Ray Milland stars and directs here - he was born in 1907 in Neath, South Wales and was the first Welsh actor to win an Oscar for THE LOST WEEKEND (1945). After that he became a character actor in many B movies and on TV in the USA.
This is from 1962 and very much of the period in all ways though none the worse for that. No preachy woke sermons and lectures here! Often quaint gender roles and no colourblind casting. What a relief!
It is an early post-apocalypse story really, like 28 DAYS LATER many years later. Remember it was made in 1962 at a time of the bay of Pigs and Cuba Missile Crisis. How people would survive after a nuclear war was very much on people's minds.
I enjoyed it. Yes, it is very cartoon character and easy to mock BUT this was to my knowledge the first nuclear war film, about what happens after an attack by nuclear bombs in the USA in 1962. Low budget, but it all works.
Teen idol singer and actor Frankie Avalon (still alive in 2024 aged 84 is cast as teen idol heart-throb to get the teen audience no doubt.
4 stars. And a funky jazzy pre-Beatles soundtrack too!