Not to be confused with the early twentieth century’s other major apocalypse drama LA FIN DU MONDE (1931), this 1916 feature is a Danish made depiction of Earth threatened by a rogue comet. Inspired by the widespread panic that accompanied the appearance of Halley’s Comet in 1910, THE END OF THE WORLD (Verdens Undergang) was one of 11 films made in 1916 by August Blom (1869-1947), a pioneering, and insanely prolific, figure in Danish filmmaking.
Skipping over fifteen minutes’ worth of dull melodrama, I’ll start my plot synopsis with the “well known astronomer” Professor Wisemann (K. Zimmermann) spotting an incoming comet with a telescope. He estimates the comet will pass very close to the Earth, an announcement that incites widespread panic and a huge stock market sell-off. This inspires Wisemann’s cousin, the wealthy mine owner Frank Stoll (Olaf Fønss), to buy up all the cheap stock he can. To facilitate this Stoll gets a newspaper tycoon pal to calm the public by printing a fake headline claiming the comet poses no danger; the ruse works and the stock market returns to normal, allowing Stoll to get rich(er) as planned.
But the comet grows ever larger in the sky. Stoll prepares an underground bunker in which he plans to hide out with his wife Dina (Ebba Thomsen), and throws a vast party on the night the comet is scheduled to make its pass-by. The party, however, ends in chaos and bloodshed when an enraged crowd, led by Dina’s ex-fiancée Flint (Thorleif Lund), breaches the mansion.
Outside the mansion the overall mood is summed up by a single-word intertitle: “Panic.” Fireballs rain from the sky, causing mass flooding and firestorms (depicted by actual disaster footage), but eventually taper off, with Dina’s sister Edith emerging as one of the few survivors of the melee.
By modern standards this film is melodramatic and simplistic, with a narrative related in the most obvious and unimaginative way possible: a series of single camera set-ups interspaced with title cards telling us what’s going on. By pre-1920 film standards, however, THE END OF THE WORLD is rather well done, with stately compositions and impeccably choreographed crowd scenes.
Even the special effects, ranging from the sight of the comet in the sky (animation) to lightning strikes (likewise) and meteorites hitting model houses, aren’t bad for their time. There’s also some racy-for-the-1910s content in the form of Ebba Thomsen performing a “provocative” dance at the end-times party, which August Blom makes sure to linger on far longer than necessary.
Vital Statistics
THE END OF THE WORLD (Verdens Undergang)
Nordisk Film
Director: August Blom
Producer: Ole Olsen
Screenplay: Otto Rung
Cinematography: Louis Larsen
Cast: Olaf Fønss, Carl Lauritzen, Ebba Thomsen, Johanne Fritz-Petersen, Thorleif Lund, Alf Blutecher, Frederick Jacobsen, K. Zimmermann