Saturday 3 July 2021

Quatermass and the Pit (Ending)

 I have for a very long time been quite fascinated by the bleak and very minimal ending of the Film version of  Nigle Kneale's Quatermass and the Pit (5 Million Years to Earth, US Title) I remember the 1st time I watched this film. It was Christmas sometime in the 1970s. My Dad said I could stay up and watch it with him. When the film finally finished, the ending intrigued me. A while back I mentioned this ending to a friend, he knew instantly what I was talking about and felt the same. I have watched the film many many times and probably have just watched the ending even more. The last sentence spoken in the film with 4:51sec to go is “You’ll have to go round and stop her” a few words said after that but no sentance, no great speech at the end or smiles of relief  that its all over, no warnings for the human race to beware in case it all happens again. Its just this. London has been saved, Andrew Keir (Quatermass) turns the corner and see's Barbara Shelley (Barbara Judd) sitting head hung low, they barely acknowledge each other...if at all. Quatermass stands while Barbara Judd sits. Both look worn out, lost speechless, and completely done in. There is no dialogue. Sirens and a dog barking in the distance the music creeps in and the credits roll, while the end footage of the two of them standing and sitting is looped. This continues until the credits are complete. This ending is very different from the original 1958 BBC version which finishes with the warning "If we cannot control the inheritance within us, this will be their [the Martians'] second dead planet." 
Film ending Credits sequence

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