Themes: Heroic Mission, Race Against Time, Mutants
Main Cast: Peter Graves, Peggie Castle, Morris Ankrum, Richard Benedict, James Seay
Release Year: 1957
Country: US
Run Time: 73 minutes
Plot
Produced by Bert I. Gordon, The Beginning of the End a menacing onslaught of giant-sized grasshoppers. Department of Agriculture functionary Peter Graves and photojournalist Peggie Castle discover that the huge grasshoppers are the product of a gone-awry experiment in radioactivity. Before the Army can neutralize the green monstrosities, Chicago has been besieged by the ravenous insects. Beginning of the End was one of two horror films produced by American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres; the other was The Unearthly (1957). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Thomas Brown Henry - Col. Pete Sturgeon; Than Wyenn - Frank Johnson; John Close - Maj. Everett; Don C. Harvey - First Patrolman; Larry Blake - Second Patrolman; Steve Warren - Soldier; Frank Connor - No. 2 Soldier; Frank Chase - Soldier; Pierre Watkin - Taggert; Frank Wilcox - Gen. Matthew Short
Credit
Walter E. Keller - Art Director, Bert I. Gordon - Director, Aaron Stell - Editor, Albert Glasser - Composer (Music Score), Jack A. Marta - Cinematographer, Bert I. Gordon - Producer, Bert I. Gordon - Special Effects, Flora Gordon - Special Effects, Richard Tyler - Sound/Sound Designer, Lester Com - Screenwriter, Fred Freiberger - Screenwriter
One of the very few soul groups from Nassau, the Beginning of the End had one hit in 1971, the scintillating "Funky Nassau." They recorded an album of the same name that year, then dropped out of sight. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide
Beginning of the End is a 1957 science fiction film starring Peter Graves and Peggie Castle. In it, grasshoppers are accidentally allowed to eat atomic radiation-grown foodstuffs at the Illinois State Experimental Farm, grow to gigantic size with gigantic appetites, and attack Chicago. Director Bert I. Gordon used rear projection, a common special effect at the time, to present the giant grasshoppers "interacting" with the characters. He also included close-up shots of grasshoppers crawling on photographs of Chicago buildings for ultra-low-budget establishment and action scenes. The grasshoppers can actually be seen walking off a postcard featuring the Wrigley Building, which the giant insects were supposed to be scaling.[citation needed]
This movie was featured on the movie-riffing TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) during its fifth season.
The MST3K version of the film was released (and later recalled) by Rhino Home Video. This edition also contained the uncut film, included as a bonus feature.
