(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Astronauts returning from a voyage to Mars are caught in a time warp and are propelled into a post-Apocalyptic Earth populated by mutants.”
Occasionally, the difficulty in assessing a film comes from the fact that some pictures – despite a good budget, a talented cast, and an interesting premise – just go nowhere. This isn’t to say that a certain production is ill-conceived or poorly assembled because sometimes the opposite is true. Rather, it’s merely that some tales just don’t resonate beyond their time and place, leaving audiences to enjoy what they saw but rarely return to the world created because … well … what for?
Such is the fate of World Without End (1956), a perfectly capable and mildly intriguing effort from writer/director Edward Bernds. His yarn about four 1950’s era alpha males thrust via time travel into the 26th century dabbles with enough content to keep their journey thought-provoking but never quite achieves anything greater than the sum of its small parts. While considered only a B-Movie by Hollywood standards, it does have the added plus of being shot in colorful Cinemascope; and – though no specific box office records exist – Google.com suggests its ticket sales were good enough to consider it successful.
But … is it remembered? Even more important, is it worth being remembered?
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Astronauts returning from a voyage to Mars are caught in a time warp and are propelled into a post-Apocalyptic Earth populated by mutants.”
Occasionally, the difficulty in assessing a film comes from the fact that some pictures – despite a good budget, a talented cast, and an interesting premise – just go nowhere. This isn’t to say that a certain production is ill-conceived or poorly assembled because sometimes the opposite is true. Rather, it’s merely that some tales just don’t resonate beyond their time and place, leaving audiences to enjoy what they saw but rarely return to the world created because … well … what for?
Such is the fate of World Without End (1956), a perfectly capable and mildly intriguing effort from writer/director Edward Bernds. His yarn about four 1950’s era alpha males thrust via time travel into the 26th century dabbles with enough content to keep their journey thought-provoking but never quite achieves anything greater than the sum of its small parts. While considered only a B-Movie by Hollywood standards, it does have the added plus of being shot in colorful Cinemascope; and – though no specific box office records exist – Google.com suggests its ticket sales were good enough to consider it successful.
But … is it remembered? Even more important, is it worth being remembered?
Astronauts Eldon Galbraithe (played by Nelson Leigh), John Borden (Hugh Marlowe), Herbert Ellis (Rod Taylor), and Henry ‘Hank’ Jaffe (Christopher Dark) complete their exploratory orbit of Mars, turn their ship about, and head back toward Earth. Out of nowhere, they’re suddenly thrust forward at inconceivable speeds, the kind wherein time dilation begins to effect their journey. Eventually, they crash land onto a habitable planet where their particular set of survival skills are clearly going to come in handy. Abandoning their spacecraft, they head out in search of civilization.
After encounters with some giant carnivorous spiders and a caveman-like species bent on destroying them, our four heroes stumble upon a cave which serves as the entrance to an underground base. As Fate would have it, they’re rescued by some elderly scientists who explain that the planet is actually what remains of Earth in the distant future after mankind collapsed in nuclear wars. Though our people haven’t quite gone extinct, they’re relegated to living subterranean in order to avoid death at the hands of the mutant survivors roaming the world above.
It doesn’t take long for the men to realize that – if our species is going to endure – they’ll need to retake the surface. As these older scientists – peaceniks who’ve sworn off weapons and defense because of how they toppled the previous age – lack the skills, cunning, and desire to save Earth from elimination, the explorers decide its incumbent upon them to lead the group into the next era. They hatch a plan and build a weapon – a bazooka, of sorts – and head back out into the wilderness with the determination to dethrone these mutates no matter the cost.
To his credit, Bernds squeezes an incredible amount of plot into World’s 80-minute running time, pacing his adventure out well enough that it grows no moss.
