WHEN THE BIG ONE FINALLY HITS L.A.

A huge earthquake hits Los Angeles; Stewart Graff (Charlton Heston) and a cop (George Kennedy) try to save victims all over the city. In a year of decent-enough disaster films like The Towering Inferno there was also Earthquake. I don’t know what’s most hilarious about it. Could be the uneven quality of the visual effects. Or the silly characters. Could be the sight of Walter Matthau as a drunk. Or the fact that Ava Gardner plays Lorne Greene’s daughter even though the lack of an age difference makes them look like a married couple.

1974-U.S. 129 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced and directed by Mark Robson. Screenplay: George Fox, Mario Puzo. Cast: Charlton Heston (Stewart Graff), Ava Gardner (Remy Graff), George Kennedy (Luke Slade), Genevieve Bujold, Richard Roundtree, Lorne Greene… Lloyd Nolan, Victoria Principal, Walter Matthau, John Randolph.

Trivia: The first film to feature Sensurround, a system with heavy bass speakers that created the illusion of a quake in the theater.

Oscars: Best Visual Effects, Sound. 

IMDb