Trivia / Earthquake

• Adored by the Network: AMC frequently played this movie during the early to mid-2000s.
• All-Star Cast: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene, Geneviève Bujold, Richard Roundtree, Marjoe Gortner, Victoria Principal and Walter Matthau.
• Contractual Obligation Project: This was one of two films Geneviève Bujold made to fulfill her contract to Universal Studios. The other was Swashbuckler.
• Dawson Casting: Lorne Greene was only seven years and ten months older than Ava Gardner, who played his daughter.
• Deleted Scene: Many scenes shot for the movie were left on the cutting room floor (over thirty minutes' worth). Notable scenes include: additional footage of Stewart, Remy, and Dr. Vance (specifically, a subplot involving her previous abortion); Officer Lew Slade after he's suspended by the police Captain); Stockle and Walter Russell discussing the magnitude; and Denise Marshall showing up to a movie studio for her "bit part" in a movie, only to be turned away due to quake damage on the set. Additional stunt sequences during the earthquake were also deleted.
• Dueling Works: Dueled with The Towering Inferno, another disaster film. This was lampshaded in one episode of the 70s Game Show Split Second (1972) that had host Tom Kennedy walking in after it started (which is a little hard to do since game shows were mostly taped in advance at the time). He explains his lateness by saying he went to see a Double Feature, Earthquake and The Towering Inferno but all the marquee said was "Shake and Bake."
• Killed by Request: The original shooting script had Stewart Graff survive at the end of the film, while Remy Royce-Graff and Officer Lew Slade were killed (separately) in the storm drain tunnel. However, Charlton Heston was dissatisfied with the script as written, since his character survives to rebuild the city with his mistress by his side (which he felt was not morally sound). Since Heston had script approval, he insisted his character die while trying to save his drowning wife. The change was made, Slade survived, and said the final lines of the film originally intended for Heston.
• No Stunt Double: Ava Gardner surprised director Mark Robson by insisting that she do her own stunt work, including dodging blocks of concrete and heavy steel pipes.
• On-Set Injury: Stuntman Bennie E. Dobbins suffered a concussion when knocked off his feet during the filming of a flood scene. This was used in the film. Also, multiple stunt people suffered minor injuries during filming of a crashing elevator.
• The Red Stapler: People all over the country wanted to buy the SUV that Stewart drives, with a custom transmission having "eight forward speeds and three reverse." Only they couldn't; the transmission was made by the studio for the truck.
• Stillborn Franchise: A sequel set in San Francisco was planned, but never went into production due to Disaster Movies falling out of fashion.
• Throw It In!: Miles' motorcycle accident wasn't scripted; the stunt-man really did crash the bike.
• Vacation, Dear Boy: Ava Gardner agreed to appear in the film, primarily because she wanted to spend the summer in Los Angeles that year.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Paul Newman and Steve McQueen (actor) were approached to star, but had already committed to appear in The Towering Inferno.
  • James Caan, Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight were considered for Stewart Graff.
  • Candice Bergen and Elizabeth Montgomery were considered for Denise.
  • Alan Alda, John Cassavetes and Stacy Keach were considered for Officer Lew Slade.
  • Susan Sarandon was considered for Rosa.

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