no blade of grass

Whether it’s a sign of the times or a passing fad, staging the end of the world has become de rigueur for all fashionable filmmakers these days. Typically at the hands of some sort of undead zombie horde (see above). But writer / director Cornel Wilde’s No Blade of Grass (1970) is much more environmentally-minded, laying the blame in humanity’s own lap by overdosing the atmosphere with pollutants that destroy most of the plant life on earth. Without the ability to grow food, every country in the world descends into chaos and anarchy. Even in jolly old England, the bloom of civilization fades quickly as citizens arm themselves to survive.

Leading his family towards a secret sanctuary, John Custance (Nigel Davenport) must elude soldiers, roving bands of thugs and his own descent into irredeemable savagery. It all sounds much more exciting that it is. No Blade of Grass is the kind of film where the end of the world happens mostly off-screen. That means, other than a few mob scenes and road hazards, the meat-and-potatoes of the story revolves around our characters’ reactions to their apocalyptic situation. And that requires more character development than Wilde’s film delivers. Even a disturbingly shoehorned rape sequence doesn’t amount to much more than a speed bump in our survivor’s freedom flight.

For all its well-meaning scare tactics (and theme song by Adult Contemporary crooner Roger Whittaker), 40 years later No Blade of Grass winds up being just another end-of-the-world curiosity. But it’s released in fine fashion as part of the Warner Archives, available at Amazon or www.wbshop.com.