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Have you seen this movie!?

‘Earthquake’ arrived in theaters 11/15/1974 to lukewarm critics. Written by George Fox & Mario Puzo, with Mark Robson as director, this Los Angeles CA-based film is most notable for using the “Sensurround” sound effect, which created the sense of actually experiencing the earthquake in theaters. The cast includes Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene, Richard Roundtree, Marjoe Gortner, Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan, Victoria Principal, Walter Matthau, Monica Lewis & others. Inspiration for this film came from the success of the disaster-suspense film ‘Airport’ (1970) & the San Fernando CA earthquake (February 1971). After test screenings, 30 minutes of scenes were cut from the film & Hollywood CA’s Grauman’s Chinese Theatre installed a net over the audience to catch any debris caused by the use of the large speakers & amplifiers. In September 1976, the film had its TV premiere. For that showing, the film was expanded so it could be shown over 2 nights. Interestingly, only a fraction of the deleted theater-release scenes were used to expand the TV version. This movie inspired “Earthquake: The Big One” attractions at Universal Studios Hollywood (opened March 1989) & Florida (opened June 1990). Footage from this movie have appeared elsewhere, including an episode of “Quantum Leap” during which Sam leaps into a film stuntman & his character is seen hanging from a piece of debris whom Sam Royce (Lorne Greene) attempts to save.