What starts out looking like another routine spaceborne adventure turns a bit more thoughtful with ideas of time dilation, Cold War dynamics, and social advancement. Once the crew returns to Earth of tomorrow, the picture maintains a steady stream of action up until the crew joins the ranks of the underground city dwellers; and then the story twists a bit more reflective as they’re forced to confront this new somewhat bastardized way of life. Whereas they wish to kick butt, take names, rock the boat, and accomplish something, they’re surrounded by other men all sedate (to a fault) and philosophical (to an even greater fault) while the women remain curiously young, vibrant, adventurous, and attired in typical 50’s age miniskirts. (Hubba hubba!) The script even manages to include the classical scheming and sniveling villain named Mories (Booth Colman) who wishes to see the astronauts convicted and exiled over what amounts to their brazen display of toxic masculinity, and who says a bit of conventional melodrama ever hurt any film’s chances back in the day?
After encounters with some giant carnivorous spiders and a caveman-like species bent on destroying them, our four heroes stumble upon a cave which serves as the entrance to an underground base. As Fate would have it, they’re rescued by some elderly scientists who explain that the planet is actually what remains of Earth in the distant future after mankind collapsed in nuclear wars. Though our people haven’t quite gone extinct, they’re relegated to living subterranean in order to avoid death at the hands of the mutant survivors roaming the world above.
It doesn’t take long for the men to realize that – if our species is going to endure – they’ll need to retake the surface. As these older scientists – peaceniks who’ve sworn off weapons and defense because of how they toppled the previous age – lack the skills, cunning, and desire to save Earth from elimination, the explorers decide its incumbent upon them to lead the group into the next era. They hatch a plan and build a weapon – a bazooka, of sorts – and head back out into the wilderness with the determination to dethrone these mutates no matter the cost.
To his credit, Bernds squeezes an incredible amount of plot into World’s 80-minute running time, pacing his adventure out well enough that it grows no moss.
What starts out looking like another routine spaceborne adventure turns a bit more thoughtful with ideas of time dilation, Cold War dynamics, and social advancement. Once the crew returns to Earth of tomorrow, the picture maintains a steady stream of action up until the crew joins the ranks of the underground city dwellers; and then the story twists a bit more reflective as they’re forced to confront this new somewhat bastardized way of life. Whereas they wish to kick butt, take names, rock the boat, and accomplish something, they’re surrounded by other men all sedate (to a fault) and philosophical (to an even greater fault) while the women remain curiously young, vibrant, adventurous, and attired in typical 50’s age miniskirts. (Hubba hubba!) The script even manages to include the classical scheming and sniveling villain named Mories (Booth Colman) who wishes to see the astronauts convicted and exiled over what amounts to their brazen display of toxic masculinity, and who says a bit of conventional melodrama ever hurt any film’s chances back in the day?
Unfortunately, Bernds never quite gives a telling explanation as to why the two sexes of this subterranean people have fallen into somewhat dire straits. To my recollection, there’s no accounting for why the men are all somewhat grizzled and gray, just as there’s no basic rationalization for why all of the women are glowing and – ahem – seemingly hungry for sexual conquest. There is some brief discussion suggesting that the children produced in this current timeframe have begun to grow weak, disinterested, and dispirited with their lives and their living conditions, a sentiment that our heroes almost immediately attach to the reality of existing without processed air and available sunlight. But the obvious visible differences between the genders really could’ve used a bit more, and the absence frustrates the overall experience.
Reflexively, one might conclude that as these elders had sworn off so much of what epitomized 1950’s men – namely serving as breadwinners in a world wherein Communism was on the march and vulnerability at the hands of one’s adversaries was heavily frowned upon – that perhaps they simply lost their maleness.
As a matter of fact, these elders blame such manliness for leading to mankind’s collapse in the first place, a curious position but one not without some likelihood. As such, it’s quite possible that these surviving leaders actively seek no return to form. Sitting around, wearing hats and tunics while pontificating what action might achieve consensus on all social matters is their chosen existence. Why not? It’s served them so well! Of course, they can’t see how the choice has reduced them to soulless administrative bureaucrats, the kind who no longer take interest in the spirit and drive that fueled exploration, both scientific and territorial, maybe even sensual. The only future resident who expresses a sexual appetite is Mories – he winds up almost instantly in conflict with the astronauts, eventually trying to frame them for a murder he commits – and it grows clear that he was the misnomer amongst his peers instead of the norm. Galbraithe, Borden, Ellis, and Jaffe have the requisite machismo, enthusiasm, and blue-collar smarts to kick mankind’s evolution into the high gear; and these women – hungry for such resolve – responded accordingly.
