I'll start with the spoilers: there are no night scenes in this film and the catastrophe promised by the title is averted. Dr Laura 'Hutch' Hutchinson (Kathryn Grant) at one point suggests that the fissures appearing in the Earth's crust are "almost as if the Earth were striking back at us for the way we've robbed her of her natural resources"; making this an early "green" film. Eight years later in 'Crack in the World' (1965) a mining project results in the Earth splitting into two, but 'The Night the World Exploded' knows its limits (Miss Grant's stylish outfits look like the most expensive items in the budget) and most of the destruction is confined to stock footage (which includes film of the bombing of Pearl Harbor).Fortunately it has a fairly intelligent script and a capable and sincere cast to do it justice; and director Fred Sears again creates bricks without straw. The film probably cost what 'The Day After Tomorrow' spent on catering, but what little money that actually went on special effects has been judiciously spent, and the genuine generator room used for the climax is quite impressive. I'm sure the script is full of scientific clunkers, but most of the talk sounds intelligent enough. I personally know a bit about the Periodic Table, so I'll confine myself to pointing out that in 1957 the total number of known chemical elements then stood at 101. That the next element in line to be discovered is #112 (which was named Copernicium) would mean that this film is set in 1996.

Dr. David Conway (William Leslie) develops a method to predict earthquakes, and promptly one occurs within 24 hours. But the worst is yet to come, he declares. A 'new element 112' is going to cause much stronger earthquakes soon, they may even make the Earth explode. 28 days are left to prevent that, therefore scientists all over the planet get to work.It's fun to compare 50s disaster movies to the productions we get nowadays. The scientists in the 50s arrived clean shaven in the morning to continue their job of saving the world, bringing the kids into a high security area for a little play during lunch break - apparently saving the world was a much more relaxed job in those days. In the 2010s, they find hardly enough time to breathe, let alone shave. Also a sign of the times is a remarkably misogynistic scene when Laura Hutchinson (Kathryn Grant, known for 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad') climbs down into a cave and the guys ridicule her fear, being so weak like all females. They wouldn't say that to Lara Croft nowadays. Anyway, it's a mild entertaining sci-fi flick of its times, with a running time of just over an hour it doesn't have any lengths to sit through, I give it 5 of 10.

You might think that the explosion of the whole World, no less, could muster some thrills and chills as Scientists race to uncover the cause and apply their Egghead methods to stifle the upcoming Apocalypse.Not so much in the hands of these cheap Hollywood Hacks that in the Fifties exploited Science in their Fiction and made some Really Cool Posters but some very Uncool Movies. This isn't the worst of its kind and does manage to be involving enough. Just the thought of what's at stake could put the nerves on edge.But here just climbing down a rope is enough to make a Female Scientist freeze with fear. The cardboard sets have some visual charm and the stock disaster footage is mixed in nicely with some looking very ominous. But the Plot of the New Element and Diluvial problem solving is rather lackluster and hokey, as is the Romantic necessities. The final shot of the Lovers on an elevated Stage with a Kiss that makes Her quake is an exclamation point on the stodgy and stagy nature of what went before.

If you're looking at the reviews for Night the World Exploded, you are probably already a hopeless 50's sci-fi addict. But it's OK, you're in good company.This is actually a pretty engaging film that may hold up to some repeated viewings. Although the props and sets are not as good as they could be, they still support a very interesting story with good production values and some very good B movie acting.I would actually recommend this film above The Unknown Terror and Flame Barrier. These two are probably better films with bigger budgets but have a very boring script with little to no action.Also, if you're into 'End of the World' flicks, don't miss Crack In The World - one of the best!!