No Blade of Grass
Entry updated 2 February 2017. Tagged: Film.
Film (1970). Symbol/MGM. Directed by Cornel Wilde. Written by Sean Forestal, Jefferson Pascal, based on The Death of Grass (1956; vt No Blade of Grass 1957) by John Christopher. Cast includes Nigel Davenport, Lynne Frederick, Anthony May and Jean Wallace. 96 minutes cut to 80 minutes. Colour.
Cereal crops all die and society breaks down. A family journeys across chaotic England, battling armed groups of marauders who are searching for food, and reach sanctuary in the Lake District. Wilde had previously dealt well with the stripping away of civilized instincts in The Naked Prey (1966), so this story must have attracted him, but No Blade of Grass has an amateurish quality, reinforced by poor acting, though the depiction of anarchy is zestful. The film is disjointed, partly due to drastic cutting before release. [JB/PN]
see also: Holocaust; Panic in Year Zero!; Post-Holocaust.
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