- For the MST3K episode, see MST3K 422 - The Day the Earth Froze.
The Day the Earth Froze is a 1959 mythology/folklore film directed by Aleksandr Ptushko and written by David Moessinger.
Plot
The Day the Earth Froze
The people of Kalevala are a peaceful hard working people. They have everything they need and want except for the mystical Sampo, a magical mill which will make grain, salt, and gold and give prosperity to whoever possesses it. The only person in Kalevala able to make a Sampo is the smith Ilmarinen. However he cannot make it until his sister Annikki has fallen in love. Annikki eventually falls in love with the hard-working Lemminkäinen.
A wicked witch called Louhi rules over a dark dismal land called Pohjola, and she desires a Sampo but her wizards are unable to forge one. Louhi sends her enchanted cloak to bring Annikki to Pohjola as ransom. Lemminkäinen runs to Ilmarinen to inform him that his sister has been taken and vows to return her. Ilmarinen agrees to come with him and they set off on a boat constructed of an ancient oak tree.
When Lemminkäinen and Ilmarinen confront Louhi, she demands that they complete a simple task before she will return Annikki to them. Lemminkäinen is asked to plow a field of snakes, which he does with the aid of a steel horse made by Ilmarinen. Ilmarinen is made to forge a Sampo. He sets to work and with the aid of the trolls of Pohjola on the bellows and the fire from heaven itself, he forges a beautiful Sampo which immediately begins to make gold, grain, and salt.
Lemminkäinen and Ilmarinen are reunited with Annikki and they set sail for Kalevala. Lemminkäinen is upset when he is informed that the people of Kalevala will never be able to reap the benefits of the Sampo and dives into the sea to swim back and recover it.
Back in Pohjola, Lemminkäinen releases the mist from the prison Louhi has placed it in and it covers the whole land. When the mist clears the Sampo has gone and Lemminkäinen is on a boat heading back to Kalevala. His boat is wrecked on the ocean when Louhi orders that the wind be set free, and the Sampo is destroyed and Lemminkäinen presumed lost.
Lemminkäinen manages to swim back to Kalevala and returns a small piece of the Sampo, which Väinämöinen announces will bring great prosperity and joy to the people of the land. Lemminkäinen and Annikki marry and a great feast and dance is arranged. However, Louhi comes to Kalevala and steals their sun. Returning it to Pohjola, she locks it in a deep mountain cave.
As Kalevala is plunged into perpetual darkness things look very bleak. Lemminkäinen is still hopeful, he asks Ilmarinen to forge a new sun. The wise elder Väinämöinen informs him that it is futile and that they must go to Pohjola and recover the sun by force. Väinämöinen tells the people this battle will be fought using kantele and not bladed weapons. The people of Kalevala prepare by cutting trees and bringing all precious metals to Ilmarinen to forge the strings.
When the people of Kalevala and Pohjola meet on a frozen lake for battle, Väinämöinen begins playing music on the kantele and the trolls of Louhi begin to drift to sleep. Louhi tries in vain to get them to fight, but she fails and her trolls fall down unconscious. Louhi then sends her magic cape to kill the people of Kalevala but it is beaten down into a hole in the ice. Lemminkäinen marches up to the mountain which contains the sun, and Louhi turns herself into stone out of fear. Lemminkäinen slices the stone door of the mountain open with his sword, releasing the sun to shine over the lands of Kalevala.
The film ends with scenes of the people of Kalevala looking to the bright sky in wonder and happiness.
Cast
- Andris Oshin
Eve Kivi (billed here as Nina Anderson)
Anna Orochko
Ivan Voronov (billed here as Peter Sorenson)
Notes
- Music composed by John Williams (making his debut here).
- Features original songs by Alan Copeland and Jack Lloyd, with additional material by Jack Marshall.
- Actress Sandra Giles was a good friend of Mamie Van Doren.