VISIONS OF THE APOCALYPSE WHEELER WINSTON DIXON VISIONS OF THE APOCALYPSE Spectacles of Destruction in American Cinema WALLFLOWER PRESS London and New York A Wallflower Press Book Published by Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York · Chichester, West Sussex cup.columbia.edu Copyright © Wheeler Winston Dixon 2003 All rights reserved. E-ISBN 978-0-231-85048-3 Wallflower Press® is a registered trademark of Columbia University Press A complete CIP record is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 978-1-903364-38-3 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978- 1-903364-74-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) A Columbia University Press E-book. CUP would be pleased to hear about your reading experience with this e-book at cup- [email protected]. Design by Elsa Mathern “I’m the commander—see, I don’t need to explain—I do not need to explain why I say things. That’s the interesting thing about being the President. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don’t feel like I owe anybody an explanation.” —George W. Bush (in Ridgeway 36) “What we do now is withhold films from most of America, which is shocking. And what do we withhold? The best films. If you live 30 miles out in mall-land, you can’t see all the great movies. Same with the rest of the world: we export the crap. And then we wonder why everybody hates us and has a distorted picture of what Americans are.” —Meryl Streep (in King W4) “We don’t always understand what happens to us, or why.” —Olivier Assayas (in Dupont 18) For Linda Ray Pratt CONTENTS List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: The Tyranny of Images Chapter One: Freedom from Choice Chapter Two: Invasion U.S.A. Chapter Three: The Limits of Time Coda: The Copenhagen Defense Works Cited Index LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Preview of coming attractions: New York City is vaporized by an atomic blast in Invasion U.S.A. (1952). Courtesy Jerry Ohlinger Archives. 2. New York City as atomic wasteland: Invasion U.S.A. (1952). Courtesy Jerry Ohlinger Archives. 3. The war of the past: Mutual Assured Destruction. The Last War (1961; original title Sekai daisenso, 1961). Courtesy Jerry Ohlinger Archives. 4. The Arc de Triomphe is destroyed in The Last War (1961; original title Sekai daisenso, 1961). Courtesy Jerry Ohlinger Archives. 5. Manhattan, before the collapse of the World Trade Center, is decimated by a nuclear attack in The Last War (1961; original title Sekai daisenso, 1961). Courtesy Jerry Ohlinger Archives. 6. The city collapses in Tidal Wave (1973; original title Nippon chinbotsu, 1973). Courtesy Jerry Ohlinger Archives. 7. Airborne firefighters attempt to halt the rampaging fire that engulfs the failing metropolis in Tidal Wave (1973; original title Nippon chinbotsu, 1973). Courtesy Jerry Ohlinger Archives. 8. Skyscrapers collapse from the intense heat in Tidal Wave (1973; original title Nippon chinbotsu, 1973). Courtesy Jerry Ohlinger Archives. 9. The end of the world occurs through natural catastrophe in When Worlds Collide (1951). Courtesy Jerry Ohlinger Archives. 10. Survivors carry on with the tasks of civilization in The Bed Sitting Room (1969). Courtesy Jerry Ohlinger Archives. 11. The city is leveled by earthquake in San Francisco (1936). Courtesy Jerry Ohlinger Archives. 12. The ruins of Manhattan in Deluge (1933). Courtesy Jerry Ohlinger Archives.