Movies About Los Angeles (One in a series)
A month or so ago I wrote about the Sunset-Vine Tower, which has been a ghost building after a fire shut it down in late 2001. The tower is the centerpiece of Earthquake, the all-star 1974 disaster flick released by Universal Studios.
I caught the movie on AMC the other night. Actually, I TiVo'ed it, so I could fast forward through and "power watch" it (the TV movie's three hours, after all, and I just couldn't see myself devoting so much time to such cheese).
Oh, and what a movie. Charlton Heston as a rich businessman who must choose between his young mistress and his aging wife (Ava Gardner). Victoria Principal as a troubled young woman with a big afro wig. Richard Roundtree, fresh off "Shaft," as a race car driver in a lightning-emblazoned jumpsuit. Walter Matthau, in an uncredited role, as a wacky drunk. Lorne Greene as the company man whose Sunset-Vine office is destroyed. George Kennedy as the kindly police officer--and the only major character to survive through the end.
The movie goes through pointless dramatics for the first half-hour. Fast forward to the first quake. Ahh, life before computer graphics. It's sometimes a little too obvious that these are minature buildings, freeways and dams collapsing (the climax comes when Hollywood's Mulholland Dam-- here named the Hollywood Resevoir Dam-- crumbles, spewing water into the city) -- but that's part of the charm. That, and Victoria Principal's huge afro wig. Why is she wearing that thing? We're never quite sure.
Ultimately, Los Angeles crumbles, thanks to a 9.9 quake. And it crumbles a little too easy. (NBC will air a disaster movie next season in which a 10.5 quake hits Los Angeles -- causing California to split from the rest of the country. Can't wait.)
Anyway, points to the movie-makers for killing off some of the film's main characters -- a no-no in that era, when movies were supposed to end on a fairly upbeat note. Otherwise, this is pure early 70s drivel. Honestly, it makes the more recent Los Angeles-set Tommy Lee Jones disaster flick "Volcano" look like a masterpiece.
But that should only make you want to check it out more. Scour AMC's listings, or put it in your "wish list" if you've seen the light and bought a TiVo.
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