their own or somebody else's enterprise. But with an earthquake, the final solution is out of one's hands, anyone's hands even

Allstate The Allstate Corporation is an American insurance company, headquartered in Glenview, Illinois (with a Northbrook, Illinois address) since 2022. Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., it was spun off in 1993, but was still pa ...

's. If the tremors don't stop, then everybody'll die; if they do, then only a few people will die. End of story."

Charles Champlin Charles Davenport Champlin (March 23, 1926 – November 16, 2014) was an American film critic and writer. Life and career Champlin was born in Hammondsport, New York. He attended high school in Camden, New York, working as a columnist for the ...

of the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote that the Sensurround vibrations "succeed very nicely in making themselves felt as well as heard and they set up an anxiety which makes watching 'Earthquake' a very ambivalent experience for anyone who, so to speak, has been there before." Gary Arnold of ''The Washington Post'' wrote "Thanks to Sensurround, 'Earthquake' figures to be the gimmick hit of 1974. Without the gimmick, it would be difficult to distinguish this perfunctory, mediocre piece of storytelling from Universal's other disaster vehicle, ''Airport 1975.''" On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

the film holds an approval rating of 44% from 32 reviews with an average score of 4.90 out of 10. The website's critical consensus reads: "The destruction of Los Angeles is always a welcome sight, but ''Earthquake'' offers little besides big actors slumming through crumbling sets." Metacritic, who uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

, has assigned the film a score of 56/100 based on 6 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...

gave the film a "BOMB" rating, stating " hetitle tells the story in hackneyed disaster epic ... Marjoe as a sex deviate and Gardner as Lorne Greene's daughter tie for film's top casting honors." Gardner was only 8 years younger than Lorne Greene.

Accolades

''Earthquake'' became a blockbuster success and was nominated for four

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

(winning one) and receiving a Special Achievement Academy Award for

Visual Effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated as VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action fo ...

. The film is recognized by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

in these lists: * 2001: AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills – Nominated

Television version

For the film's television premiere on Sunday, September 26, 1976 on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, additional footage was added to expand the film's running time so it could be aired over two nights, as part of NBC's promotion of "The Big Event" fall premiere series (the second night aired on Sunday, October 3, 1976). According to internal memos from

, both Jennings Lang and Mark Robson were upset that Universal and NBC had agreed to alter the original film for its premiere broadcast, with Robson initially refusing to participate (but eventually relenting to be a "consultant" to the editing process). Editor Gene Palmer was hired to direct the additional footage, with a script provided by an uncredited Francesca Turner. Robson petitioned the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...

that it was specified he was the director of the "theatrical version only" (which was granted). While inserting approximately 30 minutes of unused footage shot for the theatrical version was considered, this "television version" made virtually no use of material edited out of the theatrical release (save the introductory sequence describing earthquakes in California on the

San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental Fault (geology)#Strike-slip faults, right-lateral strike-slip transform fault that extends roughly through the U.S. state of California. It forms part of the tectonics, tectonic boundary between the Paci ...

, and one brief scene featuring Victoria Principal and Reb Brown), but rather incorporated new footage filmed nearly two years after the original using two of the original film's stars,

and Victoria Principal, as well as Jesse Vint and Michael Richardson (reprising their film roles of Marjoe Gortner's taunting roommates), expanding on the original storyline from the theatrical film. Editing and re-recorded dialogue helped integrate this expansion into the original film. A short scene involving Richard Roundtree's character, Miles Quade, was scripted, but never filmed. An entirely new storyline shot specifically for the television version was that of a young married couple ( Debralee Scott and Sam Chew) flying to Los Angeles on an airplane. The husband seeks a job with the Royce Construction company of the film (in fact, hoping to work with Charlton Heston's character, Stewart Graff), while his wife has the eerily accurate ability to see the future with tarot cards. Their airliner attempts to land at

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles and its Greater Los Angeles, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. LAX is located in the Westchester, Los Angeles, Westcheste ...

as the titular earthquake hits, and the airliner makes a

touch-and-go landing In aviation, a touch-and-go landing (TGL) or circuit and bump is a maneuver that is common when learning to fly a fixed-wing aircraft. It involves landing on a runway and takeoff, taking off again without coming to a full stop. Usually the pilot ...

on a runway that is breaking up, diverting to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Throughout the remainder of the television version, the film cuts back to the couple as they discuss their future together, and the husband's wish to return to Los Angeles and help rebuild the city. The "Sensurround" audio of the original film was simulcast in FM stereo in the Los Angeles and New York markets. This theoretically allowed the home viewer (with the properly equipped sound system) to experience a similar effect as in the theater.

Theme park attractions

''Earthquake'' inspired the attractions ''Earthquake: The Big One'' at

Universal Studios Florida Universal Studios Florida is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida, that opened on June 7, 1990. Owned and operated by NBCUniversal, it features numerous rides, attractions, and live shows that are primarily themed to movies, television, and ...

and

. The Hollywood attraction opened in March 1989 as part of the Studio Tour tram ride. The tram enters a sound stage, the interior designed to look like a San Francisco underground

BART Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...

station, whereupon a two-and-a-half-minute simulation of an 8.3 earthquake takes place, featuring a gas truck falling into the station, a runaway train and a flood. The Florida attraction opened in June 1990. It began with an introductory film on the making of ''Earthquake'' with Charlton Heston appearing to explain the special effects, followed by a live demonstration based on the film with audience participation. The attraction culminated in a simulated 8.3 earthquake aboard an underground train at Embarcadero Station in San Francisco. In the fall of 2002, the pre-show was changed to a more generic "magic of making movies" theme, with slight modifications which included mentioning special effects used in other films besides ''Earthquake''. The Florida attraction officially closed on November 5, 2007, and reopened several months later as " Disaster!: A Major Motion Picture Ride...Starring You!."

Novelization

A novelization of the book credited to George Fox was published by

New American Library The New American Library (also known as NAL) is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publi ...

as part of the Signet Film Series.Earthquake : the story of a movie
/ref>

Scientific accuracy

The purported magnitude of the earthquake in the film (9.9 on the

Richter Scale The Richter scale (), also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale, is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Richter in collaboration with Beno Gutenberg, and pr ...

) would make it the largest ever recorded, eclipsing the record set by the actual Chilean Earthquake of 1960 (9.5 on the Richter Scale). However, such huge earthquakes can only be generated by "megathrust" faults or asteroid strikes. The numerous faults in California, particularly the San Andreas (the fault implied to have generated the titular earthquake in the film), are the "strike-slip" type, which historically have rarely produced tremors higher than 8.3 on the Richter Scale. he San Francisco earthquake of 1906 has had estimates between 7.9 and 8.3.

Explanatory notes

References

External links

* * * * *
Disaster Films
at filmsite.org

March 2004 article in the ''70mm Newsletter'' {{Academy Award Best Visual Effects 1974 films 1970s disaster films 1974 thriller films 1970s American films American disaster films American survival films American thriller films Fictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department Films about earthquakes Fiction about seismology Films directed by Mark Robson Films scored by John Williams Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles Films that won the Best Sound Mixing Academy Award Films that won the Best Visual Effects Academy Award Films with screenplays by Mario Puzo Universal Pictures films 1974 drama films 1970s English-language films English-language thriller films