Reflexively, one might conclude that as these elders had sworn off so much of what epitomized 1950’s men – namely serving as breadwinners in a world wherein Communism was on the march and vulnerability at the hands of one’s adversaries was heavily frowned upon – that perhaps they simply lost their maleness.
As a matter of fact, these elders blame such manliness for leading to mankind’s collapse in the first place, a curious position but one not without some likelihood. As such, it’s quite possible that these surviving leaders actively seek no return to form. Sitting around, wearing hats and tunics while pontificating what action might achieve consensus on all social matters is their chosen existence. Why not? It’s served them so well! Of course, they can’t see how the choice has reduced them to soulless administrative bureaucrats, the kind who no longer take interest in the spirit and drive that fueled exploration, both scientific and territorial, maybe even sensual. The only future resident who expresses a sexual appetite is Mories – he winds up almost instantly in conflict with the astronauts, eventually trying to frame them for a murder he commits – and it grows clear that he was the misnomer amongst his peers instead of the norm. Galbraithe, Borden, Ellis, and Jaffe have the requisite machismo, enthusiasm, and blue-collar smarts to kick mankind’s evolution into the high gear; and these women – hungry for such resolve – responded accordingly.
But as some might claim it resides in our human DNA, the hunger to improve our individual and shared circumstance inevitably rises to the surface, and that’s more than just a metaphor in World Without End. Armed with a weapon unseen for ages and a willing female mutant guide whom Elllis has fallen head over heels for, our champions both retake and reshape society back to the way things used to be. The former astronauts achieve the change they so desperately sought, and then – like men – they even roll up their sleeves and get about the business because they’re unwilling to let their world come to its bitter stop. For better or worse, the past becomes present, and viewers are left to speculate whether or not it’ll all work out for the better next time ‘round.
World Without End (1956) was produced by Allied Artists Pictures. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Warner Archive. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can assure you that the provided sights-and-sounds are quite good consistently across the running time, with even the practical effects work holding up reasonably well. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Alas, the disc boasts absolutely nothing but the flick itself.
Recommended.
Despite the visual promise of being captured in Cinemascope (which still looks good decades later, kids), World Without End (1956) never quite distinguishes itself from the theatrical competition of the decade and winds up having a bit too much in common with what’s already been delivered to the silver screen. While sameness isn’t necessarily a bad thing, writer/director Bernds keeps everything moving at a brisk pace, so much so that audiences probably never noticed they’d seen this before. A better-than-average cast still can’t do more than produce an average effort with what they were given: a perfectly adequate middling adventure that’s heavy on ideas but light on variation.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Warner Archive provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of World Without End (1956) – as part of their 50’s Sci-Fi Collection – by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
World Without End (1956) was produced by Allied Artists Pictures. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Warner Archive. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can assure you that the provided sights-and-sounds are quite good consistently across the running time, with even the practical effects work holding up reasonably well. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Alas, the disc boasts absolutely nothing but the flick itself.
Recommended.
Despite the visual promise of being captured in Cinemascope (which still looks good decades later, kids), World Without End (1956) never quite distinguishes itself from the theatrical competition of the decade and winds up having a bit too much in common with what’s already been delivered to the silver screen. While sameness isn’t necessarily a bad thing, writer/director Bernds keeps everything moving at a brisk pace, so much so that audiences probably never noticed they’d seen this before. A better-than-average cast still can’t do more than produce an average effort with what they were given: a perfectly adequate middling adventure that’s heavy on ideas but light on variation.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Warner Archive provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of World Without End (1956) – as part of their 50’s Sci-Fi Collection – by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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