A forgotten disaster flick; and one of the first of the 70s

RELEASED TO TV IN 1972 and directed by Barry Shear, "Short Walk to Daylight" chronicles events when eight people struggle to make it out of the dark tunnels of the New York subway system after an apparent earthquake.

Although “Airport” (1970) is considered the first ‘disaster film’ of the 70s, it was “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972) that drove the craze home and honed the genre, leading to movies like “Earthquake” (1974), “The Towering Inferno” (1974), “Rollercoaster” (1977) and “Meteor” (1979). “Short Walk to Daylight” had a similar plot to “The Poseidon Adventure,” both featuring a small group of people trying to escape a disaster and not all making it. But "Short Walk to Daylight" debuted on TV seven weeks BEFORE "The Poseidon Adventure" was released in theaters. “Short Walk” came out October 24, 1972, while “Poseidon” debuted December 13th.

Despite this, “Short Walk to Daylight” is actually the knock-off. What happened is this: Producers caught wind of the big production of “The Poseidon Adventure” and rushed to take advantage of the situation by producing a low-budget movie with a similar plot. This happens all the time to this day. Yet you can’t really call “Short Walk” a ‘knock-off’ since the disaster is so radically different. Plus “Short Walk” doesn’t have a whiz kid.

The later wannabe blockbuster “Daylight” (1996) used “Short Walk to Daylight” as a blueprint. I much prefer "Short Walk" myself, which is more realistic. “Daylight,” as I remember, was a typical overblown Stallone action flick, which isn't to say it's worthless; it's just not gritty realistic like "Short Walk."

The appeal of movies like “Short Walk to Daylight” and “The Poseidon Adventure” is that they bring ordinary people from different walks of life together in a confined setting wherein they are forced to work together to survive. None of them are heroes and they’re all flawed in some manner, but they mostly rise to the challenge and formulate working relationships, even if they’re undeclared ‘adversaries’ in normal life. The macho police officer who tries too hard (James Brolin) and the ‘cool’ black dude, Al (Don Mitchell), are a prime example.

“Short Walk to Daylight” is probably too low-key for most modern viewers, but there’s some decent (melo)drama and it works up some quality suspense in the last half hour. I found myself caring and rooting for the protagonists. But it’s too small of a movie to rival the superb “The Poseidon Adventure” (the original). Plus it fails to take advantage of its feminine resources as “Poseidon” excellently did. Speaking of the women, you might remember Laurette Spang, who plays the druggie’s babe, Sandy, as Cassiopeia from the original Battlestar Galatica (1978-1979). At the end of the day “Short Walk to Daylight” is a fairly effective disaster flick in its subdued, realistic way, although it’s hampered by flashes of contrived melodrama. The on-location sets are quite impressive.

THE ORIGINAL TELECAST VERSION RUNS 1 hour, 13 minutes (with a 1 hour, 8 minutes version currently available on Youtube). I should add that there was a syndicated version that came around in the 80s, which contained additional footage about terrorists who caused the disaster with explosives, which bulked up the runtime to about 90 minutes. This unnecessary subplot bogged the film down. LOCATIONS: Brooklyn, New York City. WRITERS: Philip H. Reisman Jr. and Gerald Di Pego wrote the teleplay from Edward Montagne’s story.

GRADE: B