world without end

The 1950's were the heyday of cinematic science fiction. While visitors from another planet invaded in The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Blob, and The Thing, a constant onslaught of irradiated monsters like The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms lumbered onto movie screens on a weekly basis. But the genre was healthy enough to support hundreds of more obscure efforts that still require some skill to track down. 1956's World Without End, a time-traveling apocalyptic spacer with enough similarities to H.G. Wells' The Time Machine to warrant a lawsuit, is just such a minor entry, bringing along a tribe of one-eyed mutants and sexy future chicks just for fun!

After completing a survey mission to Mars, four astronauts are accelerated through time and space, only to land on a future Earth where the surface is ruled over by savage "beast men" while the civilized society remains below ground, their courage and vitality slowly draining away. The female of the species, however, remains quite interested in the four new "vigorous" visitors, anxious to help defeat the surface dwellers and take back control of the Earth. But politics and romantic jealousies conspire to frame our heroes for a murder they didn't commit, putting their plan - and possible return to their own timeline - in serious jeopardy.

Directed by Edward Bends (The Return of the Fly) and produced on a larger budget than usual for Allied Artists, World Without End is still pretty corny stuff. The opening outer-space scenes and crash sequence are standard model-on-a-string effects (allegedly bought and paid for from another film entirely), but most of the action takes place inside the geometric bunker. Designed with a bit of Invaders From Mars flair, the sets serve as a runway for the main attraction: Garnet and Deena, two of the haute-couture female denizens of this underground oasis. Knockouts by any decade's standards, the film makes sure their assets are always front and center (the only male actor who gets even half their attention is Rod Taylor - ironically, the star of 1960's The Time Machine - who parades around shirtless and oozes the sort of charisma every other cast member lacks).

Shot in Cinemascope, the film feels like it should be bigger than it is. A series of action scenes set against California scrub brush and rock formations pit star Hugh Marlowe against the mutant hordes armed with a homemade rocket launcher. To make the odds a bit fairer, he winds up going mano y mano in the big finale with nothing but Stone Age hatchet and knife, the fate of the human race hanging in the balance. Or, at least, the first crack at repopulation.

It's not the sort of sweeping epic it claims to be, but World Without End is amusing sci-fi schlock, mixing sexism, escapism and sketchy scientific facts. And Warner Archive presents it in beautiful fashion on Blu-ray, full of the sort of color and clarity you just wouldn't think possible from a film of this era and budget. No extras are included, but Bill Warren's Keep Watching the Skies is an excellent companion book for those interested in (or obsessing over) '50s sci-fi in general.