When Worlds Collide

"Planets destroy earth!"

1951 1h 23m EN

😐

6.4

MID

★6.4TMDB · 214

Science FictionDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When a group of astronomers calculate a star is on a course to slam into Earth, a few days before, it's accompanying planet will first pass close enough to the Earth to cause havoc on land and sea. They set about building a rocket so a few selected individuals can escape to the planet.

“Planets destroy earth!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Richard Derr
David Randall
Barbara Rush
Joyce Hendron
Peter Hansen
Dr. Tony Drake
John Hoyt
Sydney Stanton
Larry Keating
Dr. Cole Hendron
Rachel Ames
Julie Cummings
Stephen Chase
Dr. George Frye
Frank Cady
Harold Ferris

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rudolph Maté
Writers: Sydney Boehm
Languages: English, French, Hindi, Portuguese, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

83 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

75 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 5 languages: English, French, Hindi, Portuguese, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rudolph Maté, shot by W. Howard Greene. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Leith Stevens. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Arthur P. Schmidt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Richard Derr and Barbara Rush and Peter Hansen carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rudolph Maté directs. W. Howard Greene behind the camera. Leith Stevens scores. Arthur P. Schmidt cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, French, Hindi, Portuguese, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

183 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
375 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 5 languages: English, French, Hindi, Portuguese, Spanish.
5Directed by Rudolph Maté, shot by W. Howard Greene. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Leith Stevens. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Arthur P. Schmidt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Richard Derr and Barbara Rush and Peter Hansen carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Planets destroy earth!".
10IMDB entry: tt0044207 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 12 themes, including "new york city", "based on novel or book", "space travel", "meteor".

The technical file

Cinematography: W. Howard Greene
Original score: Leith Stevens
Editing: Arthur P. Schmidt
Costume design: Edith Head
Makeup / hair: Wally Westmore
Runtime: 83 min · 1h 23m
Status: Released
Budget: $936,000
Box office: $1,600,000
Return: 171% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: When Worlds Collide (1951)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Special Effects

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Rudolph Maté

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-07-01
★ 5/10
"Suggest we fly to another world" Whilst I wholeheartedly agree with other amateur reviewers on line that stress you have to put yourself back to 1951 to appreciate the film more, it still doesn't take away from the fact that the film is one of the poorer offerings from the disaster/sci-fi genre of years gone by. The methodical build up of characters is fine for adding weight to the final reel, the effects are solid for the time, and the ending has an element of heart tugging hope to it, but the film still remains a drawn out laborious watch. No amount of shouting about lack of budget and the time frame of its birth can't detract that the film over relies on heavy dialogue to keep the viewer interested. This is all well and good if the pay off is handsome in the extreme, which sadly isn't the case on this occasion. I have taken myself back to 1951, and for that reason alone I give it the average rating of 5/10, while I certainly have no hesitation in recommending this to genre fans for at least one watch. It deserves to be looked at, and it deserves respect of course, but that doesn't mean it's particularly above average either.
JPV8522022-09-22
★ 6/10
Entertaining enough apocalyptic disaster film from the 1950s has some absolutely adorable miniatures and one awful matte painting at the end. Still, has its moments and the acting at least was passable. 2.75/5