The World Will Tremble [Impossible Voyages #17] – Blue Towel Productions

As mentioned previously, in “Impossible Voyages” I’m watching and writing about a run of new (to me) science fiction films to be watched over this year (and almost certainly beyond). You can read the rationale and ground rules here. In the meantime, we are advancing from 1938 to 1939 with this movie, #17 in this series.

This is yet another movie that I had never heard of before doing research for this series of articles. I needed to find something from 1939 (ideally, I am allowed to skip years, but I try not to) and at this point most of the contenders seem to be horror or monster movies. I’m okay with that, but it’s not the most interesting thing for me. Then I ran across this title, and eventually found out what the movie was about. That, plus the fact that it is freely available on Youtube, sold it for me.

Spoilers Ahead

The World Will Tremble [Le monde tremblera] (1939)

Directed by Richard Pottier

The Story: Obsessed scientist Dr. Jean Durand invents a machine which can accurately predict the moment that a person will die–even accidentally or violently–down to the minute. He gains notoriety and fortune because of this success, but at the same throws the world into disarray as people react to the certainty of their demise in different ways. Tensions surrounding the machine lead to the loss of his fiancée, Marie-France. Conflict erupts first with Marie-France’s father Emil Lasser (who is also the project’s financial backer) and then with Dr. Gérard Gallois, Durand’s one-time friend and later a strong criticiser of the moral implications of his work. When Durand uses the machine on himself, he discovers he has only days to live. He tricks Gallois into using the machine, but lies to him about the outcome, substituting his own results instead. This leads to a violent confrontation between the two men that results in Durand’s death, as predicted. As he dies, he expresses regret over his actions and asks that the machine be destroyed.

Starring: Claude Dauphin as Jean Durand, Madeleine Sologne as Marie-France, Erich von Stroheim as Emil Lasser, and Roger Duchesne as Gallois. Julien Carette plays Durand’s assistant Julien, Armand Bernard plays Martelet (one of Durand’s clients who comes to regret the long life the machine predicts for him) and Raymond Aimos is a criminal on the run who ends up being the first person that Durand’s machine is tested on.

Comments: In some ways, The World Will Tremble is exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to find when I kicked off this series–an engaging science fiction story interesting ideas and decent storytelling chops. In this case, the interesting idea is the machine that Jean Durand has created, which can predict, to the minute, when someone will die. This is, of course, nonsense–the machine doesn’t just say how long a person has left in their natural lifespan; it predicts a person’s death even if it takes place via murder or accident or suicide. Questions are posed about this only briefly, but they are quickly hand-waved away with comments about how there really is no such things coincidences, just causes and connections that people cannot understand.

This is, of course, a good thing for the movie. Rather than getting bogged down in a lot of nonsensical technobabble, we can quickly move into our story and start dealing with the implications of this crazy concept. And to my delight, the movie did spend a lot of time on the consequences of people being able to discover exactly how much time they had left on this earth. For some, it’s a source of fear or regret, about time wasted or dreams never pursued. For others, the certainty about something that people normally do everything they can to avoid brings a kind of freedom, to cut loose and do whatever they want, never mind the consequences.

But, universally, the movies shows us that the results of this knowledge are negative, either for those with the knowledge, for those around them, or for society as a whole–and usually for all three. Some walk away from a lifetime of responsibilities, leaving other people lost in their wake, such as when a rich industrialist abruptly closes down his factories and leaves thousands out of work, or when another high-rolling businessman purposely crashes the economy to get back at an enemy. One is emboldened to commit murder, getting rid of his selfish mistress because he knows he won’t live long enough to face the consequences. And another finds his life has suddenly lost all meaning, because he knows that he won’t die for decades hence.

One of the most interesting cases is that of Emil Lasser, the father of Durand’s (the inventor’s) fiancée. He finds himself in the impossible dilemma of needing to prove that Durand’s machine works to save himself from financial ruin, but the only way to prove that it works is if the prediction of his own death in just a few days comes true. Trapped and without any other options, he takes his own life at the prescribed time.

In the midst of all of this is, of course, Durand himself. A man driven to prove himself, he becomes unable to let go of the success the machine brings him, even when it costs him the love of his fiancée, Marie-France. The movie has taken time to show us how besotted these two are with each other, so to see it all fall apart because of how blind he is to his own self-interest is meaningful. When he is driven to use the machine on himself and finds that his own days are numbered in the low double digits, he only gets worse. It reminds me of some biblical prophecies, as well as other dramatic moments inspired by the same.

All this moves the characters to a climax that tips over to the melodramatic side, and brings our main character to an ending that is perhaps a bit more redemptive than I think was justified. But this is a minor complaint for such an interesting movie.

Claude Dauphin is strong in the lead role. He creates a character who believably can’t see the downward spiral he is creating for himself, even as it is obvious to everyone else. Erich von Stroheim and Madeleine Sologne are also solid in the main supporting roles of the father and daughter who are most directly affected by Durand’s actions. Marie-France spends a lot of the movie being beleaguered and overwhelmed, but in a way that you feel for her. And for her father, von Stroheim finds element of humanity in a character who is treated mostly as a cold-hearted businessman. The last principle cast member, Roger Duchesne, manages to take the relatively unnuanced role of the virtuous Dr. Gallois and still make him engaging.

The movie is directed well and features some fun production design in the creation of Durand’s machine–it looks like something out of a Universal Frankenstein film.

If there is a weakness to the movie (aside from the comments about the ending up above), it might just be the darkly comical scenes of Martelet attempting to kill himself. (he repeatedly fails because the machine has predicted that he will live into his old age). The sequences do highlight another of the implications to Durand’s machines–he repeatedly fails because it’s been predicted that he will live to a very old age–but tonally they are a little odd in the context of the rest of the movie.

But I’m reaching here to find something to criticise. The Earth Will Tremble is engaging, emotionally intellectually, and artistically. I liked it a lot.

Other Thoughts:

The only actor I’ve heard of with from this cast is Erich von Stroheim, but after searching I find that the only thing I’ve seen him in is The Grand Illusion, a movie he has a supporting role in. If I ever do a series on films I’ve seen but can’t remember at all, The Grand Illusion will be on the top of that list. I see that von Stroheim is also in Sunset Boulevard, a movie I’ve never seen. I guess I should.