When Worlds Collide (1951 film)
| When Worlds Collide | |
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| Directed by | Rudolph Maté |
| Produced by | George Pal |
| Written by | Sydney Boehm |
| Based on | the novel When Worlds Collide by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie |
| Starring |
Richard Derr Barbara Rush Peter Hansen John Hoyt |
| Music by | Leith Stevens |
| Cinematography | W. Howard Greene John F. Seitz |
| Edited by | Arthur P. Schmidt |
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Production
company |
Paramount Pictures Corp.
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures Corp. |
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Release date
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Running time
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83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.6 million (US rentals) |
When Worlds Collide is a 1951 American Technicolor science fiction film from Paramount Pictures, produced by George Pal, directed by Rudolph Maté, that stars Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hansen and John Hoyt. The film is based on the 1933 science fiction novel of the same name, co-written by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer.
When Worlds Collide concerns the coming destruction of the Earth by an extrasolar planet called Bellus and the desperate efforts to build a space ark that will save and transport a small portion of humanity to Bellus' single Earth-like moon, Zyra.
Paid courier and pilot David Randall flies top-secret photographs from astronomer Dr. Emery Bronson to Dr. Cole Hendron. Hendron, with the assistance of his daughter Joyce, confirms their worst fears: Bronson has discovered that a rogue planet named Bellus is on a collision course with Earth. Due to a misunderstanding, Randall is included among those who have foreknowledge of the impending disaster.
Hendron warns the United Nations that the end of the world is little more than eight months away. He pleads for the construction of spaceships to transport a lucky few to Zyra, the sole planet in orbit around Bellus, in the faint hope that some of the human race can be saved from extinction. Other equally distinguished scientists scoff at his claims, and he is not believed by the UN delegates.
Hendron receives help from wealthy humanitarians, who arrange a lease on a former proving ground to construct an ark spaceship. To finance the construction, Hendron is forced to accept money from the self-centered, wheelchair-bound industrialist Sidney Stanton. Stanton demands the right to select the passengers, but Hendron insists that he is not qualified to make those choices; all he can buy is a seat aboard the ark.
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