Earthquake – 1974
An Event…

Director
Mark Robson

Writers
George Fox written by
Mario Puzo written by

Producers
Jennings Lang executive producer
Mark Robson producer

Cast
Charlton Heston – Stewart Graff
Ava Gardner – Remy Royce-Graff
George Kennedy – Sgt. Lew Slade
Lorne Greene – Sam Royce
Geneviève Bujold – Denise Marshall
Richard Roundtree – Miles Quade
Marjoe Gortner – Jody
Barry Sullivan – Dr. Willis Stockle
Lloyd Nolan – Dr. James Vance
Victoria Principal – Rosa Amici
Walter Matthau – Drunk (as Walter Matuschanskayasky)
Monica Lewis – Barbara
Gabriel Dell – Sal Amici
Pedro Armendáriz Jr. – Officer Emilio Chavez (as Pedro Armendariz Jr.)
Lloyd Gough – Bill Cameron
John Randolph – Mayor Lewis
Kip Niven – Walter Russell
Scott Hylands – Max, Assistant Dam Caretaker
Tiger Williams – Corry Marshall
Donald Moffat – Dr. Harvey Johnson
Jesse Vint – Buck, Jody’s Roomate
Alan Vint – Hank, Jody’s Roomate
Michael Richardson – Ralph, Jody’s Roomate
John Elerick – Carl Leeds
John S. Ragin – Chief Inspector, L.A. Dept. of Water & Power
George Murdock – Colonel, Army Corps of Engineers
Don Mantooth – Sid, National Guard Officer (as Donald Mantooth)
Lionel Johnston – Sandy, National Guard Officer
Alex Brown – Pool Player
Bob Cunningham – Dr. Frank Adams
Johnny Dennis – Brawny Foreman, Army Corps of Engineers (as John Dennis)
Gene Dynarski – Fred, Dam Caretaker
Bob Gravage – Farmer Griggs
H.B. Haggerty – Big, Bald Pool Player
Tim Herbert – Las Vegas Booking Agent
Dave Morick – Technician, City of L.A. Emergency Services
Ines Pedroza – Laura, Royce’s Office Secretary (as Inez Pedroza)
Reb Brown – Boy on Motorcycle (scenes deleted)
William H. Burton – Stranger (scenes deleted)
James W. Gavin – Helicopter Pilot (scenes deleted)
Bert Kramer – Policeman at Emergency Control Center (scenes deleted)
Frances Osborne – Housewife at Supermarket (scenes deleted)
Sandy Ward – Studio Guard (scenes deleted)
William Whitaker – Ambulance Driver (scenes deleted)
Josh Albee – Boy with Radio (uncredited)
Joan Blair – Pawnbroker’s Wife (uncredited)
Hal Bokar – Workman #1 at Dam (uncredited)
Vivian Brown – Woman #1 (uncredited)
Ian Bruce – Officer Scott, Wilson Plaza (uncredited)
Ric Carrott – National Guard Private (uncredited)
David S. Cass Sr. – Sherriff Merle, Slade’s Nemesis (uncredited)
Lonny Chapman – L.A.P.D. Captain (uncredited)
Sam Chew Jr. – Kathie’s Husband (uncredited)
Shannon Christie – Dr. Vance’s Nurse (uncredited)
Eugene Collier – Office Worker (uncredited)
Patty Elder – Blonde Secretary in Royce Building (uncredited)
Kenny Endoso – Bar Cook (uncredited)
Robert Feero – Car Thief (uncredited)
Bruce M. Fischer – Man #1 (uncredited)
Ernest Harada – Seismologist (uncredited)
Jerry Hardin – Man #2 (uncredited)
Diana Herbert – Woman #2 (uncredited)
Karl Lukas – Man #3 (uncredited)
Jimmy Nickerson – Seismology Graduate Student (uncredited)
Stuart Nisbet – Loudspeaker Voice (voice) (uncredited)
Grant Owens – Police Officer (uncredited)
Charlie Picerni – Pool Player (uncredited)
George Sawaya – Deputy Sherriff (uncredited)
Fred Scheiwiller – Jay the Bartender (uncredited)
Debralee Scott – Kathie (uncredited)
Dean Smith – Pool Player (uncredited)
Kitty Vallacher – Grocery Store Clerk (uncredited)
Keith A. Walker – Radio Voice (voice) (uncredited)
Dick Warlock – Diver at Hollywood Reservoir (uncredited)
Don Wilbanks – Workman at Dam with Blowtorch (uncredited)
Forrest Wood – Man #4 (uncredited)
Clint Young – Workman #2 at Dam (uncredited)

Review by Theo Robertson

Earthquake (1974)
Sleazy Fun,
The only thing I didn’t like about EARTHQUAKE was the fake blood superimposed on the camera lens during the elevator scene. Apart from that I liked the rest of the film and positively loved some of it.
What sets EARTHQUAKE apart from other disaster pics is its hard-edged sleaziness. We have Sgt Jody of the National Guard. He hates ” Freaks ” but must be the only man in LA not to realise he’s the biggest freak in town, and he is one of the most memorable characters in the disaster genre. Yes sir.
And the film features one of the most bitchy laments seen on film:
” Mr Cameron pulled me out of the elevator then I heard all the screaming ”
” It must have been the only time that old b****** done someone a favour ”
And add to all this some really nasty, cruel and spectacular deaths and you’ve got a film worth watching. Mindless entertainment at its very best

Earthquake (1974)

Review by Wayne Malin

Silly but fun,

One of the big all star disaster flicks on the early 1970s. This competed with “The Towering Inferno” which opened the same year.

There are multiple story lines going on in this: Architect Charlton Heston is unhappily married to Ava Gardner and has Genevieve Bujold as a mistress; Lorne Greene plays Gardner’s FATHER (stop laughing!); George Kennedy plays a mean cop; unstable Marjoe Gortner lusts after Victoria Principal; Richard Roundtrees plays an Evil Knievel type; Walter Matthau is a drunk (no shock there); Dick Sargent pops up long enough to get killed and Lloyd Nolan plays a doctor. The dialogue is terrible and the situations are pure soap opera–but who watches this for the actors or story lines? The earthquake hits about an hour in and it’s fantastic. Some of the special effects are laughable (gotta love those cardboard houses) but others are pretty effective. The sequence goes on for almost 10 minutes and has some pretty bloody scenes (in an uncut print) for a PG film. You see buildings being demolished left and right, people being crushed or flung screaming out of buildings. No music either–just the rumbling of the quake. Very impressive. The rest of the film deals with how all the main characters deal with the disaster.

This is not a good movie of course but I’d be lying if I said I hated it. I got the sense that the special effects people working on this were having lots of fun destroying Los Angeles and it comes through. The acting is, for the most part, OK. Bujold easily out acts everybody else and Gortner is so bad it’s almost embarrassing. And what did happen to Roundtree? He sort of disappears at the end. It’s suggested he got drowned but we don’t see anything.

I never saw this in Sensurround–our local theatre realized that the process could easily have destroyed the place it was so old.