Panic in Year Zero!

Two updates in two days, I'm almost getting proficient at all this blog nonsense. Well, okay, maybe not, but since I'm about to spend an unhealthy amount of time at the Edinburgh festivals I thought I'd try to squeeze one more in before my spare time dries up for a couple of weeks (I'll try to write the occasional entry, honest).

I've always loved the thought of humankind wiping itself off the face of the Earth in a nuclear firestorm, or any other method at its disposal. Okay, when I say I love it, I mean I find it really interesting and love seeing films about it - I do admit that if the world actually blew up tomorrow I'd be a bit annoyed. Apart from anything else, I've got four packets of Millions that I haven't eaten yet.

Anyway... In my hobby of film-watching, the pursuit of films about the end of the world (or the post-apocalyptic aftermath) has kind of become a sub-hobby in itself and I figured it was about time I shared one with you. My fascination with nuclear war may be somewhat morbid, but at least, unlike the political leaders of this world, I'm not actually hellbent on making it a reality - and it leads me to gems like PANIC IN YEAR ZERO, a 1962 release that, with a title like this, just screams quality.

It's an American International release, the company that surely must be the unrivalled king of B-movies but at the same time has produced a number of fascinating and way-out movies that just cry out to be investigated. A lot of their more noteworthy efforts came about via their association with The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived, aka Roger Corman, but in the case of this particular film it was helmed by the film's star, Ray Milland.

While a lot of AIP films gave breaks to newcomers, that's not something that can be said of Milland, who had already won an Oscar for his escapades as a drunk in LOST WEEKEND almost twenty years before he starred in and helmed this little beauty. That's not to say there's nothing for the youth crowd though, since his son is played by teen rocker Frankie Avalon (not the only AIP drive-in fodder he'd ever star in either).

The film concerns a city family who get up really early one morning to go off on a nice trip into the country when, wouldn't you know it, someone nukes their home city of Los Angeles as well as a bunch of other big-name cities. Nothing puts a dampener on a holiday like watching millions of people get fried and your city razed to the ground. But you have to think positive - it still beats a trip to Butlins.

Naturally, survival is the name of the game now and we can only watch in fascination as Milland turns hardnut in order to protect his family, while his wife decides that he's maybe being a bit harsh on people. For a cheapie exploitationer, there's actually a great deal of thought gone into the characters - or Milland's at least - and it's great watching this quiet old father's transformation into a proto-Rambo for camping enthusiasts as civilisation (and his family) collapses around him.

The enemy is never explicitly named but as it's an American film of the early sixties we can be pretty confident it's all about the Reds. That's just one of the ways in which the film paints a portrait of the times; others include the frantic, noodly jazz score (by Les Baxter) that sounds like the kind of music you only got in late-50s and early-60s movies; and the attitude towards the female cast (i.e. blokes get guns and start shooting things while women turn into simpering, helpless victims).

There are a few daft aspects to the film that can't simply be attributed to it being a film of its time. For example, I can't for the life of me believe, even in the sixties, that a person's first reaction in these circumstances would be to attempt to return to LA. Sure, you'd be able to toast those marshmallows a bit quicker but the all-round death and destruction thing would be a bit of a pisser.

There's also the fact that one of the first things our intrepid hero does is stock up on coffee. I'm not entirely sure that coffee is that important in a nuclear survival scenario but, then again, as a man who has to kickstart his morning with a double espresso every day I can sort of see where he's coming from. I guess I'll give him that one.

Then there's the stroke of luck as they flee the city among other traffic and decide to take a side road that nobody else is taking, leading them conveniently to a grocer that nobody else knows about. The shop isn't even open when they get there but if so few people seem to know of its existence I'm not sure how it ever stayed open to begin with. Anyway, this gives the opportunity for the family to stock up on essentials due to the incredibly lucky twist that the grocer himself hasn't yet heard about the news. You'd think something like that would be more noticeable, but no. So the family pack their goods and hightail it for the hills, essentially surviving because of the fact that they happened to get out their beds a bit earlier than everyone else.

That's an idea that will comfort me if I'm ever concerned about Britain coming under nuclear attack. Many's the time I've got to my work feeling far too tired and moaning about how early I had to get up but if it gives me the edge in a nuclear war I guess I shouldn't complain. I'll just need to pray that I make it to Sainsbury's before they find out we've been nuked.