Crack in the World (1965)
Kieron Moore: Dr. Ted Rampion
Photos
Quotes
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[Rampion is revived after being pulled unconscious from a volcanic vent]
Simpson : How do you feel?
Dr. Ted Rampion : Medium rare.
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Dr. Ted Rampion : Suppose the Macedo Trench splits open under the ocean? A crack a thousand miles long, bringing superheated magma in contact with the ocean: earthquakes, tidal waves, mass destruction on an apocalyptic scale!
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Dr. Maggie Sorenson : If the world IS going to come to an end, at least you won't get caught with holes in your socks.
Dr. Ted Rampion : That's a comforting thought.
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Dr. Ted Rampion : We have to shield the bomb against heat, to avoid premature explosion.
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Dr. Ted Rampion : What's the hurry, Stephen? Can't you wait for another Nobel Prize?
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Dr. Ted Rampion : [on radio] Sorenson, can you hear me? Stephen!
John Masefield : Masefield here. Listen, Rampion...
Dr. Ted Rampion : What happened?
John Masefield : He fainted.
Dr. Ted Rampion : Listen, Masefield, do you know what he wanted to tell me?
John Masefield : Yes. The crack is moving twice as fast as before.
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Dr. Ted Rampion : If we can start Tucamoa erupting before the crack gets there, we stand a chance of stopping it.
Simpson : Yeah, but how do you start up a volcano?
Dr. Ted Rampion : [pause] With a nuclear bomb.
Simpson : Another bomb?
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[Rampion and Steele are lowering a concrete-encased atomic bomb through a twisted volcanic chimney, stopped at the last ledge above a chamber of molten lava]
Dr. Ted Rampion : OK Steele, let's push it.
[bomb doesn't move]
Steele : It's hung up. I'll go down and free it.
[to crane]
Steele : Lower me five feet.
[Steele gets under bomb and works to free it. As it starts to dislodge, his support cable becomes wedged between the ledge and the bomb casing]
Dr. Ted Rampion : [noticing Steele's cable] Don't cross over, Steele! Stay on your own si-
[cable fails]
Dr. Ted Rampion : STEELE!
[Steele screams as he falls headlong into the molten lava, disappearing in a flash of flame]
Dr. Ted Rampion : [softly] Oh my god.
Simpson : His cable snapped!
Dr. Ted Rampion : Steele's gone.
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Sir Charles Eggerston : The question now is not who is to blame but how we can stop the catastrophe.
Dr. Ted Rampion : At present we don't know any way we can stop it. First, we have to learn to understand the natural forces involved and, if possible, find some way to control them in the time permitted to us.
Sir Charles Eggerston : What is being done? Now?
Dr. Ted Rampion : Every university, every scientist, every thinking military leader is helping us.
Sir Charles Eggerston : Is there anything that we can do?
Dr. Ted Rampion : Pray.
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Sir Charles Eggerston : A crack in the world?
[the meeting erupts in chaos]
Sir Charles Eggerston : Gentlemen! Gentlemen! Don't let's fall apart. We have work to do. Please! We must hear Dr. Rampion complete his report. You were saying that the crack is extending to the east.
Dr. Ted Rampion : Along the Macedo Trench. It's following a geological flaw in the Earth's crust, known as the Macedo Fault. That runs from here, to the tip of India, then veers across towards Indonesia, and terminates off the Australian continental shelf.
Sir Charles Eggerston : How do you know the crack will stop there?
Dr. Ted Rampion : We don't.
Sir Charles Eggerston : What if the crack keeps going? Right around the world? What happens then?
Dr. Ted Rampion : Where the land masses split, the oceans will be sucked in, and the colossal pressure generated by the steam will rip the Earth apart, and destroy it.
Indian Ambassador : You mean, the world will come to an end?
Dr. Ted Rampion : The world as we know it, yes.
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[last lines]
Dr. Stephen Sorenson : I'll keep recording everything that happens as long as I can.
Dr. Ted Rampion : Sorenson, the whole Project is going! Now open the door and come out with us!
Dr. Stephen Sorenson : If you survive, you'll find all my records in the safe. If everything goes... doesn't matter anyway.
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Dr. Stephen Sorenson : [the central operations bunker is collapsing] Maggie what are you doing here?
[to Ted]
Dr. Stephen Sorenson : You've got to get her out of here!
Dr. Ted Rampion : You're coming with us!
Dr. Stephen Sorenson : No, I have work to finish. Once in a billion years a moon is born, that's what's happening now. It may destroy the Earth, but it may save it. Whatever happens. I've got to stay here and record it!
Dr. Maggie Sorenson : We can't leave you, Stephen!
Dr. Ted Rampion : Don't you realize that the two cracks are going to meet here?
Dr. Stephen Sorenson : They'll meet at the borehole. The Project is outside the circle!
